Rob Neyer

Baseball Commissioner, Longtime ESPN Journalist & Award-Winning Author

Portland, OR, USA
Live Event: $5,000 - $10,000 Virtual Event: $5,000 - $10,000 More Fee Info
Athlete, Author, Baseball, Journalist, Sports, Sports Motivation
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Rob Neyer Biography

A native Midwesterner, Commissioner Rob Neyer's passion for baseball was inspired by the great Kansas City Royals of the late 1970s and early 1980s; he grew up idolizing the likes of George Brett, Hal McRae, Frank White, Amos Otis, Dan Quisenberry, and Bret Saberhagen.

In 1984, with the Royals on their way to another first-place finish, Neyer discovered the work of groundbreaking author and sabermetrician Bill James, and four years later Neyer was hired on as James's research assistant. After four years with Bill and a spell of freelance writing, Neyer headed to Chicago for a job with STATS, Inc., where he ultimately served as Assistant Director of Publications, editing and co-writing books about baseball, football, and basketball; during this period, he also self-published a guide to picking the winners in March Madness.

In 1996, Neyer relocated to the Pacific Northwest for a job with ESPN's new website … and within a year or two, realized he belonged there. During his 15 years with ESPN.com, Neyer wrote many more words for the site than anyone else, while also authoring (or co-authoring) six books, including "The Neyer/James Guide to Pitchers" (with Bill James) and three entries in the Rob Neyer's "Big Book of Baseball" series.

From 2011-15, Neyer served as a national baseball editor, columnist, and blogger with SB Nation and then Fox Sports, before returning to freelance writing. As a freelancer, his work has appeared in The New York Times, Vice Sports, Complex Sports, Yahoo, and others. In October 2018, HarperCollins published Neyer's seventh book, "Power Ball: Anatomy of a Modern Baseball Game," which ultimately won the CASEY Award for best baseball book of the year. In 2019, the Society for American Baseball Research honored Neyer with its Henry Chadwick Award for lifetime contributions to baseball research, and from 2019 to 2024 he hosted SABRcast, SABR's weekly podcast. In 2022, Neyer co-authored "The Umpire Is Out: Calling the Game and Living My True Self" with longtime MLB umpire Dale Scott, the first openly gay umpire in a major men's professional sport; the book was praised by the New York Times as "a rollicking new memoir."

Since 2018, Neyer has served as Commissioner of the West Coast League, a summer collegiate league with 16 teams throughout the Northwest — trading the press box for the front office and bringing decades of studying how baseball works to bear on actually running it.

Neyer has lived in Portland since 2002. Today he resides in the historic St. Johns neighborhood with his wife and daughter, and between baseball games enjoys mountaineering, birdwatching, and local coffee houses.

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Speaker profile last updated by AAE Talent Team on 09/17/2026.

Rob Neyer Speaking Topics

  • Baseball as America's (Continuing) National Pastime

    A look at why baseball, despite decades of premature obituaries, remains woven into American identity — and how it keeps reinventing itself to stay there. Drawing on three decades of writing about the sport for outlets from ESPN to The New York Times, Neyer traces the game's cultural throughlines: what's changed, what's stubbornly endured, and why a sport invented in the 19th century still shapes how Americans think about community, memory, and summer itself.

  • The History of Baseball Analytics — From the Inside

    Rob Neyer isn't just a chronicler of baseball's analytics revolution — he lived it from the beginning, hired in 1989 as a research assistant to Bill James, the man widely credited with starting it. In this talk, Neyer traces sabermetrics from its fringe, photocopied-newsletter origins through its takeover of front offices and broadcast booths, sharing firsthand stories from the movement's earliest days, the creation of Michael Lewis's "Moneyball," and offering a clear-eyed read on where the numbers revolution goes next.

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Rob Neyer Videos

Baseball historian & author Rob Neyer talks past, present & future

Baseball historian & author Rob Neyer talks past, present & future

Baseball historian & author Rob Neyer talks past, present & future of Orioles franchise with Nestor

Baseball historian Rob Neyer preaches patience on Rutschman

Baseball historian Rob Neyer preaches patience on Rutschman

Baseball historian Rob Neyer preaches patience on Rutschman and pivots to Orioles pitching pitfalls

MLB: Hall of Fame Cemetery with Rob Neyer - YouTube

MLB: Hall of Fame Cemetery with Rob Neyer - YouTube

During the MLB All Star break in Kansas City, Rob Neyer of SB Nation took time to visit Forest Hill Cemetery with the purpose of paying tribute to...

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The Umpire Is Out: Calling the Game and Living My True Self
The Umpire Is Out: Calling the Game and Living My True Self
The Umpire Is Out: Calling the Game and Living My True Self
The Umpire Is Out: Calling the Game and Living My True Self
The Umpire Is Out: Calling the Game and Living My True Self
The Umpire Is Out: Calling the Game and Living My True Self
The Umpire Is Out: Calling the Game and Living My True Self
The Umpire Is Out: Calling the Game and Living My True Self
The Umpire Is Out: Calling the Game and Living My True Self
The Umpire Is Out: Calling the Game and Living My True Self
The Umpire Is Out: Calling the Game and Living My True Self
The Umpire Is Out: Calling the Game and Living My True Self
The Umpire Is Out: Calling the Game and Living My True Self
The Umpire Is Out: Calling the Game and Living My True Self
The Umpire Is Out: Calling the Game and Living My True Self
The Umpire Is Out: Calling the Game and Living My True Self
Power Ball: Anatomy of a Modern Baseball Game
Power Ball: Anatomy of a Modern Baseball Game
The Umpire Is Out: Calling the Game and Living My True Self
The Umpire Is Out: Calling the Game and Living My True Self
Rob Neyer's Big Book of Baseball Legends: The Truth, the Lies, and Everything Else
Rob Neyer's Big Book of Baseball Legends: The Truth, the Lies, and Everything Else

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  • What topics does Rob Neyer speak about?

    Rob Neyer is a keynote speaker and industry expert whose speaking topics include Athlete, Author, Baseball, Journalist, Sports, Sports Motivation

  • Where does Rob Neyer travel from?

    Rob Neyer generally travels from Portland, OR, USA, but can be booked for private corporate events, personal appearances, keynote speeches, or other performances. For more details, please contact an AAE Booking agent.

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Rob Neyer is a keynote speaker and industry expert who speaks on a wide range of topics such as Baseball as America's (Continuing) National Pastime, The History of Baseball Analytics — From the Inside and Leadership Lessons from Running a Baseball League. The estimated speaking fee range to book Rob Neyer for your event is available upon request. Rob Neyer generally travels from Portland, OR, USA and can be booked for (private) corporate events, personal appearances, keynote speeches, or other performances. Similar motivational celebrity speakers are Chris Chambliss, Tommy Greene, Kevin Kisner, Bob Costas and Jonny Gomes. Contact All American Speakers for ratings, reviews, videos and information on scheduling Rob Neyer for an upcoming live or virtual event.

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