Tommy Hanson in a coma

AJC story noting the overdose ...

Ex-Braves pitcher Hanson possibly overdosed, sheriff’s report...

 

Good read here:

http://thelab.bleacherreport.com/shattered-dream/

 

Nice job. I've noticed Scott Miller has been doing longer pieces now for Bleacher Report. This kind of stuff is a good fit for him.

 

No offense to Scott, who's a great writer and an even better person, but that story was just too long. I don't think I got anything out of the last 50 inches that I didn't get out of the first 50.

 

He did a ton of reporting, obviously. Talked to a ton of people. Clearly worked his ass off. But waaaaaaay too many quotes - and a lot of them say the same things, essentially.

There was a lot of fat to trim, particularly the blow-by-blow of Hanson's career. Someone recently talked about needing "dramatic/narrative tension" to keep a story like this going. I'm not sure it's quite there.

Also, Kris Medlen seems like an outstanding guy.

And, finally, what does everyone think of the reporter acquiescing to calling the friend here, "Tattoo Man"? It's distracting, and also seems like a bit of a cop-out. ("Now I don't have to try to talk to him!")

 

I agree with most of your points, DW, especially acquiescing on "Tattoo Man." I kept thinking the guy off way too easy. I wanted him put on the spot. But my overall thought is that, best I can tell, these have been Scott's first few attempts at features this long and he's demonstrating an ability here and I wanted to give him a shout out.

Is there a "dramatic/narrative tension" in this story? Nope. But he clearly demonstrates an ability to thoroughly report and carry a story through with the right tone. I'm not sure if they have very many, if any, quality editors at Bleacher Report, either, which probably means he was left on his own to get this right.

I'll keep reading his features, though.

 

And I'm glad you posted it. I found out a lot about Tommy Hanson.

I see a guy report a story like that, and I really hope he gets an editor eventually able to get him from point Y to point Z in his development, essentially, because everything else seems to be there. The work ethic. Persistence. (Except regarding Tattoo Man.)

 

That Travis Fox tweet Moddy posted above explains who "Tattoo Man" is.

As far as excluding him from the story, I'm guessing the writer had to do that in exchange for getting access to Hanson's family. He linked the police report that has the guy's name in there, as well as other stories in which his connection to Hanson is explained.

And if you really want to know more about him, it takes literally 5 seconds of Googling.

 

We're outsourcing names now?

The guy is basically the fulcrum around which this story, the one people want to know about, circles. I'd certainly trade knowing more about him and how Hanson came to be in his orbit for a fourth quote about what a teddy bear Hanson was around his extended family.

 

@YankeeFan is leading the way in this emerging space.

 

Even just stylistically, it's jarring to read "Tattoo Man."

I remember having my colleagues and I having to write around Steve Bartman's name from Game 6, until Bartman released his own statement that night. It makes for a bumpy read.