{"id":5217,"date":"2026-07-18T19:03:55","date_gmt":"2026-07-18T19:03:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=5217"},"modified":"2026-07-18T19:03:55","modified_gmt":"2026-07-18T19:03:55","slug":"show-up-dan-shaughnessy-reflects-on-career-at-boston-globe-while-accepting-red-smith-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=5217","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Show up\u2019: Dan Shaughnessy reflects on career at Boston Globe while accepting Red Smith Award"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

If you\u2019re a sports journalist and Larry Bird offers to \u201cpay your way if you go now\u201d to another beat, it probably means you\u2019re doing something right. Clearly, Dan Shaughnessy has been doing something right during his storied career at The Boston Globe.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more John Strong and Stu Holden enjoy \u2018wonderfully chaotic\u2019 experience as Fox\u2019 lead World Cup broadcasters<\/a><\/p>\n

And his approach to success is simple, even as one of journalism\u2019s most prominent columnists: Show up. <\/span><\/p>\n

Shaughnessy on Friday formally accepted the Red Smith Award, the lifetime achievement award given by the Associated Press Sports Editors as the top career award in American sports journalism. The organization, made up of sports editors and other journalists from around the country, named Shaughnessy as the 2026 winner of the award in March. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

At an award luncheon during the APSE Summer Conference in Arlington, Virginia, Shaughnessy reflected on six decades writing for what he considers \u201cthe best audience out there\u201d \u2014 sports fans in Boston. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very humbled and honored to be here,\u201d he said. \u201cIt means a lot.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

ESPN\u2019s Tim Kurkjian, who was mentored by Shaughnessy when they covered baseball for The Washington Star, presented his longtime friend with the award. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDan, like Red Smith, is a brilliant writer, a relentless reporter, and an absolutely fearless columnist,\u201d Kurkjian said. \u201cHe taught me how to be a baseball writer, how to be a journalist, how to be fair and accurate and yet tough when I had to be.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Those values, along with a commitment to informing and entertaining fans while also holding teams and players accountable, have served as hallmarks of Shaughnessy\u2019s career.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the great strengths of Dan,\u201d Kurkjian said, \u201cis he was never afraid \u2014 still is never afraid \u2014 and never intimidated.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cToughest journalist I\u2019ve ever met.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Related: <\/span><\/span>We are Boston, and we did stop worrying and just enjoyed the World Cup … and other thoughts<\/div>\n

Once, on a team plane to the White House after the Celtics won an NBA championship, a player\u2019s wife \u201cgoes up to Dan, looks him right in the eyes, and says, \u2018God, I hate you,\u2019 \u201d Kurkjian said. \u201cBut then she pauses and \u2026 smiles and says, \u2018But God, you are a great<\/i> writer.\u2019 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that\u2019s what it\u2019s all about. Dan doesn\u2019t care if you like him or not, but you have to respect what he does and the way he does it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Trump shifts his tone on Jimmy Carter while grappling with Iran, inflation, and his own legacy<\/a><\/p>\n

Shaughnessy is the 46th recipient of the Red Smith Award. He has been named the Massachusetts Sportswriter of the Year 14 times, and he has won APSE top-10 columnist honors in the largest circulation category 15 times, including for columns written in 2025. He has written 13 books, and he received the BBWAA Career Excellence Award in 2016. <\/span><\/p>\n

Still, it wasn\u2019t easy to get here. <\/span><\/p>\n

Shaughnessy\u2019s first beat was the freshman football team for the Holy Cross Crusader (he quipped about writing that the freshmen were \u201cin a rebuilding year\u201d that season). He also developed a side hustle with The Associated Press; for $7 a game, he\u2019d run up and down stairways in ballparks and arenas to get quotes from players and coaches. He got called out for asking \u201chigh school questions\u201d to league MVPs and had plenty of learning moments. He figured out there would be \u201clittle setbacks\u201d \u2014 sometimes lots of them \u2014 but that \u201cyou gotta take it, suck it up, and move on.\u201d The most important thing? \u201cKeep getting out there. Show up.\u201d Especially after writing something critical about a player or coach.<\/span><\/p>\n

Related: <\/span><\/span>Jaylen Brown trade far from alone in the annals of \u2018obviously unpopular\u2019 Boston deals, and other thoughts<\/div>\n

Shaughnessy entertained the journalists assembled in Arlington with stories of his knack for riling up Bird, David Ortiz, Terry Francona and others during his time covering the Celtics and Red Sox. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI never got close with the players; they weren\u2019t comfortable,\u201d he said. <\/span><\/p>\n

He was successful, however, in turning around his relationship with Francona, the former Red Sox manager who went on to manage in Cleveland. When Francona was fired from Boston in 2011, Shaughnessy\u2019s literary agent urged him to email Francona to team up for a book. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSo I\u2019m like, \u2018Dear Tito, sorry you got fired. Wanna do a book?\u2019 Comes back in seconds. \u2018No, and not with you.\u2019 \u201d Eventually, Shaughnessy talked him into it. \u201cFrancona: The Red Sox Years\u201d was published in 2013. <\/span><\/p>\n

How did Shaughnessy do it? <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI kept showing up,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now more than ever, that approach is so important for sports journalists. With advancing technology and several papers no longer in existence, he acknowledged that the industry is in a state of flux: \u201cWe don\u2019t move the needle the way we used to, but it\u2019s still important to have newsgathering, reporting and storytelling.\u201d Shaughnessy doesn\u2019t necessarily relish the changing landscape, but he recognizes that journalists must face it head-on. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAdjust or perish,\u201d he told me. <\/span><\/p>\n

That resonated Friday in Arlington, even amid the laughs. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBest Red Smith speech I\u2019ve ever heard, and I\u2019ve heard a lot of them,\u201d one journalist said as he shook hands with Shaughnessy as the luncheon ended. <\/span><\/p>\n

Said another: \u201cThanks for showing us how it\u2019s done.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Courtney Shultz is a Deputy Managing Editor at The Athletic and an APSE Foundation Leadership Fellow.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Britain\u2019s Josh Kerr breaks the men\u2019s mile world record that stood since 1999<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Shaughnessy looked back on six decades writing for what he considers \u201cthe best audience out there\u201d \u2014 sports fans in Boston. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5216,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5217","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport"],"yoast_head":"\n\u2018Show up\u2019: Dan Shaughnessy reflects on career at Boston Globe while accepting Red Smith Award - Boston Relocation Insider<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=5217\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018Show up\u2019: Dan Shaughnessy reflects on career at Boston Globe while accepting Red Smith Award - Boston Relocation Insider\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Shaughnessy looked back on six decades writing for what he considers \u201cthe best audience out there\u201d \u2014 sports fans in Boston.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=5217\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Boston Relocation Insider\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-18T19:03:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=5217#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=5217\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c08a982d5d5e7124cea9158df226037e\"},\"headline\":\"\u2018Show up\u2019: Dan Shaughnessy reflects on career at Boston Globe while accepting Red Smith Award\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-18T19:03:55+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=5217\"},\"wordCount\":933,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=5217#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/5447f0d758cbca5c4744b4d81f0fd436.avif\",\"articleSection\":[\"Sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=5217#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=5217\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=5217\",\"name\":\"\u2018Show up\u2019: Dan Shaughnessy reflects on career at Boston Globe while accepting Red Smith Award - Boston Relocation Insider\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=5217#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=5217#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/5447f0d758cbca5c4744b4d81f0fd436.avif\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-18T19:03:55+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c08a982d5d5e7124cea9158df226037e\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=5217#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=5217\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=5217#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/5447f0d758cbca5c4744b4d81f0fd436.avif\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/5447f0d758cbca5c4744b4d81f0fd436.avif\",\"width\":1440,\"height\":1080},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=5217#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"\u2018Show up\u2019: Dan Shaughnessy reflects on career at Boston Globe while accepting Red Smith Award\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Boston Relocation Insider\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c08a982d5d5e7124cea9158df226037e\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\u2018Show up\u2019: Dan Shaughnessy reflects on career at Boston Globe while accepting Red Smith Award - Boston Relocation Insider","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=5217","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\u2018Show up\u2019: Dan Shaughnessy reflects on career at Boston Globe while accepting Red Smith Award - Boston Relocation Insider","og_description":"Shaughnessy looked back on six decades writing for what he considers \u201cthe best audience out there\u201d \u2014 sports fans in Boston.","og_url":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=5217","og_site_name":"Boston Relocation Insider","article_published_time":"2026-07-18T19:03:55+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=5217#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=5217"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/#\/schema\/person\/c08a982d5d5e7124cea9158df226037e"},"headline":"\u2018Show up\u2019: Dan Shaughnessy reflects on career at Boston Globe while accepting Red Smith Award","datePublished":"2026-07-18T19:03:55+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=5217"},"wordCount":933,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=5217#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/5447f0d758cbca5c4744b4d81f0fd436.avif","articleSection":["Sport"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=5217#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=5217","url":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=5217","name":"\u2018Show up\u2019: Dan Shaughnessy reflects on career at Boston Globe while accepting Red Smith Award - Boston Relocation Insider","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=5217#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=5217#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/5447f0d758cbca5c4744b4d81f0fd436.avif","datePublished":"2026-07-18T19:03:55+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/#\/schema\/person\/c08a982d5d5e7124cea9158df226037e"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=5217#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=5217"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=5217#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/5447f0d758cbca5c4744b4d81f0fd436.avif","contentUrl":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/5447f0d758cbca5c4744b4d81f0fd436.avif","width":1440,"height":1080},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=5217#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"\u2018Show up\u2019: Dan Shaughnessy reflects on career at Boston Globe while accepting Red Smith Award"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/","name":"Boston Relocation Insider","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/#\/schema\/person\/c08a982d5d5e7124cea9158df226037e","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com"],"url":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5217","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5217"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5217\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5216"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}