Jim Caple

{{Short description|American sportswriter (1962–2023)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=October 2023}} '''Jim Caple''' (1962 – October 1, 2023) was an American columnist and senior writer for ESPN.com.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://search.espn.go.com/jim-caple/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080822225737/http://search.espn.go.com/jim-caple/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 22, 2008 |title=Jim Caple |publisher=ESPN |author= |date= |accessdate=May 31, 2010}}</ref> He worked previously with the ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' and the ''St. Paul Pioneer Press''.<ref name=ESPNObit/><ref name=SeattleSports/>

==Life and career== Caple was born in 1962.<ref name="ESPN2012">{{cite web |last=Caple |first=Jim |date=2012-12-31 |title=Caple: An inspiring, sometimes naked 2012 |url=https://www.espn.com/blog/playbook/fandom/post/_/id/16343/jim-caple-an-inspiring-sometimes-naked-2012-year-in-review |access-date=2025-11-27 |website=ESPN.com}}</ref> He attended R.A. Long High School in Longview, Washington.<ref name="i620">{{Cite web |last=Caple |first=Jim |date=May 20, 2003 |title=Rooting for the hometown boys |url=https://www.espn.com/page2/s/caple/030306.html |access-date=2025-01-19 |website=ESPN.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://ralongalumni.org/biography/jim-caple |title=Jim Caple (1980) |website=ralongalumni.org |access-date=June 26, 2022}}</ref> He graduated from the University of Washington in Seattle, where he reported for and later became an editor of the school newspaper, ''The Daily''.<ref name=earnest>{{citation |last=Earnest|first=Anna|title=When The Daily turned the world upside-down| newspaper=The Daily of the University of Washington |date=June 1, 2006 |url=https://magazine.washington.edu/when-the-daily-turned-the-world-upside-down/}}</ref><ref name=mentor>{{cite web| title=Mentor Lunch & Learn: Jim Caple, '97| work=Association for Women in Communications, Seattle Professional Chapter| url=https://www.seattleawc.org/event/mentor-lunch-learn-jim-caple-97/| access-date=December 27, 2020}}</ref> He worked at the ''Post-Intelligencer'' and the ''Pioneer Press'' before spending 17 years with ESPN. His time at ESPN included writing articles for its Page 2 website, which took a more comedic look at sports. He last wrote for ''The Athletic''.<ref name=ESPNObit/><ref name=SeattleSports>{{cite news|title=Jim Caple, former MLB writer with Washington roots, dies at 61|date=October 2, 2023|work=SeattleSports.com|url=https://sports.mynorthwest.com/1767490/jim-caple-former-mlb-writer-with-washington-roots-dies-at-61/|access-date=October 2, 2023}}</ref>

Caple covered 20 World Series and 12 Olympic Games.<ref name=ESPNObit/><ref name=mentor/> Caple wrote the book ''The Devil Wears Pinstripes''. He also co-wrote the book ''Best Boston Sports Arguments'' with fellow sportswriter Steve Buckley and wrote a novel, ''The Navigator'', which was partially based on his father's stint as a B-24 navigator in World War II.<ref name=ESPNObit/>

On October 2, 2023, his wife Vicki wrote that he died the previous day. At the time of his death, he suffered from ALS and dementia. He was 61.<ref name="ESPNObit">{{Cite web |date=2023-10-02 |title=Former ESPN, national baseball writer Caple dies |url=https://www.espn.com/espn/story/_/id/38550277/jim-caple-former-espn-national-mlb-writer-dies-61 |access-date=2024-01-10 |website=ESPN.com |language=en}}</ref>

==Publications== *{{cite book|title=The Devil Wears Pinstripes|publisher=Penguin Group|year=2005|isbn=9780452285989}} *{{cite book|first1=Jim|last1=Caple|first2=Steve|last2=Buckley|title=The Best Boston Sports Arguments|year=2006|publisher=Sourcebooks|isbn= 9781402249976}} *{{cite book|title=The Navigator|year=2019|publisher=JaCol Publishing|isbn=9781946675453}}

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== {{Portal|Biography}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20060314094808/http://sports.espn.go.com/keyword/search?searchString=Jim_Caple&rT=sports Caple's columns on ESPN.com]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Caple, Jim}} Category:1962 births Category:2023 deaths Category:The Daily of the University of Washington alumni Category:People from Longview, Washington Category:Sportswriters from Washington (state) Category:Seattle Post-Intelligencer people Category:Deaths from dementia Category:Deaths from motor neuron disease Category:ESPN people Category:Baseball writers Category:St. Paul Pioneer Press people