John Marvel

Managing Partner, Backstage Media …Father of James, journalist, storyteller, reader, coffee junkie ...

[John Marvel @j_marvel]

Congrats to @jamesmarvel12 on the start of @MarvelMentor … if you’re looking for someone to guide you through the peaks and valleys of the athletic journey, there’s no one better. Congratulations to my son on this exciting new venture.

[John Marvel @j_marvel]

My son’s tribute to his childhood hero is a lesson in how things often come full circle …

[James Marvel @jamesmarvel12]

When Ichiro got elected into the Hall of Fame a few days ago, I found myself a bit emotional. As a kid, Ichiro was my favorite player. I lived just outside of Seattle for a few years when I was really young, ages 3-5. Having established a love for baseball, it was around that 5-year-old time that I wanted to make my own decisions about what teams to root for and what players to like. Living where we did, I chose the Mariners (though my Mom’s Twins and Dad’s Yankees always got lots of love). And though we then moved away to Connecticut, that following year is when Ichiro made the trek across the Pacific from Japan and debuted as a 27-year-old rookie. I had never seen anything like the player he was, and I have never seen anything since. We probably never will.

There is so much to be said about Ichiro’s career, and I’ll leave it to Baseball Reference and his HOF plaque to recount his stats, awards, and accomplishments. I'd like to recognize something different. As a player, Ichiro was an artist. He could seemingly put the ball in play wherever on the field he wanted to. He ran and moved with such grace he appeared to be floating. When you watched him play — a two-hopper to shortstop that he beat out; a rocket throw from the outfield wall to nab a runner racing for third; scaling the right-field wall to rob a home run — you knew you were watching a master of his craft paint a masterpiece. A man in complete command of his tools. And he painted these masterpieces every single day over the course of a 162-game season. For his entire career, he almost never missed a game. In his 40’s, he averaged playing in an amount of games that today's superstars can only dream of. Baseball mirrors life in the way that it is played every single day, and as a teammate, manager, or fan, to know that you could assuredly show up to the yard and see 51 in right field and batting leadoff was to know what reliability truly meant. His artistry and consistently made him special.

Not only did I want to play like Ichiro, I wanted to be him. Ichiro constantly stretched in the outfield between pitches, so I stretched between pitches. He raised his arm and bat in front of him and pulled his sleeve before each pitch, so I raised my arm and bat in front of me and pulled my sleeve before each pitch. He wore a particular kind of thin sunglasses with a silver frame and blue lenses, so I wore thin sunglasses with a silver frame and blue lenses (and was devastated when my teammate sat on them).
In 2005, my parents took me to Spring Training in Arizona, and for days on end, I followed Ichiro around backfields and watched him do drills, and I marveled at him during the few innings he would play during the early part of those spring games. Autograph hounds followed him wherever he went with big books of hundreds of cards. At the time I couldn’t understand all of these grown men who talked about the prices that certain autographs could fetch. All I knew is that when hundreds of people swarmed Ichiro as he walked by the dugout during batting practice, it made it nearly impossible to get close to him. While others may have had ulterior motives for wanting his autograph, I just wanted it so I could display it in my room, where every day I pretended to be him as I listed to his games. During one of these Spring Training games, I watched from the grass berm behind right field, and after the fifth inning, I saw Ichiro emerge from the dugout, bats in hand. His work for that day was done. I sprinted off the berm, down some stairs, and ran to an area behind the right field wall where I knew he would have to walk past to get to the clubhouse. There, I joined hundreds of others, adults and kids alike, who were waiting for a chance at his autograph. These hundreds probably ran 3 or 4 rows deep for 40 yards. I decided on somewhere in the middle, and with size on my side (I was only 11), I squeezed through towards the fence that separated us and his potential path. My body was scrunched between the limbs of others, and as everyone jostled for position, my hat got knocked off my head. With ball and pen in hand, I reached through where I thought the fence was, though I couldn’t see exactly where, as it was too crowded to do so. I waited for what felt like 20 minutes. A murmur rushed over the crowd that got closer and closer to me, and my sense told me this meant Ichiro was making his way along the fence signing for fans. The murmur grew and grew and those who could see jostled and pushed for position. It took everything in me to hold my ground. I was still standing blind in a mess of bodies, and by this point was so tired of holding my arm outstretched I could barely lift it any longer. And then. And then the ball and pen disappeared from my hand. Oh no, had I dropped it? Had someone stolen them from me? Suddenly the ball and pen returned. I gripped tight and brought my arm back to myself, and there it was. Crisp. Clean. One name. “Ichiro.”
When I was fortunate enough to go play in Japan in 2023, I felt the universe conspiring with me in a way that took me back to the very beginning of my love for the game. To the beginning of chasing a dream. Here I was making the same trek (though in the opposite direction) that my longtime hero had made before me. I was headed to finish my career in the same place where his started. I could feel the same reverence I had for him reverberate throughout Japan. And though I had stepped onto the same fields as him in the MLB, there was something special in stepping on the fields where he had gotten his start. The fields where he grew into the player he was before I ever saw him. I felt a connection between us that was hard to describe, the connection between men who play a game that is more than a game for a living, but perhaps even more importantly, between the man and the long-ago boy he once inspired, and a baseball dream come full circle.

[John Marvel @j_marvel]

I loved Rickey. I was with him in the A’s clubhouse when a scribe said hi.
“Why’d he call you Marvel?” Rickey asked.
“It’s my last name.”
“You related to the comic book dudes?”
“If I was, I probably wouldn’t be here”
“Yeah, you would,” he smiled. “You’d be watching Rickey …”

[John Marvel @j_marvel]

Congrats to our partners at Meadowlark on the debut of The Comeback: 2004 Boston Red Sox, which debuts today on Netflix. Check out “The Comeback: 2004 Boston Red Sox” on Netflix
https://t.co/0q8Gu7rplD

[John Marvel @j_marvel]

Huge commitment to journalism by @TheAthletic. Congrats to my partner and longtime friend @MikeSilver …

[Michael Silver @MikeSilver]

I’m elated to be joining @TheAthletic as a Senior NFL Writer. I enjoyed my two-plus years at the @sfchronicle and am psyched to get back to covering the league’s most compelling stories on a national level. I'm stoked to be part of an elite team. Let’s get to work.

[Michael Silver @MikeSilver]

I’m elated to be joining @TheAthletic as a Senior NFL Writer. I enjoyed my two-plus years at the @sfchronicle and am psyched to get back to covering the league’s most compelling stories on a national level. I'm stoked to be part of an elite team. Let’s get to work.

[John Marvel @j_marvel]

My longtime friend, colleague and business partner @MikeSilver is the king of access sportswriting. His new book The Why is Everything, which drops today, is access on steroids. Michael takes you inside the world of of today’s new breed NFL coach. It’s must-read …

[John Marvel @j_marvel]

I first met @darrenrovell decades ago while recruiting young journalists for @espn.com. Strong hire for many reasons, but I now look back with admiration on his unwavering tenacity and friendship. Cheers to Darren, @glove20kj, @uwbish and others on the launch of @cllctMedia

[John Marvel @j_marvel]

Thanks to the @sfchronicle and sports editor @ChristinaKahrl for allowing me to shake off the rust ... and bravo to my friend and business partner @MikeSilver for the push. https://t.co/zH94T0Fulj

[John Marvel @j_marvel]

Just going to leave this right here …

[John Marvel @j_marvel]

@jeffpearlman Bleeding

[John Marvel @j_marvel]

@JamesPalmerTV Snorting Bronco still all-time classic

[John Marvel @j_marvel]

Congrats to my Backstage Media business partner and longtime friend @MikeSilver for being honored by the Society of Professional Journalists for Sports Column Writing https://t.co/CAYm0HGfDC ...

[John Marvel @j_marvel]

Excited to announce our next film headed into production as Meadowlark and Backstage Media bring you the story of David "Skywalker" Thompson with Nelson George attached to direct. These are the types of stories myself and partner @MikeSilver envisioned when we started Backstage.

[John Marvel @j_marvel]

Backstage Media, founded by myself and @MikeSilver last year, makes its debut at the Tribeca Film Festival this weekend. A humbling start, with an exciting road ahead …

[John Marvel @j_marvel]

@MikeSilver Legend …

[John Marvel @j_marvel]

Legend …

[Michael Silver @MikeSilver]

Would love for you all to check out my debut column for the @sfchronicle

[Michael Silver @MikeSilver]

In addition to my new gig with the @sfchronicle, I'll keep covering the NFL for @ballysports, hosting the Open Mike podcast for @TheVolumeSports and working on projects for Backstage Media and Meadowlark with my partner @j_marvel

[John Marvel @j_marvel]

A new chapter in the baseball journey of @jamesmarvel12 … @phillies @ Clearwater, Florida https://t.co/MdqSXsvX7y