Personality and volunteering for unwanted news beats got him where he wanted to be
By Kaitlin Merkel
Murphy News Service
LaVelle E. Neal has left his mark on Fort Myers, Florida, despite only living there 47 days out of every year.
“I swear he could run for mayor of Fort Myers and win in a landslide,” Dan Connolly, Orioles beat writer for the Baltimore Sun, said, “Everyone in the town knows LaVelle. Go to a bar or restaurant with him and you better invest some time because he is going to chat with everyone.”
Neal, 49, just finished his 17th season as the Minnesota Twins beat writer for the Star Tribune in Minneapolis and he admits that spring training is his favorite part of the job.
“Escaping Minnesota, getting to Florida, everybody’s in a good mood. It’s a new season and everyone’s optimistic, there are always great stories to write about. You get to immerse yourself in the sport for 47 days,” Neal said.
Growing up a sports fan
Neal immerses himself in sports. Growing up in Chicago as a White Sox fan, he watched games with his parents and read newspaper articles daily.
But journalism was not on his radar as a freshman at the University of Illinois. Neal started off as a marketing major, but he said he slept through classes and his grades slipped. When his rhetoric professor suggested journalism, Neal switched.
He took a year off after his sophomore year for financial reasons, then enrolled for his third year at the University of Illinois-Chicago, where Neal was a sports reporter and editor at his college newspaper, a job he described as “learning on the fly.”
Neal got an internship later in his college years with Capital Cities Communications, during which he was to work at three of the company’s newspapers across the country for four-month stints. His first stop that summer of 1989 was at the Kansas City Star.
“I had stories edited, ripped up, marked off, got yelled at for not spelling names correctly. It was cold water splashed in my face,” Neal said of his first experiences at the Star.
About two weeks before his time at the Star was scheduled to end, the high school sports reporter unexpectedly quit. Neal gave up the second two newspaper internships and was hired full-time as the Star’s high school sports beat writer.
Looking for his big break
When the Kansas City Attack, an indoor soccer team came to Kansas City in 1991, no one on the staff wanted to cover the beat. Neal was anxious to move up in the department, “looking to make a break,” and volunteered to cover the beat on top of his high school sports beat.
The World Cup came to the U.S. in 1994 and the Star sent a different reporter to cover the first game.
“I thought I had paid my dues,” Neal said of the snub.
Instead, he was assigned a profile about World Cup fans in Kansas City. A coincidental run-in with a groom and his groomsmen in a bar watching the game before heading to the church wedding ceremony turned into a “well-received” story that earned Neal his right to cover a later game in the tournament.
“July 4, 1994, I’ll never forget it,” he said, “That’s still probably the highlight of my career, being able to cover World Cup soccer.”
The Star later decided to make some changes in the sports department and assigned Neal to the Kansas City Royals beat for the 1995 season.
Time for a change
He shared the beat for three seasons and then decided it was time for a change.
The Star Tribune hired Neal to cover the Minnesota Twins. His first day was Sept. 27, 1997, the day before his birthday. He’s been at the Star Tribune ever since and just finished his 20th season covering Major League Baseball.
BBWAA president
Neal was named the Baseball Writers’ Association of America president in October 2013. He dealt with a scandal early on in his term when a sports writer sold his Hall of Fame ballot to Deadspin.
“He took charge immediately and was decisive, which was exactly what was needed,” Susan Slusser, BBWAA board member and A’s beat writer for the San Francisco Chronicle said.
“He was a consensus seeker. He really wanted input, sought it out and used it. He’s very fair and level-headed and approached the issues we had pragmatically,” Connolly said.
In what Neal called the “stars aligning,” his presidency also coincided with the 2014 All-Star Game in Minneapolis, where he was an official scorer representing BBWAA.
All-around good guy
Colleagues said Neal is inviting and always smiling in person.
“He’s just a really good, solid guy who goes the extra mile,” Connolly said, “And that big laugh of his would make the most grizzled ball-writer smile.”
“He couldn’t be easier to deal with; LaVelle is kind and funny and smart, pretty much everything you’d want in someone you’re working with,” Slusser said.
Asked to describe Neal in one word Twins director of baseball communications and player relations Dustin Morse said “social,” citing Neal’s “unique skill” at being friendly, respectful and approachable with the PR staff, coaches, players and his media peers.
Neal is just as reliable as a journalist those who know him say.
“He’s one of the best people I’ve ever worked with,” said Phil Miller, who shares the Twins beat at the Star Tribune with Neal, “He knows a lot, is always willing to share it, is more than willing to do his share and is always in a good mood.”
“I’ve never known him to drop the ball on anything,” Slusser said.
“I was always struck by his depth of knowledge and the depth of ability that he brought to the job…and how that depth of knowledge enriches his coverage,” Derrick Goold, BBWAA board member and St. Louis Cardinals beat writer for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch said.
“You know when LaVelle writes something that it is correct because he has done his homework,” Connolly added, “He is very passionate. He enjoys what he does and where he is.”
Neal’s work was honored at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in 2012, where he was presented with the Sam Lacy Award for best baseball writer of the year. Lacy was a pioneering African-American journalist and sports writer for decades, starting in the 1930s.
Neal likes to have fun on the job, and colleagues were more than willing to offer up stories.
“He tends to run into celebrities during spring training,” said Miller, who added Neal often sees baseball legends and personalities around Fort Myers.
The Twins’ Morse recalled a game during the 2014 season in which a foul ball hit and cracked Neal’s iPad in the press box, getting quite a laugh from his fellow journalists.
Morse also remembered golfing together in a tournament during spring training when Neal swung and missed the ball and rolled down the hill.
“He was OK, a bit embarrassed,” Morse said, but Neal’s optimism and good humor allowed him to make light of the situation.
Neal is a sports fan even while off the clock. He enjoys going to Minnesota Timberwolves games and is commonly known as a big follower of most of his hometown Chicago pro teams. He also enjoys listening to live music, especially blues.
Neal, who is single, also helps look out for his younger brother Larry, who suffers from Asperger’s Syndrome and lives with him in Minneapolis. Neal drives him to work and the two hang out whenever possible, usually enjoying a sci-fi movie.
It wasn’t all luck
After getting a few lucky openings into the industry Neal made his career by working up the ranks and maximizing his efforts, often taking the unwanted beat or two beats at the same time.
“Right place, right time,” he said, “I like to think I kind of made my own break too.”
Kaitlin Merkel is studying journalism at the University of Minnesota.