Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle has covered baseball since 1988, and joined the Chronicle in 1998 to cover the Giants. He’s one of the most respected baseball writers in the country, regardless of market. But going into 2021, Shulman’s voice will be noticeably absent from coverage of the team.
On Friday, Schulman announced in a column that he would be taking a buyout from Hearst Communications, owner of the Chronicle, and would retire from daily reporting, effective January 4th.
After forcing you to read to the 11th paragraph — sorry, sport, you’ll never get that time back — I’m here to say that after covering the Giants for The Chronicle for the past 23 seasons and baseball since 1988, I’m stepping away to give someone else a shot to hold the best sportswriting job a human can have. The 2020 season was my last.
I have accepted the voluntary buyout that Hearst offered all Chronicle employees and will retire from daily journalism on Jan. 4.
Schulman noted that he’ll have feature stories running before and possibly after his departure from the paper, and that he still wants to write about baseball – he just doesn’t want to do it on a deadline.
(hello, The Athletic. But I digress)
Several of Schulman’s fellow Bay Area journalists paid tribute on Twitter.
I’m devastated that Henry is leaving – he’s that rare blend of first-rate reporter and tremendously talented writer, usually on a tight deadline. He’s not just a treasured colleague and a dear friend but he’s the best possible role model for any baseball writer. Including me. https://t.co/QjHBt7cDPX
— Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) December 11, 2020
Add us to the chorus. Best wishes, Henry – your coverage will sorely be missed, and we hope to read some longer form work out of you somewhere in 2021.