Jonah Keri
Born (1974-09-20) September 20, 1974 (age 49)
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
OccupationJournalist, Columnist
GenreSports, Entertainment, Business

Jonah Keri (born September 20, 1974) is a Canadian former journalist, sportswriter, and editor. He is currently serving a prison sentence after pleading guilty to multiple counts of domestic violence offences.

Early life and education

Keri is from Montreal, Quebec. Growing up, Keri was a fan of the Montreal Expos, something he attributes to his grandfathers' love of baseball.[1] He remains one[2] despite the team's 2005 relocation to Washington to become the Washington Nationals.

Keri worked as a summer intern at the Montreal Gazette. He graduated from Concordia University's journalism program in 1997.[citation needed]

Career

Keri is mostly known for writing about baseball, though he has also covered other sports as well as business and entertainment. His writing has appeared on ESPN.com,[3] The Wall Street Journal,[4] FanGraphs,[5] GQ,[6] The Huffington Post,[7] The New York Times,[8] Bloomberg Sports,[9] Baseball Prospectus,[10] Investor's Business Daily,[11] Sports Illustrated,[12] Grantland,[13] FiveThirtyEight,[14] CBSSports.com, The Athletic,[15] and Sportsnet.[16]

Keri co-wrote and edited the book Baseball Between the Numbers: Why Everything You Know About the Game Is Wrong.[17] He also wrote the New York Times Bestseller The Extra 2%: How Wall Street Strategies Took a Major League Baseball Team from Worst to First, about the Tampa Bay Rays.[18]

In March 2014, he published Up, Up, and Away: The Kid, the Hawk, Rock, Vladi, Pedro, le Grand Orange, Youppi!, the Crazy Business of Baseball, and the Ill-fated but Unforgettable Montreal Expos,[19] which details the franchise history of the Expos. The book was a No. 1 Canadian bestseller.[20]

Keri hosted a podcast, where he interviewed notable personalities from sports and entertainment, including Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau[21] and NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal.[22] The Jonah Keri Podcast was found at CBSSports.com[23] and on iTunes.[24]

Keri also appeared as himself during the first season of the IFC series Brockmire in the episode titled "Old Timers Day."[25][26]

Domestic violence charges and conviction

Keri was arrested for assaulting his wife on July 18, 2019.[27] He was granted bail the next day after being charged with three counts of assault causing bodily harm and uttering death threats. Court documents said the alleged attacks took place in July 2018, May 2019, and July 2019.[28] Hours after his court appearance, The Athletic suspended Keri "pending further information.”[29]

Keri was arrested again on November 27, 2019, and charged with violating his bail conditions.[30] Keri was arrested for a third time on December 10, 2019, and charged with eight new counts of domestic violence-related charges including assault, assault of a minor (presumably his infant son), and criminal harassment.[31] Keri had at least three court appearances in early 2020 (January,[32] March,[33] and April[34]) related to all 13 criminal charges. He pleaded guilty on August 30, 2021.[35]

On March 23, 2022, Keri was sentenced to 21 months in prison, more than prosecutors had requested.[36][37] Keri must also serve two years probation and will be prohibited from possessing weapons for 10 years. Quebec Court Justice Alexandre Dalmau also prohibited Keri from contacting his victims or coming within 50 metres of them.[38] In August 2022, his first request for parole was rejected.[39]

References

  1. ^ Zurkowsky, Herb (November 15, 2017). "Business, not politics, will drive potential Expos return: Jonah Keri". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved March 1, 2018.
  2. ^ "Baseball Prospectus - Au Revoir, Mes Amours". Baseball Prospectus. September 29, 2004.
  3. ^ Keri, Jonah (May 22, 2011). "Flying Fish". ESPN.COM.
  4. ^ Keri, Jonah (October 14, 2009). "Does Baseball Need Umpires?". The Wall Street Journal. Recent Bad Calls Have Critics Howling for Better Umps, But Maybe It's a Job for Machines
  5. ^ Keri, Jonah (April 8, 2011). "Manny Ramirez's Legacy, and the Fate of the Rays". FanGraphs.
  6. ^ Keri, Jonah (May 26, 2011). "Balls Out Guest of the Day: Jonah Keri On Why Boston Was Right To Trade Kendrick Perkins". GQ.
  7. ^ Keri, Jonah (October 29, 2009). "The Pedro I Know". The Huffington Post.
  8. ^ Keri, Jonah (November 21, 2009). "To Hang In, a Series Winner Must Learn to Let Go". The New York Times.
  9. ^ Keri, Jonah (April 4, 2010). "The Bloomberg Sports Fantasy Squad". Bloomberg Sports.
  10. ^ Keri, Jonah (November 18, 2003). "Chat". Baseball Prospectus.
  11. ^ Keri, Jonah (October 11, 2010). "Retail ETFs Packing A Powerful Punch". Investor's Business Daily. Archived from the original on October 15, 2010.
  12. ^ Keri, Jonah (August 10, 2009). "Crawford's playing like an MVP, but is this his last hurrah in Tampa?". Sports Illustrated.
  13. ^ "Jonah Keri Stories, Blogs, Podcasts - Grantland". Archived from the original on September 21, 2013. Retrieved July 17, 2013.
  14. ^ Keri, Jonah, and Neil Paine, "For Some MLB Playoff Teams, There's No Place Like Road," FiveThirtyEight, September 16, 2014
  15. ^ "Jonah Keri – The Athletic". Theathletic.com. Retrieved March 1, 2018.
  16. ^ "Jonah Keri, Author at". Sportsnet.ca. November 9, 2017. Retrieved March 1, 2018.
  17. ^ Keri, Jonah (March 1, 2007). Baseball Between the Numbers: Why Everything You Know About the Game Is Wrong. Basic Books. ISBN 978-0-465-00547-5.
  18. ^ Keri, Jonah (March 8, 2011). The Extra 2%: How Wall Street Strategies Took a Major League Baseball Team from Worst to First. ESPN. ISBN 978-0-345-51765-4.
  19. ^ Jonah Keri, Up, Up, and Away: The Kid, the Hawk, Rock, Vladi, Pedro, le Grand Orange, Youppi!, the Crazy Business of Baseball, and the Ill-fated but Unforgettable Montreal Expos, Random House Canada, 2014, ISBN 978-0307361356.
  20. ^ Bennett, Paul W. (May 3, 2014). "For Expos fans, Big O still field of dreams | The Chronicle Herald". Thechronicleherald.ca. Retrieved March 1, 2018.
  21. ^ Keri, Jonah (April 24, 2017). "Jonah Keri sitdown with Justin Trudeau: Canada's Prime Minister talks sports, immigration, Montreal and more". CBSSports.com. Retrieved March 1, 2018.
  22. ^ "The Jonah Keri Podcast #19: Shaquille O'Neal". Nerdist. May 6, 2016. Retrieved March 1, 2018.
  23. ^ "Jonah Keri Podcast - CBS Sports". CBSSports.com. Retrieved March 1, 2018.
  24. ^ "The Jonah Keri Podcast by CBS Sports on Apple Podcasts". Itunes.apple.com. Retrieved March 1, 2018.
  25. ^ ""Brockmire" Old Timers Day (TV Episode 2017)". IMDb.
  26. ^ "'Brockmire' Review". Hollywood Reporter. April 3, 2017. Retrieved March 1, 2018.
  27. ^ "Sportswriter Jonah Keri granted bail following assault charges". CTV News Montreal. July 19, 2019. Retrieved July 19, 2019.
  28. ^ "Baseball Writer Jonah Keri Arrested, Charged With Assault On His Wife". Deadspin. July 19, 2019. Retrieved July 19, 2019.
  29. ^ "Sportswriter Jonah Keri suspended from The Athletic after being charged with assaulting his wife". New York Daily News. Retrieved July 19, 2019.
  30. ^ Boshra, Basem (November 27, 2019). "Sportswriter Jonah Keri is re-arrested, lawyer says pocket dial to blame for breaking release condition". ctvnews. Retrieved December 2, 2019.
  31. ^ Feith, Jesse (December 12, 2019). "Expos author Jonah Keri charged with assaulting wife and a minor | Montreal Gazette". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved December 17, 2019.
  32. ^ Lau, Rachel (November 13, 2019). "Montreal sportswriter Jonah Keri to return to court Jan. 14 to face assault charges". Montreal.
  33. ^ "Expos author wants to settle domestic assault charges without trial". montrealgazette.
  34. ^ BWH [@BWH85] (April 9, 2020). "looks like ol' Jonah is due back in court next week.... It's been like a year since he got arrested. They sure take their sweet ass time with these things up in Canada. Not sure what "Proces decl. som." means though https://t.co/9FrfyvaRmb" (Tweet). Retrieved January 4, 2021 – via Twitter.
  35. ^ "Montreal Expos author Jonah Keri pleads guilty to domestic assault charges". Montreal Gazette. January 1, 1970. Retrieved August 30, 2021.
  36. ^ "Former sports reporter Jonah Keri sentenced to 21 months in domestic violence case | Globalnews.ca". Global News. Retrieved March 23, 2022.
  37. ^ "Baseball writer Jonah Keri sentenced to 21 months for assaulting, threatening ex-wife". montrealgazette. Retrieved March 23, 2022.
  38. ^ "Disgraced Montreal sports writer Jonah Keri sentenced to 21 months for domestic abuse charges". Montreal. March 23, 2022. Retrieved March 23, 2022.
  39. ^ "Baseball writer Jonah Keri denied parole while he serves 21-month sentence". montrealgazette. August 22, 2022. Retrieved November 28, 2022.
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