Ralph Wiley (Paperback)

High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Ralph Wiley (April 12, 1952 - June 13, 2004) was a sports journalist who wrote for various publications such as Sports Illustrated and espn.com's Page 2 section. Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Wiley attended Knoxville College from 1972-75, eventually landing his first professional journalism job at the Knoxville-Kayana Spectrum. Upon graduation, Wiley earned a position at the Oakland Tribune, where he coined the famous phrase "Billyball" to describe the managerial style of Billy Martin. He quickly climbed up the ranks from copyboy to beat writer and eventually became a regular columnist. In 1982, he was hired by Sports Illustrated, where he wrote 28 cover stories over a nine-year period, mainly about boxing, football, and baseball.