Josh Lewin is an American sports broadcaster and author whose books cover baseball and English soccer. A Northwestern University graduate, he has called games for television and radio, including work covering the Texas Rangers. His writing examines experiences around the playing field as well as events on it, from the search for employment in baseball to players’ recollections of entering the major leagues.
His first three books concern baseball: Getting in the Game, You Never Forget Your First, and Ballgame!. The fourth, Rescuing the Royals: Inside the Football League Madhouse, appeared in August 2026 and follows Reading FC. His publisher describes a reporting project conducted while commuting between California and England during the 2025–26 season. The soccer book extends work that has also included producing, writing, and directing documentaries about English Football League clubs and executive producing the podcast EFL Today.
Josh Lewin Books
| Book | Year | Amazon |
|---|---|---|
| Getting in the Game | 2003 | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| You Never Forget Your First | 2005 | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| Ballgame! | 2012 | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| Rescuing the Royals | 2026 | Description / Buy at Amazon |
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Lewin’s early book about baseball’s winter meetings draws on a process he experienced as a job seeker. Its diary format follows applicants trying to turn an interest in the game into employment, alongside executives deciding whom to hire. Their stories take place amid the larger industry’s meetings, trade show, and informal conversations. This gives the account an institutional subject as well as a set of individual ambitions.
The books approach entry into sports from different positions. Getting in the Game follows people seeking jobs behind the scenes, while You Never Forget Your First collects accounts of players reaching the major leagues. Ballgame! uses a broadcaster’s view of an established team. Rescuing the Royals shifts to the running of a soccer club, examining how administrative decisions, resources, and supporters’ expectations interact.
Baseball Books
Getting in the Game: Inside Baseball's Winter Meetings: Lewin follows three job seekers at baseball’s winter meetings as they pursue opportunities in broadcasting and club operations. A diary-style narrative records interviews, hopes, and decisions, while executives explain the hiring process from the other side. Sections on the trade show, mascots, and minor league business place the applicants’ experiences within the wider baseball industry. First published in 2003.
You Never Forget Your First: Ballplayers Recall Their Big League Debuts: Lewin gathers recollections from 120 major league players about their first appearances at the sport’s highest level. Their accounts revisit the anticipation and unfamiliar circumstances of a professional milestone, bringing together players from different eras. The collection approaches major league debuts through personal memory, showing how players remembered the transition from aspiring to reach the league to taking part in it. Published in 2005.
Ballgame!: A Decade Covering the Texas Rangers from the Best Seat in the House: Lewin recounts a decade covering the Texas Rangers, with particular attention to the 2010 season and the team’s first World Series appearance. His perspective from the broadcasting booth connects games with ownership uncertainty and difficulties surrounding key figures. The account follows a franchise’s transformation into a championship contender while describing the work and access of a team announcer. Published in 2012.
Soccer Books
Rescuing the Royals: Inside the Football League Madhouse: Lewin goes inside Reading FC during the 2025–26 season, examining a club attempting to recover under new American ownership. Access to its leadership and team connects recruitment, academy policy, finances, and players’ lives with supporters’ hopes. The book considers the practical and emotional demands of running a club outside the Premier League’s wealth and visibility. Published in August 2026.
The Reading project includes the financial realities behind a club’s sporting ambitions. Questions about recruitment and academy policy appear alongside the effort to balance accounts, rather than being treated as decisions made only on competitive grounds. Lewin’s position as an American reporter following an English team also connects his earlier work in U.S. professional sports with a different league structure and supporter culture.