Dan Raley, Author of How Seattle Became a Big-League Sports Town

In How Seattle Became a Big-League Sports Town: from George Wilson to Russell Wilson, author Dan Raley provides an often gritty account of the city’s sporting past, an unapologetic, behind-the-scenes look at all of its heroes and scandal-makers.

Raley, a sportswriter for the Seattle PI for nearly three decades, documents the city’s ardent pursuit of national attention, professional franchises and championship moments, mixing in sex, drugs and pick-and-rolls to explain how Seattle’s sports evolution unfolded.

It covers every sport, from football, basketball and baseball to boxing, golf, horse racing, hockey and hydro racing. There’s wrestling, soccer, track and field and tennis, too.

Raley interviewed nearly each one of the people profiled--many since deceased--or their family members while writing his “Where Are They Now” feature for the PI. Those stories, now expanded and updated in this new book, transcend the usual cut-and-dried reporting as he delves into the lives, warts and all, of these intriguing characters.

How Seattle Became a Big-League Sports Town features more than 200 historical photos and three-dozen Top 10 lists, plus a back index of 530 additional sports contributors, making it the most comprehensive history of Seattle sports ever written.