[Mike Fieschko]

Man oh man. A big thanks for posting Red Smith.

Heading over to the public library to see what they have of his.

The Trib was still around for a few years growing up, but Dad always took the New York Times, Newark Evening News and New Brunswick Daily Home News.

[BluesDuke]

This essay was included in the maginficent anthology, Red Smith On Baseball, published two years ago and now available in quality paperback. Hunt the used book stores and you're also likely to find two previous (and excellent) collections, The Red Smith Reader and To Absent Friends From Red Smith, the latter an anthology of his lovely eulogies.

Red Smith, in case you didn't know, stayed aboard when the Herald Tribune made its ill-fated merge with the World-Telegram and Sun and the Journal-American into the World Journal Tribune, a merger which lasted only fifteen months. When the World Journal Tribune collapsed, Smith joined The New York Times, where he was their lead sports columnist for the rest of his life (he died in 1982) and won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished commentary during the 1970s.

Smith was one of my favourite baseball writers growing up. I frankly wish someone at the Los Angeles Times would think to do a similar baseball-only anthology on their late, great Jim Murray (who also won the Pulitzer)...

A rookie on the Reds, a few years ago, asked me who that little old man was - and I said, 'That little old man is Red Smith, but don't let his size and age fool you. He's got Nolan Ryan's fastball and Sandy Koufax's curve. And in his league he's the best there is. - Tom Seaver.