Meet The Sports Writers

[Bill Burgess]

William Frederick Herman Wecke

Born: July 25, 1893, St. Louis, MO
Died: March 3, 1977, St. Louis, MO, age 83---d. Lutheran Convalescent Home, St. Louis, MO.

St. Louis sports writer;
St. Louis Times, 1912 - 1914
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February, 1915 - August, 1961
Was a Sporting News' correspondent for St. Louis, December 9, 1926 - 1961
Sporting News' Associate editor, August, 1961 - 1966.


----------------------------Above: Sporting News' obituary, March 19, 1977, pp. 46.
---------------------------------------Below: Sporting News' write-up, December 29, 1962, pp. 10.

[Bill Burgess]

William Guille Wedge, Jr.

Born: March 27, 1889, Zanesville, OH
Died: September 8, 1951, Cooperstown, NY, age 62

Philadelphia / New York sports writer;
Case School of Applied Science in Cleveland;
New York Globe, (covered waterfront),
New York Sun, 1923 - January 4, 1950
covered every World Series from 1923 - 1949
Baseball's Hall of Fame librarian, January, 1951 - September 8, 1951

Will Wedge (Sportswriter. Born, Zanesville, OH, Mar. 27, 1889; died, Detroit, MI, Sept. 8, 1951.) Recruited from ship news, a major beat at the time, William Guille Wedge became a leading baseball writer. Wedge dropped out of Case Tech (now Case Western Reserve) in Cleveland to pursue his writing career. He came to New York and was hired at The Globe & Commercial Advertiser, where he rose to the leading ship news writer. But when Frank Munsey merged The Globe into The Sun in 1923, Wedge joined the combined staff and was recruited by Joe Vila (q.v.), The Sun’s sports editor, for baseball, the biggest sports beat. He covered every World Series from 1923-49 for the paper, which closed Jan. 4, 1950. Wedge then went to the Baseball Hall of Fame and was representing that institution at the American Legion baseball championship when he died.(The Bill Shannon Biographical Dictionary of New York Sports is an open database of sports biographies maintained by Jordan Sprechman and Marty Appel.

Sporting News' obituary, September 19, 1951, pp. 44.---------------------------Washington Post obituary,
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------September 9, 1951, pp. C3.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------New York Times' obituary,
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------September 9, 1951, pp. 90.

December 21, 1950, L-R: Frederic W. Ecker (Children's Village president), William Zeckendorf
(New York realtor), Melvyn G. Lowenstein (Babe Ruth Foundation secretary), Will Wedge,
and J. Paul Carey (Babe Ruth Foundation treasurer).----------------------------------------------Will Wedge/William Zeckendorf, oil painting by Harold voin Schmidt of Westport, CT, to be placed in Baseball's Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY.

[Bill Burgess]

John Joseph Kuenster

Born: June 18, 1924, Chicago, IL
Died: April 2, 2012, Evergreen Park, IL, age 87,---d. cardiac arrest.

Chicago sports writer;
Chicago New World Weekly, sports columnist, 1947 - 1948
Columbian Weekly general columnist, 1948 - 1956
Chicago Daily News, beat writer
Baseball Digest associate editor, 1969 - present.
Authored Heartbreakers, 2001
John covered & traveled with both the Cubs & White Sox, 1957 - 1965.

Excerpts from To Sleep with the Angels:
"On a cold Monday afternoon, December 1, 1958, I was working at my desk in the Chicago Daily News building, . . . Bill Mooney, a rewrite man, was standing to my right with a phone clamped to his ear when he suddenly shouted, "We've got a school fire on the West Side!"

From that point on, reporters and photographers from the Daily News as well as from other local newspaper offices and television and radio stations began a hasty exodus to Our Lady of the Angels elementary school at 909 N. Avers Ave., about five miles northwest of the Loop.

After talking to reporters and photographers who were on the scene that day, I thought that someday, someone should write a comprehensive book about what actually happened during and after the fire . . .

It was years before I began work on the book, To Sleep with the Angels, co-authored with David Cowan and finally published by Ivan R. Dee in 1996.

The book was well received . . "
--------------------------------------------------
Kuenster, a sportswriter with Chicago's Daily News, is the last living journalist to have covered the Cup clincher in Detroit’s Olympia on April 16, 1961. In April of 1961, Kuenster had switched off from hockey beat responsibilities to cover baseball. The White Sox happened to be in Detroit, but the game was postponed because of a snowstorm. Kuenster fielded a phone call from his sports editor in Chicago, Joe Rein, who instructed him to head to the Olympia for Game 6.

“I started with the Blackhawks in 1957, when they were just starting to come out of the dark ages,” Kuenster said. “We just covered home games. I did some baseball, of course, and wrote about the White Sox when they won the World Series in 1959. But I was more than happy to go to the Olympia that night. I honestly don’t remember what the Daily News would have done if the baseball game hadn’t been postponed. I can’t imagine that they didn’t have another writer there for the Blackhawks.

[Bill Burgess]

Atilio Luigi Ferdenzi---AKA Til Ferdenzi

Born: March 8, 1915, Ashland, MA
Died: March 12, 2000, Lorton, VA, age 85,---d. heart attack at his home at the Sunrise Assisted Living in Lorton, VA.

New York sports writer;
Graduated Boston College, 1937 (starred in football) (English major)
Enlisted WWII, Marine Corps, 1942 - 1947, (intelligence officer, for fighter squadron in Pacific sector)
New York Journal-American, sports writer, 1948 - December 16, 1967 (covered New York Yankees)
Sporting News correspondent, (35 years, November 21, 1951 - June 21, 1975)
NBC Sports Publicist, PR coordinator, January 21, 1967; director of sports publicity, November 11, 1972 - 1977.
ESPN, publicity consultant, 1982 - 1991
Lived Rockville Center, Long Island, NY, after retired, moved to Cape Cod.

Father: Andrea (Andrew), born Italy around 1875; Mother: Adelina (Adeline), born Italy around 1888; Wife: Blanche (Karkeet); Andrea Ferdenzi deMatteo of Mason Neck.

OBITUARIES / Atilio L. Ferdenzi , 85, Retired Sports Writer
Newsday (Melville, NY) - Tuesday, March 21, 2000
Author: Jennifer L.M. Gunn. STAFF WRITER

Every February, Atilio L. Ferdenzi , better known as "Til," took his family to Florida whenever he was on assignment as a sportswriter covering baseball spring training. "Five weeks out of school-that was pretty cool," said his daughter Andrea Ferdenzi deMatteo of Mason Neck, Va. "It was a little enclave of families during spring training, in the worst part of the winter."

Ferdenzi , a former Rockville Centre resident from 1950 to 1978, was a sportswriter, a former U.S. Marine and an athlete. He had been living with Alzheimer's disease for eight years and on March 12 died of a heart attack at his home at Sunrise of Gunston Assisted Living in Lorton, Virginia. He was 85.

Born in Ashland, Mass., Ferdenzi graduated from Ashland High School in 1933. He attended Boston College as an English major, and as a varsity football and baseball player, earning six varsity letters. Ferdenzi spent his summers playing baseball in the Cape Cod Baseball League, playing for the Harwich team. "You could do that back then," his daughter said.

After graduation, Ferdenzi enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1942, where he served as an intelligence officer in Squadron VMF 32 in the Pacific during World War II. Ferdenzi debriefed returning pilots during the war and was extremely proud of his service. "He went to the reunions every year," his daughter said. "The squadron sent a representative to the funeral."

In 1945, Ferdenzi met his future wife, Blanche Karkeet, also a Marine, in San Francisco. After his discharge in 1947, they were married.

Ferdenzi went to work at the New York Journal-American as a sportswriter, covering the Yankees. While working in New York City, the Ferdenzi family settled in Rockville Centre, where they stayed until the late 1970s.

As a traveling sportswriter, he was on the road mostly by train following the Yankees and developed close relationships with the players. But in his daughter's mind her father's profession was seemingly not glamorous. It was only his job.

It was a job, however, that Ferdenzi loved. His favorite stadium was in Baltimore, because of the crab-cakes that were served in the press box.

Ferdenzi also was a freelance writer for The Sporting News for 35 years starting November 21, 1951. After the New York Journal-American shut down, Ferdenzi worked shortly in public relations, and then at NBC Sports as the director of sports publicity until his retirement in 1977.

After retirement, Ferdenzi moved to Yarmouth Port, Mass., working as a publicity consultant for ESPN from 1982 to 1991. In 1994, Ferdenzi 's wife died and he moved to Virginia, where his daughter lives.

Ferdenzi was a member of St. Agnes Cathedral in Rockville Center, and the Boston College Athletic Hall of Fame.

Services were held on March 18 and burial was at Wildwood Cemetery in Winchester, Mass.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Alzheimer's Association 919 N. Michigan Ave. Suite 1100, Chicago, IL 60611-1676.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Til Ferdenzi (Sportswriter. Born, Ashland, Mass., Mar. 8, 1915; died, Lorton, Va., Mar. 12, 2000.) A varsity football halfback and baseball infielder at Boston College, Atilio L. Ferdenzi became a Journal-American sportswriter in 1947. Ferdenzi spent the next 19 years at the paper until in closed in 1966. He was primarily a baseball writer, covering the Yankees. Ferdenzi did public relations work after the Journal-American folded, serving nearly 10 years as director of sports publicity at NBC Sports until he retired in 1977. For over 30 years, he was a correspondent for The Sporting News. After his retirement, Ferdenzi was a consultant (1982-91) for ESPN. He was chairman of the New York chapter of the B.B.W.A.A. in 1963-64 and was an official scorer for the 1962 World Series. During World War II, Ferdenzi was an intelligence officer for the Marine Corps. He joined the Journal-American shortly after his discharge from the Marines. (The Bill Shannon Biographical Dictionary of New York Sports is an open database of sports biographies maintained by Jordan Sprechman and Marty Appel.)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Sporting News' January 21, 1967, pp. 12.-------Sporting News, November 11, 1972, pp. 12.

Mickey Mantle Day: September 18, 1965, Yankee Stadium, NYC: L-R: Til Ferdenzi, Floyd Smith, Mickey Mantle, Toots Shor (restauranteur),
James A. Farley (former Postmaster), Joe DiMaggio, Ms. Louise Mac George. Ferdenzi presents Mickey with portable typewriter..


March 4, 1959: New York sports writers in St. Petersburg, FL.
Top Row, L-R: Stan Isaacs, Dan Daniel, Tommy Holmes, Bill Dougerty, Len Schecter, Jim Ogle.

Bottom Row, L-R: John Drebinger, Jack Lang, Casey Stengel, Joe Trimble, Ken Smith, Til Ferdenzi.



January, 1964: Til Ferdenzi, Barney Kremenko, Yogi Berra.

[Bill Burgess]

Gustave Steiger---Gus Steiger

Born: November 18, 1897, New York
Died: December 22, 1988, NYC, age 91

Brooklyn / New York sports writer;
Penn State College (University Park, PA), September, 1918
Brooklyn Times,
New York Morning World,
New York Journal-American,
New York Daily Mirror, 1933 - 1963, covered the Brooklyn Dodgers.

November, 1948, covering Army/Navy game.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------Sporting News' obituary, January 30, 1989.------The Ballplayers, pp. 1940.

[Bill Burgess]

Garner Willis Taylor---AKA Sec Taylor

Born: January 20, 1887, Wichita, KS
Died: February 26, 1965, Des Moines, Iowa, age 78---d. in Miami, FL, of heart attack. Had arrived to tour baseball spring training camps.

In school in Wichita (June 9, 1900 census)
Wichita Beacon, cup reporter, 1905
Wichita Eagle
St. Joseph Gazette
Saturday Blade (Chicago weekly)
Wichita Daily News, reporter, (April 26, 1910 census)
Des Moines Register, news reporter, (June 5, 1917, WWI Civillan Draft Registration)
Des Moines Register, sports editor, 1914 - 1965

GENE RAFFENSPERGER • Register Staff Writer • July 8, 1990

In his 50 years as sports editor of The Des Moines Register, Sec Taylor was a writer, columnist and an editor who directed the coverage and look of a sports section that earned a prestigious national reputation.

He also was a molder of public opinion. He even was an on-the-field official in some of the major games he covered for the paper.

In time, observers came to look upon Taylor as the sports conscience of Iowa.

For all those roles, Taylor, who still was on the job at age 78 when he died of a heart attack in 1965, today becomes a member of the Des Moines Sunday Register's Iowa Sports Hall of Fame under the category "contributor."

No one contributed more to the Iowa sports scene.

Taylor's newspaper stories, columns of commentary and articles of analysis covered sports from high school to professional, and from baseball to wrestling.

Taylor became sports editor of The Register in 1914. So for about 40 years, a time before television gave people instant access to sideline seats and took them into locker rooms where coaches and players uttered obligatory cliches of victory or defeat, he acted as the eyes and ears of Iowa readers.

In his column, "Sittin' in With the Athletes," and in news stories, Taylor took his readers to events they never could see for themselves -- World Series, Kentucky Derby, heavyweight championship fights.

He wrote work pictures of the legends and heroes of a golden age of sports -- Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, Bob Feller, Joe Louis, Jack Dempsey, Knute Rockne, Nile Kinnick, Frank Gotch, Bronko Nagurski, Whirlaway, War Admirals and others.

"People depended on him," said Kenneth MacDonald, who before his retirement was editor and publisher of The Des Moines Register and Tribune. "Sec's reputation for integrity was unquestioned."

MacDonald said Taylor felt sports should be reported in a straight-forward manner, the same as news was reported in the newspaper.

"I think when he started there were a lot of 'gee whiz' sports writers, lots of purple prose and just plain boosterism," MacDonald said. "Sec didn't believe in that."

The integrity of Taylor and his sports department was praised in 1929 by the Carnegie Foundation, which singled out a letter Taylor wrote in 1925 to college sports correspondents who sent stories to The Register.

The letter urged honest reporting, not false propaganda, which was the type of story many coaches wanted in the newspaper.

He came by his nickname, 'Sec' which was a holdover from his days as secretary of the Des Moines and Wichita baseball terams. He was often seen at baseball World Series, Football Bowl games, heavyweight title fights, Olympics, Kentucky Derbies and other top sports events.

For many years he officiated basketball and football games in the major college conferences in the midwest, including the Big Ten and the old Missour Valley, which later became the Big Six and then the Big Seven.

Sec was one of he founders of the Football Writers Association of America and served as its president. In 1950 he was honored with a Sec Taylor night at the Des Moines baseball park. The park later was renamed Sec Taylor stadium.

Sporting News' obituary, March 13, 1965, pp.28. ---Chicago Tribune obituary, February 27, 1965, pp. A4.


Sec and his wife enjoy a quiet moment in the comfort of their home.

[Bill Burgess]

William John McGoogan, Sr.---AKA Bill McGoogan

Born: February 13, 1897, St. Louis, MO
Died: May 9, 1966, St. Louis, MO, age 69,---d. of cancer---Buried: Calvary Catholic Cemetery, St. Louis, MO

St. Louis sports writer;
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 1919 - March, 1966, assigned to sports in 1923.
Bill covered baseball, football, golf, hockey and boxing but specialized in boxing and baseball.


---------------------------------------------------------Sporting News' obituary,---------------------------------------------Hartford Courant obituary
---------------------------------------------------------May 21, 1966, pp. 40.------------------------------------------------May 10, 1966, pp. 23.

[Bill Burgess]

Franklin Allan Lewis---AKA Whitey Lewis

Born: January 18, 1904, Lafayette, IN
Died: March 12, 1958, Lincoln, AZ, age 54

Cleveland sports writer;
Purdue University (West Lafayette, IN), 1926
Miami Daily Tab editor (FL), 1925 - 1927
Daytona Beach New-Journal editor (FL), 1927 - 1929
press agent - juvenile,
touring Tab museum show, 1929 - 1930
Cleveland Press, associate editor, 1931 - 1937, sports editor, sports columnist, & sports writer, 1937 - 1958, death.
Sports editor, radio station, WGAR, Cleveland, 1937 - 1939.

Authored:
The Cleveland Indians, 1949

Sporting News' obituary, March 19, 1958, pp. 34, column 2.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1946.

[Bill Burgess]

Robert F. Holbrook---AKA Bob Holbrook

Born: January 29, 1919, Massachusetts
Died: January 13, 2004, Newton, MA, age 84,---d. St. Elizabeth's Medical Center, Boston,MA

Boston sports writer;
Boston Globe, 1936 - 1965
Began with Boston Globe as copy boy in 1936, after graduating HS.
Began covering sports in 1940, when he reported his 1st ML game.
After WWII army service, covered both Boston Braves/Red Sox.
Still covered Red Sox by 1962, when promoted to associate sports editor.
Executive Assistant/Secretary to 3 AL Presidents, 1965 - 1985.
Consultant to league, 1985 to 1990.
Later worked briefly as public relations assistant for the Boston Red Sox.

Father: Harry Tracy Holbrook; Mother: Anna Florence 'Annie' Cottle;
---------------------------------------
American League Rookie of the Year. Boston: Carlton Fisk, Boston Red Sox Catcher (L) receives the Ford C. Frick Award
as the 1972 American League Rookie of the Year from Bob Holbrook, Executive Asst. of the league, Fenway Park.

-----------------------------------1972------------------------------------------------------April 18, 1958

[Bill Burgess]

Joseph King---AKA Joe King

Born: May 19, 1908, Jersey City, NJ
Died: April 16, 1979, Ridgewood, NJ, age 70

New York sports writer / author;
Attended Fordham University (Bronx, NY),
New York Telegram, 1930 - 1931
New York World-Telegram, 1931 - 1950
New York World Telegram & Sun, January 4, 1950 - 1966
New York World Journal Tribune, 1966 - 1967
Ridgewood chain, left sports beat.
Started as associate managing editor, then managing editor, then executive editor.

Early he was a yachting expert, covering several America cup races. Associated with NY Giants, baseball, football. Covered New York Giants for over 2 decades. Helped organize the New York professional Football Writers Association in 1967. National Football Hall of Fame.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Joe King (Sportswriter. Born, Jersey City, N.J., May 19, 1908; died, Ridgewood, N.J., Apr. 16, 1979.) Recognized as one of the first writers to see pro football as a major national sport, Joseph King began his career as a yachting writer. King joined the Evening Telegram in 1930. The paper became the World-Telegram in 1931 and he continued to focus primarily on sailing until 1939, when he began to cover the Football Giants. Although he was later to spend time covering the baseball Giants, Yankees, Dodgers, and Mets, it was pro football that engaged his attention. King studied the game, seeking out players and coaches for explanations of strategy, and writing stories during the week before the game for the paper. This approach was very uncommon at the time, when generally only the games themselves received any significant coverage outside of places such as Green Bay, Wisc. King’s intense coverage of the sport enabled fans to grasp the nuances and teminology. When the baseball Giants, his summer beat, left New York after the 1957 season, he focused even more on pro football. This, coupled with the Giants’ N.F.L. championship in 1956 and the classic title game in 1958 against Baltimore, elevated the sport in the nation’s major news center. In 1966, his paper was folded into the short-lived World Journal Tribune. When that paper failed, King joined the Ridgewood (N.J.) Newspaper group in 1968 and rose to executive editor. (The Bill Shannon Biographical Dictionary of New York Sports is an open database of sports biographies maintained by Jordan Sprechman and Marty Appel.)

Sporting News' obituary, May 5, 1979, pp. 44.

April 23, 1948: Governor Thomas E. Dewey (right) congratulates Joe DiMaggio as the New York
Yankees outfielder receives the Landis Memorial, emblematic of the Most Valuable Player choice
of the American League for 1947. At center is Joe King of the New York World Telegram, president
of the local baseball writers, who made presentation before home inaugural at Yankee Stadium April 23rd.


Sporting News' article, January 31, 1962, pp. 15.

[Bill Burgess]

Howard Lewis Roberts

Born: July 2, 1903, Clinton, IA
Died: March 28, 1986, Chicago, IL, age 82---d. Friday, at home at Lake Shore Drive (Chicago, IL)

Chicago sports writer;
Graduated Northwestern University (Evanston, IL),
Chicago Tribune sports writer, 1925 - December, 1928, copy reader, 1930
Chicago Tribune, copy editor, 1927 - 1929
Chicago Daily News, 1929 - 1984
Served as lieutenant in the US Navy during WWII
Chicago White Sox, public relations director/traveling secretary, 1961 - 1972
Chicago Cubs, traveling secretary, 1972; ticket office, 1973, retired 1984.
Wife: Marguerite, born around 1907, died April 26, 1955 in Chicago.

Authored:
The Chicago Bears,
The Story of Professional Football
The Big Nine (now the Big 10)

Chicago Sun-Times' obituary, March 29,1986.-------------------------------Chicago Tribune obituary, April 1, 1986, pp. A6.


1942: Sports writers, L-R: Red Smith (Philadelphia Record), Irving Lisager (Chicago News), Howard Roberts (Chicago News),
Al Horowitz (Philadelphia Record), Frank Yeutter (Philadelphia Bulletin), Samuel Goldwyn (MGM movie studio),
Herb Simons (Chicago Times), Babe Ruth, Gary Cooper (actor), Stan Baumgartner (Philadelphia Inquirer), Christy Walsh.
Kneeling: Herb Schulte (Chicago News), Jimmy Corcoran (Chicago Herald American).


December 23, 1946: Chicago sports writers: L-R: John Hoffman, Dan Desmond, Herb Simons, John Carmichael, Jack Ryan, Earl Hilligan, Howard Roberts, Edgar Munzel, Chuck Chamberlain.

[Bill Burgess]

Louis J. Smith---AKA Lou Smith

Born: May 24, 1903
Died: March 21, 1979, Cincinnati, OH, age 71,---d. Good Samaritan Hospital.

Cincinnati Enquirer sports editor;
President of Baseball Writers Association of America, 1952.

----------------------------Sporting News' obituary, April 7, 1979, pp. 71, column 5.


1947-48: Lou Smith, Cincinnati Mayor Albert Cash, Cincinnati Reds' manager, Johnny Neun.--------------------------------1960: Pie Traynor / Lou Smith.

[Bill Burgess]

Franklin Wetheriel Yeutter

Born: Februay 10, 1889, Atlantic City, NJ
Died: February 21, 1963, Philadelphia, PA, age 74---d. heart attack

Philadelphia sports writer; Jewish
Philadelphia Bulletin;
Lived in Philly since childhood,
Philadelphia Bulletin police reporter, conducted a daily news progream for Bulletin over WFI.
Transferred to sports in mid-1930's.
WWII Army captain,
Covered Phillies in spring training, pennatnt races, represented Bulletin in World Series.

Father: Julius C., born Penn. around 1864, Highway inspecter; Mother: Rebecca, born Penn. around 1867.

Sporting News' obituary, March 9, 1963, pp. 6.---Hartford Courant obituary, February 23, 1963, pp. 16A.

1942: Sports writers, L-R: Red Smith (Philadelphia Record), Irving Lisager (Chicago News), Howard Roberts (Chicago News),
Al Horiwitz (Philadelphia Record), Frank Yeutter (Philadelphia Bulletin), Samuel Goldwyn (MGM movie studio),
Herb Simons (Chicago Times), Babe Ruth, Gary Cooper (actor), Stan Baumgartner (Philadelphia Inquirer), Christy Walsh.
Kneeling: Herb Schulte (Chicago News), Jimmy Corcoran (Chicago Herald American).

[Bill Burgess]

Harold Lamson Middlesworth---AKA Hal Middlesworth

Born: September 19, 1909, Cowden, IL
Died: April 24, 1984, Detroit, MI, age 74,---d. cancer

Detroit sports writer:
Graduated Eastern Illinois (Charleston, IL),
El Paso World News
The Daily Oklahoman (Oklahoma City, OK), sports writer, 1939 - 1950
Washington Times-Herald, Spring, 1951 - September 26, 1951
Detroit Free Press, sports writer, September 26, 1951 - November 30, 1960
Detroit Tigers' PR director, November 30, 1960 - 1979
Editor of Detroit Tigers' Official Yearbooks, at least 1968 to 1981.
Sporting News' correspondent

Father: Lloyd; Mother: Mary Edna Lamson, born 1889, Cowden, IL, died March 5, 1983, Normal, IL; Wife: Thelma Francis Riley. His middle name was his mother's maiden name.

Former Sports Editor Middlesworth, 74, Dies
Daily Oklahoman obituary - Wednesday, April 25, 1984
Hal Middlesworth , former sports editor of The Oklahoman and public relations director for the Detroit Tigers for nearly 20 years, died Tuesday at the Detroit Osteopathic Hospital after a lengthy battle with cancer. He was 74.

Middlesworth joined the staff of The Oklahoman in 1939 and succeeded the late Bus Ham as sports editor in the early 1940s. He left The Oklahoman in 1950, later serving as sports editor of the Washington Times-Herald.

He was a sportswriter for the Detroit Free Press before joining the Tigers in 1960. While in Oklahoma City, Middlesworth also worked as a sportscaster for WKY Radio and WKY-TV. He was active in promoting the All-College Basketball Tournament and the Golden Gloves.

Middlesworth retired from the Tigers in 1979, but continued to edit the club's yearbook for the next two years.

He was born Sept. 19, 1909 at Cowden, Ill., and was a graduate of Eastern Illinois. He worked on the El Paso World-News and Herald-Post before coming to Oklahoma City.

Middlesworth is survived by his widow, Thelma, and his son, Mike. Funeral arrangements were incomplete.

Atlanta Daily World death article, May 22, 1984, pp. 5.------------------------------------------------------------------------Sporting News' obituary, May 7, 1984, pp. 44.


--------------------------November 15, 1955--------------------------------November 18, 1960.

[Bill Burgess]

Nicholas Stetwegen Flatley---AKA Nick Flatley---middle name found in International Genealogical Index of familysearch.org

Born: September 7, 1886, South Boston, MA
Died: October 13, 1930, Boston, MA, age 44,---d. the O'Connell House, St. Elizabeth's Hospital (Boston, MA) after several months of illness from heart disease.

Boston sports writer;
Sporting News correspondent
Graduated Boston College, 1907
Boston Journal,
Baseball Magazine, Associate editor, 1910
Boston American sports writer, 1914 - 1928, sports editor around 1917.

Father: Thomas J.; Mother: Katherine Flaherty


Hartford Courant obituary-----------------August 2, 1930: Nick Flatley eating watermelon with Babe Ruth, at Nick's house, in Nantasket, Mass.
October 14, 1930, pp. 14.