Results tagged “Matt McHale” from The Sports Desk

Dodgers fans are reminiscing about 1988 now that the team has a shot at its first championship since that season of Kirk Gibson and Orel Hershiser. How did the 1988 playoffs look as they happened? Read on to see the Daily News' lead story from Oct. 6, 1988. It's about the Dodgers' victory over the New York Mets the night before in game 2 of the National League Championship Series.That victory marked the start of the Dodgers' October run of upsets over the Mets and the Oakland A's.

The death of Chicago reporter and MLB historian Jerome Holtzman at age 80 capped a really hard week for the baseball-writers community. Holtzman's death followed those of New York's Red Foley, Houston's Neil Hohlfeld and our own Matt McHale.

How long was Jerome Holtzman an influential baseball writer? The story goes that toward the end of Jerome's newspaper career, a boss suggested he freshen up his writing. The boss said Jerome's style had become old-fashioned, with too many old baseball cliches.

"But," Jerome protested, "they're my cliches! I invented them!"

That's the trouble with being oft-imitated.

Our story about the passing of Daily News sportswriter and editor Matt McHale on Monday included an excerpt of Matt's coverage of Kirk Gibson's World Series home run. It showed Matt's talent for efficiently yet gracefully capturing a moment.

Since space is unlimited here on the Web, here are all of Matt's game stories from that 1988 World Series. Dodgers fans will enjoy a time capsule of the club's last great effort, and Matt fans will enjoy reading him at the top of his craft.

Turn the page, go back 20 years ...

Matt McHale died of a heart attack Monday, after battling diabetes throughout this decade, and it seemed as if everybody who ever met him had a fond personal rememberance.

The story about tough-talking Larry Bowa by our Dodgers beat writer Tony Jackson gave me new appreciation for Joe Torre's third-base coach. I hadn't liked what I'd seen of Bowa. Which just might be a good omen.

I'm reminded of the spring of 1988, and my reaction to Kirk Gibson stomping out of Dodgertown in Vero Beach, Fla., angered by a prankster teammate putting eye black in the left fielder's cap.