Gordon Cobbledick

Gordon Cobbledick
Born	December 31, 1898(1898-12-31) Cleveland, Ohio
Died	October 2, 1969(1969-10-02) (aged 70) Tucson, Arizona
Education	Case School of Applied Science
Occupation	Sports journalist
Spouse(s)	Doris V. Mathews

Gordon Cobbledick (December 31, 1898 – October 2, 1969), was an American sports journalist and author in Cleveland, Ohio. He was a journalist for the Cleveland Plain Dealer and Cleveland Times from 1923 to 1964. He served as a war correspondent during World War II, and his account of the Battle of Okinawa written on V-E Day has been frequently reprinted and cited as an example of excellent war reporting. In 1947, Cobbledick became the sports editor of the Plain Dealer. His works were frequently published in The Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, and Baseball Digest. In 1977, he received the J. G. Taylor Spink Award from the Baseball Writers Association of America and was inducted into the "writers' wing" of the Baseball Hall of Fame. He was also inducted into the Journalism Hall of Fame in 1982 and the Cleveland Sports Hall of Fame in 2007.^[1][2][3]

Early life

Cobbledick attended Case Western Reserve University where studied mining engineering and played football.^[4] After graduating, he became a mining engineer in Morgantown, West Virginia. While he was visiting a friend in Cleveland, an opportunity to become a writer for The Plain Dealer presented itself. Cobbledick decided to quit his mining job, and start his writing career at $25 per week. Although he began covering the police beat, he later switched to sportswriting and took over as The Plain Dealer's main sports editor.^[5]

Writing career

Cobbledick's self-proclaimed writing style was short and to the point.^[6] Some of his more popular nicknames were "Cobb" and "Cobby".

Books

• "Don't Knock the Rock: The Rocky Colavito Story," by Gordon Cobbledick (1966)

Selected articles

• Cries of Dying Spoil VE Day for Okinawa, Chicago Daily Tribune, May 9, 1945
• Slaughter in a Hurry (Enos Slaughter), Baseball Digest, November 1946
• "Cobb Taught Me Too" (Harry Heilmann), Baseball Digest, July 1947
• Confidence in Keltner (Ken Keltner), Baseball Digest, April 1948
• Feller Still Has Plenty on the Ball (Bob Feller), Baseball Digest, April 1953
• Sports Editor Gordon Cobbledick considers the beanball and decides it is here to stay—unless some means is found to outlaw wildness high and inside while sanctioning it low and outside, Sports Illustrated, August 16, 1954
• Harmony Is for the Birds, Baseball Digest, April 1955
• Sure, Modern Players Are Sissies!, Baseball Digest, September 1955
• Lampooning Platoon's an Old Time, Baseball Digest, November 1955
• Hitting Greatness Can't Be Taught, Baseball Digest, January 1956
• Sure, Fans Know More Than Managers, Baseball Digest, August 1956
• Ace Firemen Make Managers Smart, Baseball Digest, September 1956
• Records Prove It's Speaker Over DiMag! (Tris Speaker), Baseball Digest, October 1958
• Why Gordon Quit the Tigers (Joe Gordon), Baseball Digest, January 1961
• Pity the New Pilots, Baseball Digest, March 1961

References

1. ^ "Gordon Cobbledick". Greater Cleveland Sports Hall of Fame. http://clevelandsportshall.com/cobbledick-gordon/. 
2. ^ James E. Odenkirk (1990). Plain Dealing: A Biography of Gordon Cobbledick. Spider-Naps Publications. ISBN 0867000244. 
3. ^ "Gordon R. Cobbledick, 70, Cleveland Sports Editor". The New York Times. October 4, 1968. http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=FA0B10F93B55127B93C6A9178BD95F4D8685F9. 
4. ^ "Gordon Cobbledick". The Ballplayers. The Ballplayers. http://www.baseballlibrary.com/ballplayers/player.php?name=Gordon_Cobbledick. Retrieved 3 August 2011. 
5. ^ "1977 J. G. Taylor Spink Award Winner Gordon Cobbledick". National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. http://baseballhall.org/awards/j-g-taylor-spink/1977-j-g-taylor-spink-award-winner-gordon-cobbledick. Retrieved 3 August 2011. 
6. ^ Lebovitz, Hal. "Cobby...Cobby...Cobby...". The Best of Hal Lebovitz: Great Sportswriting from Six Decades in Cleveland. Gray & Company, Publishers. http://books.google.com/books?id=7UH1XVe0rwMC&pg=PA55&lpg=PA55&dq=gordon+cobbledick+%22cobby%22&source=bl&ots=1ODtFyOHGF&sig=Qtt7IV16Gu4QeFq494k9BUlaOCo&hl=en&ei=2ec4TqKmC6Pu0gGu67SABA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBUQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false. Retrieved 3 August 2011. 

Persondata
Name	Cobbledick, Gordon
Alternative names
Short description	Cleveland sports journalist
Date of birth	December 31, 1898
Place of birth	Cleveland, Ohio
Date of death	October 2, 1969
Place of death	Tucson, Arizona