- Hal Lebovitz
Hal Lebovitz (
September 11 ,1916 -October 18 ,2005 ) was a longtimesportswriter and award-winningcolumnist . [ [http://www.boston.com/news/globe/obituaries/articles/2005/10/19/hal_lebovitz_89_sports_columnist Hal Lebovitz, 89, sports columnist] , "The Boston Globe ".2005-10-19 .] He was a fixture on Cleveland's sports scene for more than six decades. In 2000, he was inducted into the writer's wing of theNational Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum . [ [http://web.baseballhalloffame.org/hofers/spink/lebovitz_hal.jsp Hal Lebovitz] , National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Accessed2007-07-07 .]Born in Cleveland, he graduated from
Glenville High School in 1934 and went on toWestern Reserve University where he received a degree inChemistry . He had always wanted to be ajournalist , and he became the sports editor of the school newspaper. [ [http://www.clevelandseniors.com/people/lebovitz.htm Ask Hal - the Hall of Famer] , Cleveland Seniors. Accessed2007-07-07 .]He got his first job covering high school sports for the "
Cleveland News " in 1942 and soon became abeat writer covering theCleveland Browns and theCleveland Indians . He was hired by "The Plain Dealer" in 1960 and was the paper's sports editor from 1964 to 1982. His writing continued to appear regularly in "The News-Herald" and "The Morning Journal " (Lorain, Ohio ) until his death in 2005 at the age of 89.He also coached baseball, basketball, and football and officiated all three sports, including a stint as a referee traveling with the Harlem Globetrotters. He was famous for his great knowledge of sports rules and wrote a popular newspaper column, "Ask Hal the Referee" which ran in both the Plain Dealer and
The Sporting News , in which he answered intricate questions about sports rules. ["Ask Hal:Answers to Fans' Most Interesting Questions About Baseball Rules from a Hall-of-Fame Sportswriter", Gray & Company Publishers, Cleveland, 2004: ISBN 978-1-59851-034-8]His writing was featured 17 times in the annual "Best Sports Stories" and selected for numerous other anthologies. He won countless writing awards and was inducted into 12 halls of fame. ["The Best of Hal Lebovitz: Great Sportswriting from Six Decades in Cleveland". Gray & Company Publishers: Cleveland, 2004. ISBN 978-1-59851-023-2]
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