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Dan Daniel (June 6, 1890 – July 1, 1981), born Daniel Margowitz, was an American
sportswriter Sports journalism is a form of writing that reports on matters pertaining to sporting topics and competitions. Sports journalism started in the early 1800s when it was targeted to the social elite and transitioned into an integral part of the n ...
whose contributions over a long period led him to be called "the dean of American
baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
writers".


Early life

Daniel was born in
Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ...
. His family moved to New York City when he was a boy, and he remained there throughout his career. He attended the
City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a public university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York City. Founded in 1847, Cit ...
, where he managed the basketball team. Daniel received his first writing assignment with the ''
New York Herald The ''New York Herald'' was a large-distribution newspaper based in New York City that existed between 1835 and 1924. At that point it was acquired by its smaller rival the ''New-York Tribune'' to form the '' New York Herald Tribune''. His ...
'' in 1909 at the age of 19. He decided to use a single-name
byline The byline (or by-line in British English) on a newspaper or magazine article gives the name of the writer of the article. Bylines are commonly placed between the headline and the text of the article, although some magazines (notably ''Reader's D ...
, "By Daniel", because editors in the early 20th century were concerned that
anti-Semitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...
would hurt newspaper sales if he used his Jewish surname.


1920s

By 1924, Daniel had settled at the ''
New York Telegram The ''New York World-Telegram'', later known as the ''New York World-Telegram and The Sun'', was a New York City newspaper from 1931 to 1966. History Founded by James Gordon Bennett Sr. as ''The Evening Telegram'' in 1867, the newspaper began ...
'', where he remained for the next forty years. In 1925, he won Best Story of the Year from the
Baseball Writers' Association of America The Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) is a professional association for journalists writing about Major League Baseball for daily newspapers, magazines and qualifying websites. The organization was founded in 1908, and is known fo ...
for his portrayal of
Walter Johnson Walter Perry Johnson (November 6, 1887 – December 10, 1946), nicknamed "Barney" and "The Big Train", was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 21-year baseball career in Major League Baseball as a right-ha ...
's loss in Game 7 of the Washington Senators/
Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...
World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...
match-up. In the early 1920s, Daniel helped start '' The Ring'' with
Nat Fleischer Nathaniel Stanley Fleischer (November 3, 1887 – June 25, 1972) was a noted American boxing writer and collector. Career Fleischer was born in New York City. After he graduated from City College of New York in 1908, Fleischer worked for the '' ...
. He was a prolific contributor and editor throughout ''The Rings history and could be seen behind his desk at ''The Ring'' when he was well past the age of 80. In addition to his daily columns for the ''New York Telegram'' (later ''World Telegram'' then ''World Telegram and Sun''), Daniel wrote weekly columns for ''
The Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...
'', contributing more words to that publication than any other writer in its history.


1930s

From 1930 through the 1960s, Daniel was a frequent contributor to ''
Baseball Magazine ''Baseball Magazine'' is a now-defunct baseball magazine, the first monthly baseball magazine published in the United States. The magazine was founded by Boston sportswriter Jake Morse prior to the 1908 season. It continued publishing until Sep ...
'' and ''
SPORT Sport pertains to any form of Competition, competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and Skill, skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to specta ...
'', along with other sporting publications of the day. His patriotic articles during World War II earned him wide praise. He was one of the first writers to identify the potential of both
Joe DiMaggio Joseph Paul DiMaggio (November 25, 1914 – March 8, 1999), nicknamed "Joltin' Joe", "The Yankee Clipper" and "Joe D.", was an American baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year career in Major League Baseball for the New York Yank ...
and
Mickey Mantle Mickey Charles Mantle (October 20, 1931 – August 13, 1995), nicknamed "the Commerce Comet" and "the Mick", was an American professional baseball player. Mantle played his entire Major League Baseball (MLB) career (1951–1968) with the New York ...
, extolling their virtues before either had swung a major league bat. In 1930, Daniel was elected president of the New York chapter of the Baseball Writers' Association of America. That year, New York Mayor
Jimmy Walker James John Walker (June 19, 1881November 18, 1946), known colloquially as Beau James, was mayor of New York City from 1926 to 1932. A flamboyant politician, he was a liberal Democrat and part of the powerful Tammany Hall machine. He was forced t ...
made Daniel sports chairman of his
Committee for Relief of the Unemployed A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...
. The committee organized the first college basketball games in
Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...
and raised the equivalent of 5 million dollars between 1930 and 1933. Walker presented a citation to Daniel at a testimonial dinner held in his honor, the first time a private citizen had been so-honored by the city. Also in 1930, Daniel helped convince
Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr. (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Su ...
to sign his record US$80,000 contract with the
New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...
. Ruth had been holding out for more money and had threatened to boycott spring training in
Saint Petersburg, Florida St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the fifth-most populous city in Florida and the second-largest city in the Tampa Bay Area, after Tampa, Florida, T ...
. Daniel helped Ruth come to the decision to sign by reminding him that many of his fans were out of work and selling apples on street corners back home in New York City. Later in 1930, Daniel published ''Babe Ruth, Idol of the American Boy''. This early biography of The Babe was developed from material Daniel had published in a series of feature stories in the ''New York Telegram''. It included a foreword to boys from The Babe admonishing them to "do everything in moderation"!


1940s

Starting in the 1940s, his "Ask Daniel" column ran in the ''World Telegram'' every Tuesday. Daniel answered thousands of baseball questions, becoming one of the game's leading experts and historians. Each spring, Daniel put his reputation on the line by predicting how the eight teams in each league would finish. Cartoonist
Willard Mullin Willard Mullin (September 14, 1902 – December 20, 1978) was an American sports cartoonist. He is most famous for his creation of the "Brooklyn Bum", the personification of the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team, based on circus clown Emmett K ...
captured the audacity of these predictions in charming caricatures. Daniel was an accomplished speaker and raconteur. He had a rasping voice and a biting wit, which made him a popular choice as master of ceremonies for sports dinners and roasts. Daniel was official scorer for more than twenty games during Joe DiMaggio's
1941 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January–August – 10,072 men, women and children with mental and physical disabilities are asphyxiated with carbon monoxide in a gas chamber, at Hadamar Eu ...
hitting streak In baseball, a hitting streak is the number of consecutive official games in which a player appears and gets at least one base hit. According to the Official Baseball Rules, such a streak is not necessarily ended when a player has at least 1 plate ...
. His decisions are still criticized more than 70 years later, but Daniel maintained throughout his life that he called each play as he saw it. Shortly after Babe Ruth's death in 1948, Daniel wrote ''The Real Babe Ruth'', his second biography of the Babe, which contained many of his personal recollections from having been friend and advisor to Babe Ruth. Daniel served as president of the
Baseball Writers' Association of America The Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) is a professional association for journalists writing about Major League Baseball for daily newspapers, magazines and qualifying websites. The organization was founded in 1908, and is known fo ...
(BBWAA), chairman of the
Football Writers' Association The Football Writers' Association (FWA) is an association of football journalists and correspondents writing for English newspapers and agencies. It presents the Footballer of the Year Award, the oldest and most distinguished award given in the d ...
, and chairman of the Boxing Writers' Association.


Later life

In 1972, Daniel received the
J. G. Taylor Spink Award The BBWAA Career Excellence Award, formerly the J. G. Taylor Spink Award, is the highest award given by the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA). It is given "for meritorious contributions to baseball writing" and voted on annually by ...
from the BBWAA, baseball's highest honor for a writer. In his speech during ceremonies at the
National Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-r ...
, he thanked the players and the fans for "giving him the medium of a wonderful career". He mused that without baseball, he would have ended up as a doctor and assured the audience that "Had I been a doctor, I would have made house-calls". At the age of 86, Daniel was still a relevant contributor to the history of New York City sports. In 1976, he co-authored "Yankee Stadium Then and Now", a feature article in ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
''. Daniel was a noted
bibliophile Bibliophilia or bibliophilism is the love of books. A bibliophile or bookworm is an individual who loves and frequently reads and/or collects books. Profile The classic bibliophile is one who loves to read, admire and collect books, often ama ...
and amassed a significant collection of first editions, befriending book sellers in the cities he frequented as he traveled with the Yankees and other teams. His collection included an imprint of
Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...
's ''
Art of Rhetoric Aristotle's ''Rhetoric'' ( grc, Ῥητορική, Rhētorikḗ; la, Ars Rhetorica) is an ancient Greek treatise on the art of persuasion, dating from the 4th century BCE. The English title varies: typically it is titled ''Rhetoric'', the ''Art ...
'', published by Gunther Zainer in 1476. Daniel died on July 1, 1981, in
Pompano Beach, Florida Pompano Beach ( ) is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. It is located along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, just north of Fort Lauderdale. The nearby Hillsboro Inlet forms part of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. As of the 2020 ...
, at the age of 91.


Notes


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Daniel, Dan 1890 births 1981 deaths Sportswriters from New York (state) Boxing writers City College of New York alumni American book and manuscript collectors BBWAA Career Excellence Award recipients The Ring (magazine) people