Edward Joseph Lucas Jr. (January 3, 1939 – November 10, 2021) was an American blind sportswriter who primarily covered 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 ...
.
Biography
Born in
Jersey City, New Jersey
Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.[Weehawken, New Jersey
Weehawken is a Township (New Jersey), township in the North Hudson, New Jersey, northern part of Hudson County, New Jersey, Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is located largely on the Hudson Palisades overlooking the North River ...]
and attended St. Joseph's School for the Blind in Jersey City.
Lucas was blind from 1951, when he was 12 years old. He was pitching in a pickup game on October 3, 1951—the day of
Bobby Thomson
Robert Brown Thomson (October 25, 1923 – August 16, 2010) was a Scottish Americans, Scottish-born American professional baseball player, nicknamed the "Staten Island Scot". He was an outfielder and right-handed batter for the New York Giants ( ...
's "
Shot Heard 'Round the World"— when a line drive hit him in the face. The accident resulted in the loss of his sight. From 1964, Lucas was a reporter and broadcaster.
He was an alumnus of
Seton Hall University
Seton Hall University (SHU) is a private Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Seton Hall is the oldest diocesan un ...
, having received a
bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
in communication arts. In 2006, Lucas and his second wife, Allison Pfeifle, were the first couple to be married on the field of
Yankee Stadium
Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the Bronx, New York City. It is the home field of the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball, and New York City FC of Major League Soccer.
Opened in April 2009, the stadium replaced the origi ...
; they had been introduced to each other by
Phil Rizzuto
Philip Francis Rizzuto (September 25, 1917 – August 13, 2007), nicknamed "The Scooter", was an American Major League Baseball shortstop. He spent his entire 13-year baseball career with the New York Yankees (1941–1956), and was elected to th ...
.
Lucas was featured in ''Bleacher Boys'', a 2009 documentary about blind baseball fans, and in an April 2018 episode of ''SC Featured'' on
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
.
A resident of
Union Township, Union County, New Jersey
Union Township is a township in Union County, New Jersey, United States. In the 18th century, the area that is now Union was then called Connecticut Farms. As of the 2020 United States Census, the township population was 59,728, the highest rec ...
, Lucas died from pulmonary fibrosis on November 10, 2021, at the age of 82.
Works
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References
Further reading
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External links
Ed Lucas Foundation*
1939 births
2021 deaths
American male writers
American broadcasters
New York Yankees announcers
New York Mets announcers
American blind people
Seton Hall University alumni
Writers from Jersey City, New Jersey
People from Weehawken, New Jersey
People from Union Township, Union County, New Jersey
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