Jerome Holtzman (July 12, 1926
– July 19, 2008) was an
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
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 ...
known for his writings on
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 ...
who served as the official historian for
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
(MLB) from 1999 until his death.
Newspaper career
Born in
Chicago, Illinois
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
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, subdivision_type = Country
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, Holtzman wrote for his hometown papers for over 50 years. Beginning as a copyboy at the ''
Chicago Daily News
The ''Chicago Daily News'' was an afternoon daily newspaper in the midwestern United States, published between 1875 and 1978 in Chicago, Illinois.
History
The ''Daily News'' was founded by Melville E. Stone, Percy Meggy, and William Dougherty ...
'' in 1943, Holtzman wrote for the paper through its merger with the ''
Chicago Sun
The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the '' Chicago ...
''. His influence and viewpoints made him something of a legend among newspapermen. Southern humorist
Lewis Grizzard
Lewis McDonald Grizzard Jr. (October 20, 1946 – March 20, 1994) was an American writer and humorist, known for his Southern demeanor and commentary on the U.S. Southern states, American South. Although he spent his early career as a newspaper ...
, who was sports editor of the ''
Sun-Times
The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...
'' for part of Holtzman's career, called him "the dean of American baseball writers," and went on to say "He never smiled, but he had the keys to
Cooperstown
Cooperstown is a village in and county seat of Otsego County, New York, United States. Most of the village lies within the town of Otsego, but some of the eastern part is in the town of Middlefield. Located at the foot of Otsego Lake in the C ...
. No major leaguer ever got into the
Hall of Fame
A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...
if Holtzman didn't want him there. He had tremendous sources. He was writing about the possibility of a baseball players union and a baseball players strike ''long'' before anyone else." Holtzman left the ''Sun-Times'' in 1981 for the ''
Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...
'', remaining there until his retirement in 1999.
Holtzman was awarded the 1991
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 ...
by 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). He was honored by the
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...
Sports Editors in 1997, who awarded him the
Red Smith Award
The Red Smith Award is awarded by the Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE) organization for outstanding contributions to sports journalism
Sports journalism is a form of writing that reports on matters pertaining to sporting topics and com ...
, which is America's most prestigious sports writing honor. He was elected to the
National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association Hall of Fame in 2004 and the
International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame
The International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame ( he, יד לאיש הספורט היהודי, translit=Yad Le'ish HaSport HaYehudi) was opened July 7, 1981 in Netanya, Israel. It honors Jewish athletes and their accomplishments from anywhere around ...
in 2005.
Among Holtzman's contributions to the game during his career was the creation of the
save statistic in 1959. It was adopted as an official statistic for the 1969 season, the first official new statistic since the
run batted in
A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...
(RBI) in 1920.
[
On July 15, 2008, Holtzman suffered a stroke in ]Evanston, Illinois
Evanston ( ) is a city, suburb of Chicago. Located in Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, Wil ...
, and died on July 19.
Official historian
In 1999, Holtzman retired as a newspaper writer and was named the official historian of Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
. He wrote occasional columns on the MLB.com
MLB.com is the official site of Major League Baseball and is overseen by Major League Baseball Advanced Media, L.P. (a subsidiary of MLB). MLB.com is a source of baseball-related information, including baseball news, statistics, and sports column ...
website.[ In 2001, Holtzman decided to revert to counting walks in as ]hits
Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music
* ''H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block
* ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998
* ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album se ...
, reviving an old debate; 1887 was the only season in which walks were counted as hits, an experiment which proved unpopular, but Holtzman took the point of view that once something is counted as a hit it must always remain so. Revised statistics appeared in the seventh edition of ''Total Baseball
''Total Baseball'' (latest edition , first published 1989) is a baseball encyclopedia first compiled by John Thorn and Pete Palmer in 1989. The latest edition, published in 2004, is its eighth.Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...
and Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...
.
References
External links
Baseball Hall of Fame
– Spink Award recipient
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holtzman, Jerome
1926 births
2008 deaths
Baseball writers
United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II
Sportswriters from Illinois
Burials at Rosehill Cemetery
Chicago Daily News people
Chicago Sun-Times people
Chicago Tribune people
Jewish American writers
United States Marines
Writers from Chicago
BBWAA Career Excellence Award recipients
Red Smith Award recipients
20th-century American Jews
21st-century American Jews