Melvin Durslag (April 29, 1921 – July 17, 2016) 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 ...

. Durslag began writing for the ''

Los Angeles Herald-Express The ''Los Angeles Herald-Express'' was one of Los Angeles' oldest newspapers, formed after a combination of the '' Los Angeles Herald'' and the '' Los Angeles Express''. After a 1962 combination with Hearst Corporation's ''Los Angeles Examiner ...

'' in 1939, while he was a senior at

Los Angeles High School Los Angeles High School is the oldest public high school in the Southern California Region and in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Its colors are royal blue and white and the teams are called the Romans. Los Angeles High School is a pub ...

, and joined the staff full-time in 1940, while he was a freshman at the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

. He wrote a sports column for Hearst papers in Los Angeles beginning in 1952 and had a long career at the '' Los Angeles Herald-Examiner''. In 1989, after the ''Herald-Examiner'' went out of business, he joined the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

''. He retired in 1991. Durslag contributed an essay on

Walter Alston Walter Emmons Alston (December 1, 1911 – October 1, 1984), nicknamed "Smokey", was an American baseball player and manager in Major League Baseball He is best known for managing the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers from 1954 through 1976, and si ...

to ''

I Managed Good, But Boy Did They Play Bad ''I Managed Good, But Boy Did They Play Bad'' is a collection of essays, short stories and articles about baseball, combined with comments and articles written by ''Ball Four'' author and former major league pitcher Jim Bouton. The book's creat ...

''. He also wrote a column for many years for ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program listings information as well as entertainment and television-related news. The company sold its print magazine division, TV Guide Magazine LLC, in 2008. Corpora ...

''. Durslag was elected into the

National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association The National Sports Media Association (NSMA), formerly the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association, is an organization of sports media members in the United States, and constitutes the American chapter of the International Sports P ...

Hall of Fame in 1995. In 2000 he was inducted into the

Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame The Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, in Beverly Hills, California, is a hall of fame dedicated to honoring American Jewish athletes, other sports personalities, and teams from Southern California who have distinguished themselves ...

. He was named a finalist for 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 ...

in the 2014 balloting. Durslag died after a brief illness on July 17, 2016, at Berkley East Convalescent Hospital in

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing t ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Durslag, Mel 1921 births 2016 deaths Sportswriters from California Baseball writers Place of birth missing Writers from Los Angeles