Victor "Vic" Ziegel (August 16, 1937 – July 23, 2010) was an American

sports writer 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 ...

, columnist, and editor for the ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

'' and the '' New York Daily News''. His writing frequently centered 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 t ...

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermine ...

, and horse racing. Ziegel was raised in

the Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

, New York. His parents, Morris and Gilda, were immigrants from Eastern Europe. Ziegel attended Yeshiva Salanter and William Howard Taft High School. He went to City College of New York, where he wrote for '' The Campus'', the student-run newspaper. While in college, Ziegel also wrote about high-school

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

for the ''

Long Island Press The ''Long Island Press'' is a free monthly news and lifestyle periodical serving Long Island. Alternative Weekly Its previous print incarnation was as a free, independent print and digital monthly news journal with extensive coverage of local a ...

''. Ziegel wrote for the ''New York Post'' during the 1960s and 1970s. He also wrote for magazines, including ''

Inside Sports ''Inside Sports'' magazine was a major general interest sports magazine in the United States. Launched in 1979 by Newsweek, it was designed as an edgier, monthly alternative to the longer-running ''Sports Illustrated'' and '' SPORT Magazine'' bra ...

'', '' New York'', and ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

''. In 1985, Ziegel became executive sports editor at the ''Daily News'', where he also wrote a regular sports column. He accepted a retirement package from the newspaper in 2009, but continued to write occasional columns for the ''Daily News'' as a freelance writer. In 1976, Ziegel worked with retired baseball player

Jim Bouton James Alan Bouton (; March 8, 1939 – July 10, 2019) was an American professional baseball player. Bouton played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a pitcher for the New York Yankees, Seattle Pilots, Houston Astros, and Atlanta Braves between 1 ...

on ''

Ball Four ''Ball Four'' is a book written by former Major League Baseball pitcher Jim Bouton (1939-2019) in 1970. The book is a diary of Bouton's 1969 season, spent with the Seattle Pilots and then the Houston Astros following a late-season trade. In it, ...

'', a short-lived television series based on Bouton's best-selling book of the same name. In 1978 Ziegel co-wrote (with Lewis Grossberger) ''The Non-Runner's Book'', which satirized the then-popular sport of marathon

running Running is a method of terrestrial locomotion allowing humans and other animals to move rapidly on foot. Running is a type of gait characterized by an aerial phase in which all feet are above the ground (though there are exceptions). This is ...

. He wrote ''Summer in the City: New York Baseball 1947–1957'' in 2004. Ziegel, who was a non-smoker, was diagnosed with

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from transformed, malign ...

in November 2009. He died of the disease at Calvary Hospital in the Bronx on July 23, 2010.

Awards

Ziegel won several awards, including the

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 ' ...

Award for boxing writing (1983) and the Red Smith Writing Award for his Kentucky Derby coverage (1992 and 1998).

Awards

References

Further reading