Barney Kremenko

Bernhard (aka Barney) Kremenko

• Born May 8, 1909 in Brooklyn, NY USA
• Died January 20, 1990 in Mineola, NY USA

Biographical Information

Barney Kremenko was a sports writer with the New York Journal American; there, he covered Willie Mays' first - and the Giants' final - seven seasons and was, reputedly, the one responsible for Mays' famous nickname, The Say-Hey Kid.

Upon joining the Journal some years before, Kremenko's initial assignment had been Madison Square Garden, where he covered hockey, college hoops and track and field. In relatively short order, however, he would find his metier when chosen to succeed outgoing Giants' beat writer, Pat Lynch.

When the Giants left New York in 1958, Kremenko led the campaign to restore National League baseball to New York. When that call was finally heeded in 1962, he was the logical choice to cover the fledgling Mets. Thus, the eulogy delivered many years later by UPI's Carl Lundquist: "Barney was with the Giants, the Mets, and now he's with the Angels."

by 1966, however, the Journal was absorbed in a three-way merger. Kremenko continued with the short-lived World Journal Tribune, but when that paper went under in 1967, he went to work in a PR capacity for both the NHL's New York Islanders and the NBA's New Jersey Nets. At the time of his death in 1990, he was still listed as a communications consultant in the Islanders' guide.

Throughout those final years, however, Kremenko maintained his membership in the Baseball Writers' Association of America and continued to edit The Scorebook, the journal presented annually to those attending the BBWAA's New York chapter dinner. As fate would have it, Kremenko's death came exactly one day before 1990's New York dinner.