Jimmy Powers

James J. Powers

• Born February 9 1902 in Cleveland, OH USA
• Died February 11, 1995 in Miami Beach, FL USA

Biographical Information

Jimmy Powers was a prominent sportswriter who was the sport editor for the New York Daily News for many years. He joined the paper in 1928 and wrote its most prominent sports column, entitled "The Powerhouse". He became sports editor in 1936. His first job had been with his hometown paper, the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Baseball was one of his major beats and he used his column to campaign for major league scoreboards to indicate whether a a particular ball was ruled a hit or an error, something which became a standard feature. He also pushed for the use of batting helmets and urged for the admission of African-American players in the major leagues. He published the book Baseball Personalities in 1949, profiling some of the most colorful players of his day who weren't necessarily major stars.

In the early 1950s, he became one of the first prominent newspaper figures to make the transition to television, as a commentator of NBC's "Boxing Night" programming. He retired in 1959.

While generally recognized as a pioneering and progressive figure, he is also responsible for one of the most stupid baseball articles ever published by a major news source: on August 18, 1940, he wrote that the New York Yankees' poor play that season was due to a "mass polio epidemic" contracted from Lou Gehrig, showing a stunning ignorance of medical science as well as a lack of class and human empathy. Gehrig, who was less than a year away from dying of the effects of the non-communicable genetic disease that now bears his name (and which has absolutely no connection with polio), filed suit along with roommate Bill Dickey, and the paper was forced to issued a public apology on September 26th.

Powers served as an officer in the United States Navy during World War II.

Related Sites

• Associated Press obituary