tribute to Hal

have a happy blow me day. ;D

 

Just curious. Where did Hal work before USA Today?

 

Wilmington, Del.

 

Hal helped keep the union out of Wilmington. That's one way to win Gannett's everlasting affection.

 

Somebody at Gannett must have noticed it. Bodley wrote his retirement column today. Don't know if got the buyout.

My one brush with Bodley was at the 1988 World Series working as a volunteer auxiliary press box assistant at the Oakland Coliseum. I was way down the third base line, perhaps Hal was pissed off that he'd been banished to the press box equivalent of Siberia. But when McGwire hit his game ending homer and I cheered, Hal slugged me in my thigh and grumbled "no cheering in the press box." As a side note, also given a space in the box I was at was the WashPo's Tom Boswell, who was stationed next to a guy from a Sacramento Valley weekly. Don't know if it had anything to with Boswell's reference to "Jose Canseco milkshakes" a week before. Boswell never showed up.

 

Might not have been any cheering in the press box, but there was an awful lot of shilling for Buddy Selig whenever Bodley was pecking at his keyboard.

 

Hal Gurnee?

 

If memory serves, in Michael Sokolove's book about Pete Rose, he said that Bodley was a Charlie Hustle apologist, too.

 

He's wearing a blue shirt and tan pants, I'm sure.

 

Hal's writing won't be confused with Red Smith and he is soft on the the commissioner, but the dude gets a bad rap. Every time you cite a player salary it's because of Hal since he was the first to report on the payrolls of each team. He was instrumental in the formation of APSE. He could get anybody in the game to call him back at a moment's notice. And he broke his share of stories. It's a crime he has not been considered for the Spink Award, but then again what do you expect from BBWAA. And no, this is not Hal writing. :

 

Wouldn't surprise me if he took the buyout. Gannett's standard policy of over a certain age and number of years is going to get rid of some pretty good talent at that paper.

That said, wouldn't be surprised if Hal ended up somewhere doing an occasional column or freelance piece.

 

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