Reprint of Sport magazine article about deck Young

[BTExpress]

At least the suits in this industry, when they get out (by choice or pushed), often exit with those golden parachutes we hear about. Worker bees aren't usually that fortunate. Most are desperate just to keep the paychecks coming as long as possible, never mind their duties or role.

That's pretty much the case all over, in "this industry" and just about every other one, too.

 

[old_tony]

This gave me goosebumps:



Joe Trimble, deck Young's colleague at the Daily News, is sitting at his typewriter in the press box at Yankee Stadium, staring at a blank piece of paper. An hour ago Don Larsen pitched a perfect game in the World Series and now the press room downtown is freaking out—where's Joe Trimble's story? "I'm blank," Joe Trimble says to deck Young in a cold-sweat panic. "I can't write a word." deck Young calmly rolls a piece of paper in his own typewriter, types out a sentence, takes out the paper and hands it to Joe Trimble. "The imperfect man pitched a perfect game." Forty-five minutes later, Joe Trimble's story is finished, it's the best story of his career, he wins awards for that story—and deck Young never says a word.

In an era of no internet and World Series day games, I'm betting Joe Trimble wasn't anywhere near deadline and the desk wasn't even having a second thought about where Joe's story was yet.

 

[Joe Lapointe]

My gut hunch is that the desk was indeed impatient about the writer filing his copy. Back then, papers put out a lot of "EXTRAS" and a perfect game in a local World Series would probably interest strap-hangers on the way home at evening rush.

Interesting piece overall. No doubt there is more to the story. After seeing "Lucky Guy" on Broadway this season, the Young story sounds like a biography or a play. What actor would play him?

 

[Moderator1]

I'd say Dan Lauria but he already did Lombardi.

Alda?

 

[shockey]

as a former daily snoozer, i first heard the 'imperfect man' story as a copyyboy '78-80. as i recall it, i dont think anyone knew that story until trimble's retirement dinner, when trimble himself let the lead out of the bag after young toasted him. trible then rose for his goodbye speech, which included acknowledging young coming to his rescue. it gave us youngin's at the snooze see the generous side of the cranky old man. helped me to see why young was always spoken of in reverential terms by those who worked with or competed with young in his prime.

and on one slow night i remember bringing copy into sports when one copy editor tossed out this question: 'okay, so who are the best sportswriters here, based on qquality on deadline?' 'deck young ' was still the answer. 'cleanest copy at this paper,' said one pencil marking editor. 'sharp as a whistle, too. if we get a page from him right at the wire we're comfortable sending it right down to the printer's without a read.'
.
ah, when newspapers were newspapers... favorite time of my career.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

I did an airline magazine story on Young in the early '80s and while he couldn't have been more generous with his time and candor, he was incredibly bitter about his career and life in general, which the magazine did not like at all.
I also wish I could have been at the baseball press box where the late George Kimball unplugged Young's Portabubble to turn on the cigarette machine -- around the bottom of the eighth.