Hy Turkin
{{Short description|American sportswriter}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Hy Turkin
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1915|05|09}}
| birth_place = New York City, US
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1955|06|24|1915|05|09}}
| death_place = New York City, US
| other_names =
| alma_mater = Cooper Union
| occupation = Sportswriter
| employer = New York Daily News
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works = The Official Encyclopedia of Baseball
}}
File:Official Encyclopedia of Baseball, 1952 supplement (front cover).jpg
Hyman C. Turkin{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20940815/hy_turkin_dies/ |title=Hy Turkin Dies |agency=AP |page=3 |newspaper=The Miami News |date=June 25, 1955 |accessdate=June 13, 2018 |via=newspapers.com}} (May 9, 1915 – June 24, 1955) was a sportswriter best known for co-editing the first baseball encyclopedia.
Turkin was born in New York City, one of seven children. He joined the staff of the New York Daily News after graduating from Cooper Union in 1936 with a degree in electrical engineering. Turkin covered baseball, basketball, and track for the paper.
Baseball Encyclopedia
A chance meeting with baseball researcher S. C. Thompson in 1944 led the two to collaborate on what would become the first true baseball encyclopedia. Published by A. S. Barnes & Company in 1951, the book contained a complete listing of every man who had played Major League Baseball, along with the years they had played, the teams they had played for, and some basic statistics. It was a remarkable contribution to the field of baseball history.
The book earned the endorsement of Commissioner A. B. "Happy" Chandler, and nine revised editions were published after Turkin's death (the last in 1979).
Personal life
Turkin was one of the founders of the National Foundation for Muscular Dystrophy, which later became the National Foundation for Neuromuscular Diseases.{{cite book |title=The Gentle Legions: National Voluntary Health Organizations in America |first=Richard |last=Carter |page=204 |publisher=Routledge |date=1992 |isbn=1560000538 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u9Gf9e0wpsgC&pg=PA204}} He was married to the former Florence Kerr, and the couple had a daughter named Margery.
Turkin died at the age of 40, following a six-month battle with liver disease.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20940751/hy_turkin_dies/ |title=Hy Turkin Dies |agency=UP |page=11 |newspaper=Herald and News |location=Klamath Falls, Oregon |date=June 26, 1955 |accessdate=June 13, 2018 |via=newspapers.com}}{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20940857/hy_turkin_dies/ |title=Hy Turkin Dies |agency=AP |page=8 |newspaper=Asbury Park Press |location=Asbury Park, New Jersey |date=June 25, 1955 |accessdate=June 13, 2018 |via=newspapers.com}} The New York Times writer Arthur Daley described him as "a bustling little dynamo with an inquisitive turn of mind."
Following Turkin's death, the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association named an annual award after him; the Hy Turkin Memorial Award was given annually to professional basketball's rookie of the year. Winners included Oscar Robertson in 1961,{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20945850/robertson_named_top_nba_rookie/ |title=Robertson Named Top NBA Rookie |agency=UPI |page=13 |newspaper=The Town Talk |location=Alexandria, Louisiana |date=March 4, 1961 |accessdate=June 13, 2018 |via=newspapers.com}} and Lew Alcindor in 1970.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20945954/ny_writers_honor_reed/ |title=NY Writers Honor Reed |agency=UPI |page=2S |newspaper=The Press Democrat |location=Santa Rosa, California |date=March 22, 1970 |accessdate=June 13, 2018 |via=newspapers.com}}
A Little League Baseball field in Dongan Hills, Staten Island, was named the Hy Turkin Memorial Field.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20946184/little_league_region_tourney_at_ny/ |title=Little League Region Tourney At N.Y. June 14-16 |page=5 |newspaper=Tyrone Daily Herald |location=Tyrone, Pennsylvania |date=June 19, 1958 |accessdate=June 13, 2018 |via=newspapers.com}}
Sources
- {{cite book |title=The Official Encyclopedia of Baseball |first1=Hy |last1=Turkin |authorlink1=Hy Turkin |first2=S. C. |last2=Thompson |authorlink2=S. C. Thompson |publisher=A. S. Barnes & Company |location=New York City |date=1956 |lccn=56-5560}}
- {{cite book |last=Schwarz |first=Alan |authorlink=Alan Schwarz |title=The Numbers Game: Baseball's Lifelong Fascination with Statistics |year=2004 |publisher=St. Martin's Press |isbn=0312322224 |pages=52–54, 91 }}
References
{{reflist|30em}}
Further reading
- {{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20964214/latest_thing_in_baseball_records/ |title=Latest Thing in Baseball Records |first=Tommy |last=Holmes |authorlink=Tommy Holmes (sportswriter) |newspaper=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |page=16 |date=April 24, 1951 |accessdate=June 14, 2018 |via=newspapers.com}}
External links
- [http://dcbaseballhistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/babe-ruth-day-april-27-1947-color1.jpg Photo of Babe Ruth's farewell appearance] – Turkin is at right, wearing glasses and a bow tie. April 27, 1947.
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Turkin, Hy}}
Category:20th-century American writers
Category:Sportswriters from New York (state)