wcheinz - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

A Day In The Life Of The Most Reckless Ballplayer In History Yesterday, we republished W.C. Heinz's 1958 profile of Pete Reiser, a ballplayer whose talent could have carried him to the Hall of Fame, but whose penchant for pushing his constantly battered body beyond any reasonable limits undercut his career. At one point in the profile, Heinz details a perio...

The Slow Destruction Of Pete Reiser, The Greatest Player Who Never WasThe following piece was originally published in the March, 1958 issue of True, and is excerpted from The Top of His Game, a collection of W.C. Heinz's best sportswriting. It is reprinted here with permission from Gayl Heinz....

How One Of America's Greatest Sportswriters Disappeared It was almost endearing how an ink-smudged, deadline-addicted newspaper editor of yore would squint through the smoke from his cigarette and ask a bright young man why the hell he wanted to write sports. An editor like that was usually about as sensitive as a bolt cutter, but he couldn't resist th...

Work Horse On Ice

Dig this day-in-the-life story about Gordie Howe from 1959. Written by the great W.C. Heinz for the Saturday Evening Post:...

W.C. Heinz's Short Story: One Throw

Here's a treat—W.C. Heinz's 1950 short story, "One Throw":...

Trying To Be The Best

"Bill Heinz is a walking contradiction of the stereotype of the phlegmatic Teuton. He is emotional and demonstrative. He can sink into depressions so deep they would give a sandhog the bends. His highs are several stories high. As cityside reporter, war correspondent, sports columnist, freelance jou...

Here's The Race Result From "Death Of A Racehorse"

W.C. Heinz’s “Death of a Racehorse” owes none of its fame to nostalgia. Written in one hour, in one draft, on a manual typewriter, on deadline, the 1949 classic is hailed by many in the industry as quite possibly the perfect story. Jeff MacGregor called it “the Gettysburg Address sportswriting. A ru...

Memphis Kid And The Horrible Truth About Prize Fighting

W.C. Heinz was one of the great American journalists. A war correspondent, columnist, features writer, biographer, and novelist, he excelled in every form he tried....