Hal McCoy
Sportswriter who covered the Reds despite legal blindness.
Harold Stanley McCoy Jr. (born October 18, 1940) is an American sportswriter who covered the Cincinnati Reds for the Dayton Daily News. He gained national attention in 2003 when he continued to cover the team despite strokes in both eyes that left him legally blind. In 2002, he received the J. G. Taylor Spink Award from the Baseball Writers' Association of America for meritorious contributions to baseball writing.
Quick Facts
- Other names
- "Hal" MacCoy Jr.
- Born
- 18 October 1940
- Birthplace
- Akron, Ohio, U.S.
- Education
- Kent State University School of Journalism.
- Occupation
- American Sports Writer
Facts from the source article.
Writing career
Hal McCoy has been on the Reds beat since 1973, reporting daily while leading coverage of the Pete Rose investigation in 1989. He also documented Marge Schott's controversial ownership, the 1990 championship season, several labor strikes, and multiple changes in team ownership. When he couldn't travel to Philadelphia for the 2010 NLDS, he hosted FOX Sports Ohio's post-game show from his own home. Over his career, McCoy collected 52 writing awards from Ohio and national organizations, and he became the first journalist from outside Cincinnati to enter the Cincinnati Journalists Hall of Fame. He has chaired the Cincinnati chapter of the BBWAA 22 times and served as the national president in 1997. McCoy is the third writer from the Dayton Daily News to receive the Spink Award, after Si Burick and Ritter Collett. He entered the National Sports Media Hall of Fame in 2015, and in 2016 he was added to the Dayton Region Walk of Fame with a plaque on West Third Street. The press box at Howell Field in Dayton was renamed for him in 2015, and on June 8 of that year he was inducted into the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association's Hall of Fame.
Retirement
On August 6, 2009, McCoy announced in his blog that he would retire at the end of the 2009 Cincinnati Reds season. He stated that the Dayton Daily News would no longer cover the Reds the same way because they could not afford the cost of sending him coast-to-coast. In response to a misconception that the newspaper forced him to retire, he wrote on August 7, 2009, that he was not forced, coerced, or threatened, and that accepting the buyout—one year's salary—was his choice. He said he wanted to continue covering the Reds but that the newspaper could not do so due to economic times. Despite no longer providing a print column, he maintains a regular online blog titled "The Real McCoy" through the newspaper's website and contributes occasionally. He currently works with Fox Sports Ohio, continuing to cover the Reds.
Eye condition
Hal McCoy’s eyesight began to fail in 2001 when a stroke in the optic nerve blurred his right eye, leaving a permanent blurry spot. Doctors said the condition affects about five percent of people. Despite only a 15 percent chance of another stroke, he woke up in 2003 to find his left eye even more blurred from a second one. Tests revealed he has two small clear spots in his vision and no peripheral sight. Spring training that year was a struggle, and he nearly quit, but a pep talk from Reds player Aaron Boone—who told him, “You can still do it. We’ll help you”—kept him going. He adapted by enlarging his scorebook, using a magnifying glass, watching games on a TV monitor, and writing on a large-screen laptop with enlarged print. Unable to drive, he posted on his blog seeking a chauffeur. Over 400 people applied, but he interviewed only Ray Snedegar, a recently widowed Dayton-area military veteran and part-time hearse driver close to McCoy’s age. Since then, Snedegar has driven McCoy to every Reds home game he has covered.
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