Last King of the Sports Page: The Life and Career of Jim Murray

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82 Murray, right, with his childhood best friend, Joey Patrissi. Patrissi was a stand-out baseball player who spent some time in the New York Yankee farm system. 83 Murray’s Trinity College yearbook photo, 1943. While at Trinity, Murray wrote for the school newspaper, published short stories and plays, to the dismay of his aunt, spent a year on the baseball team. 84 In this 1944 newspaper clipping from the now defunct Los Angeles Examiner, Murray removes hail from a car in 1944, shortly after arriving in Los Angeles. Murray serves as a judge in a drink contest in Las Vegas while he worked for Time magazine. No matter what he was covering, Murray seemed to end up spending time in the desert oasis. 85 A Life magazine photographer shot Murray posing with a baseball bat, to run in the magazine with letters that poured in responding to Murray’s article “I Hate the Yankees.” The article was one of the first to showcase Murray’s humor and skill with commentary. 86 During the 1961 World Series, fans at Cincinnati’s Crosley Field show their disdain for Jim Murray. Murray had written columns poking fun at the city of Cincinnati. He would go on to aim his barbs at cities across the country and throughout world. 87 This is a Los Angeles Times Syndication advertisement for Murray’s column , circa 1964. Early in his career at the Times, Murray became the newspaper’s top syndicated columnist, and eventually was published in more than 200 newspapers across the continent. 88 Murray poses with (from left) Tommy Bolt, Allard Roen and Phil Harris at LaCosta Resort in Carlsbad, Calif. in this 1965 photo. Bolt was a PGA tour player and close friend (and regular golf buddy) of Murray’s. Roen was a Vegas hotelier with underworld connections. Harris was a well-known comedian/actor/musician. Murray sits with actors Ty Hardin and Ralph Meeker on the set of the movie 1963 movie Wall of Noise. Murray’s Hollywood connections landed him a bit part in the film, a now-forgotten horse-racing movie. 89 Murray interviews Baltimore Orioles pitcher Moe Drabowsky after the Orioles beat the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1966 World Series. 90 91 (Above) Murray and broadcaster Curt Gowdy pose with awards they received when they were honored by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association in Salisbury, N.C. in 1966. Murray was named sports writer of the year by the organization 14 times. (Opposite top) Murray and Howard Cosell pose for a publicity shot for an annual football fund-raiser for the Shriners in 1972. The pair had recently returned from the 1972 Munich Olympics, where they were among the first journalists on the scene at the infamous hostage incident. (Opposite bottom) This cartoon of Murray roasting cities on a grill was published in the now-defunct National Observer in 1972. Murray’s humorous columns about various locales often drew a huge response from citizens of the offended city. 92 Murray tees off in a pro-am golf tournament. Golf was Murray’s favorite sport and the one he devoted most of his recreational time to. 93 Many a Jim Murray column was devoted to his own trials and tribulations on the golf course. He once said his most common golf shot was either (a) an 18-foot putt which ends up 11 feet short or (b) an 18-foot putt which ends up 15 feet long. 94 Murray presents a trophy to the unidentified winners of a race at Hollywood park. Murray spent a lot of time at Hollywood Park and eventually a stakes race was created in his honor. The Jim Murray Handicap race. 95 Bill Walton addresses the audience as Murray looks on during a celebrity roast held in Murray’s honor in September 1979. The roast was held during the period in which Murray had almost no vision in either eye. 96 Murray converses with Gerald Ford at a cocktail party. Murray was acquainted with several presidents, and accompanied Ford to the Major League Baseball All-Star game during Ford’s presidency. 97 Murray is toasted by Los Angeles Times editor Shelby Coffey and publisher David Laventhal on the day Murray received word that he had won a Pulitzer prize. Murray poses with Linda McCoy at Columbia University after the award ceremony at which Murray received his Pulitzer prize. Murray and Linda were married a few years later. 98 Murray poses with “the...