Phil Pepe, Longtime New York Sportswriter, Dies at 80
He was not on the list.
Phil Pepe, a longtime Daily News Yankee beat writer whose career covering New York sports spanned 50 years, died Sunday at the age of 80 at his home in Englewood, N.J., a family member told The News.
Pepe covered the Yankees for The News from 1968-1981 and wrote the lead game story for every World Series from 1969-81. In 1982, he succeeded Dick Young as The News' sports columnist.
He left the paper in 1989 for WCBS radio, where he did morning sports — including his signature "Pep Talk" — for more than 15 years. He was also the director of broadcasting/radio analyst for the Class-A New Jersey Cardinals of the New York-Penn League for 12 seasons from 1994-2005.
"He was a mentor to a lot of writers of my generation, he was a guy you could always go to," said Jack O'Connell, the secretary treasurer of the BBWAA and a former News writer. "I worked with him at The News and he was somebody a lot of us looked up to."
After graduating from St. John's, Pepe joined the New York World Telegram and Sun in 1957 and became the paper's Yankee beat writer in 1961, the same year Roger Maris broke Babe Ruth's single-season home run record.
"There was a time, in another time in New York, when whatever had happened the day before or the night before with the Yankees didn't become official until you picked up the Daily News and read Phil Pepe," said columnist Mike Lupica. "Phil was more than just the Yankees across his long career at The News, and at the World Telegram & Sun before that, and with all the books he wrote about baseball. But in memory, he's at the old Yankee Stadium still, sitting with Yogi Berra, telling stories about Mickey Mantle and Maris, getting ready to write a game story about the Yankees of George Steinbrenner and Billy Martin and Reggie Jackson."
Pepe stayed at the Telegram until it folded in 1966, and then wrote scripts for ABC radio with Howard Cosell.
He joined the Daily News in 1968 and, according to a book by baseball historian Marty Appel, Pepe wrote the lead story on every World Series game from 1969-1981, covered most of Muhammad Ali's championship fights, was the beat writer for the Knicks during their championship years and covered the first Super Bowl and three Olympics.
In addition to his career in newspapers and radio, Pepe was a prolific author, writing close to 50 books with some of sports' biggest names. He co-wrote Bob Gibson's autobiography, and wrote books with Mickey Mantle, Whitey Ford, Ken Griffey Sr., Jim Kaat, Gary Carter, Bud Harrelson, Howie Rose and Tim McCarver. His last book was in 2013 on the Yankees' Core Four.
"He's the best game story writer I ever worked with," said Bob Decker, assistant sports editor at The News from 1974-1989. "Nobody could do it better than Pepe. He wouldn't need any quotes and still turn out a great baseball story."
Decker recalled the day Thurman Munson died and Pepe, a friend of Munson's, had to come into the office to do a column for The News.
"He comes in, Munson and him were very good friends. He comes in all upset, sits there with his head in his hands," said Decker. "I told him 'write what you feel.' He wrote a magnificent column."
"He was a mentor to me and a giant among baseball writers who never got his true credit," said Hall of Fame baseball writer Bill Madden, who succeeded Pepe as The News' Yankee beat writer. "He is going to be sorely missed by the New York chapter of baseball writers."
Pepe is survived by daughter Jayne and her husband Steve Platts; sons David, Jim and John; daughters-in-law Maria and Sherry Pepe; and five grandchildren
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