Sam Lacy

Samuel Harold Lacy (October 23, 1903 – May 8, 2003) was an African-American and Native American sportswriter, reporter, columnist, editor, and television/radio commentator who worked in the sports journalism field for parts of nine decades. Credited as a persuasive figure in the movement to racially integrate sports, Lacy in 1948 became one of the first black members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA). In 1997, he received the J. G. Taylor Spink Award for outstanding baseball writing from the BBWAA.

Upbringing Lacy was born on October 23, 1903, in Mystic, Connecticut, to Samuel Erskine Lacy, a law firm researcher, and Rose Lacy, a full-blooded Shinnecock. The family moved to Washington, D.C., when Sam was a young boy. In his youth he developed a love for baseball, and spent his spare time at Griffith Stadium, home ballpark for the Washington Senators. His house at 13th and U streets was just five blocks from the stadium, Sam later recalled what happened after his elderly father cheered and waved an "I Saw Walter Johnson Pitch" pennant:

As a teenager Sam worked for the Senators as a food vendor, selling popcorn and peanuts in the stadium's segregated Jim Crow section in right field.

He joined the Tribune full-time in 1926, and became sports editor shortly thereafter. In 1929 Lacy left the paper for the summer to play semi-pro baseball in Connecticut while his family remained in Washington. He returned to the paper in 1930, and once again became sports editor in 1933.

During his tenure Lacy covered Jesse Owens' medal-winning performances at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, the world heavyweight title fights of boxer Joe Louis (including his victory over Max Schmeling), and the rise of Negro league stars such as Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson and Cool Papa Bell.

Sam Lacy wrote his final column for the paper just days before his death at age 99 in 2003, and filed the piece from his hospital bed.

Lacy's paternal grandfather, Henry Erskine Lacy, was the first black detective in the Washington, D.C., police department. He had checked into the hospital a week earlier due to a loss of appetite. Besides his children, survivors included four grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. with burial at Lincoln Memorial Cemetery in Suitland, Maryland.

Awards and honors In 1948, Lacy became one of the first black members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America,

In 1984, Lacy became the first black journalist to be enshrined in the Maryland Media Hall of Fame.

In 1994, Lacy was selected for the Society of Professional Journalists Hall of Fame by the Washington chapter.

In 1995, Lacy was in the first group of writers to be honored with the A.J. Liebling Award by the Boxing Writers Association of America.

In 1997, the 50th anniversary of Robinson's groundbreaking major league debut, Lacy received an honorary doctorate from Loyola University Maryland, and was honored by the Smithsonian Institution with a lecture series.

In 1998, Lacy received the Frederick Douglass Award from the University System of Maryland on April 23; the United Negro College Fund established a scholarship program in Lacy's name on April 25; and he received the Red Smith Award from the Associated Press on June 26.

Lacy also served on the President's Council on Physical Fitness and on the Baseball Hall of Fame's selection committee for the Negro leagues.