In the middle of the 20th century, the thriving metropolis of Cleveland, with three daily newspapers bearing its name on their mastheads, was blessed with a coterie of sportswriter/columnists who could coax the keys of their typewriters to produce the news, the insights, the drama, the joys and the sorrows of their special world with the very best in the nation. Among this special group was the man whose somber face graced the top of a regular column entitled “Plain Dealing”, the man seemingly known to everyone simply as Cobby. Gordon Cobbledick was the sports editor of the Plain Dealer from 1946 until his retirement in 1964. Before that he had covered the Cleveland Indians for 25 years with his signature story perhaps being the news of the team’s rebellion against manager Oscar Vitt in 1940. Shortly thereafter he would turn war correspondent, writing from the Pacific Theatre during World War II, then returning to become PD sports editor soon after. During his long career he served a term as president of the Baseball Writers Association of America and in 1977, nine years after his death, he would become the first Ohio writer to be inducted into the writers wing of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. Another posthumous honor would come his way in 1982 when he was inducted into the Journalism Hall of Fame. Born in Cleveland, Cobby was the holder of a masters degree in mining engineering from Case Tech, where he starred in football.  He continued to make the city his home until moving to Tucson, AZ shortly before his death in 1969.
(Deceased)