Dick Dozer - Inducted 2001

Born March 12, 1925, in Minneapolis. Sioux Falls (Washington High). 1950 Missouri grad. A nationally respected sportswriter for 30 years, mostly with the Chicago Tribune.

In the early 1950s, he worked for KIHO Radio in Sioux Falls and made history in July 1950 by broadcasting the first remote play-by-play of the state amateur golf tournament. In March 1950, he and Ken Guenthner broadcast the state Class A basketball tournament in the Sioux Falls Coliseum. In 1951, Dozer became sports editor for the Sioux Falls Argus Leader.

In 1953, he took a job with the Chicago Tribune sports department and was with them until 1980. At the Tribune, Dozer covered the Cubs, White Sox and Bulls, as well as Big Ten football and basketball and various other sports assignments. Dozer covered his first World Series in 1957 and became the full-time beat writer for major league baseball in 1958. He became the official scorer in 1962 and was the official scorer for the 1976 World Series.

Dozer was president of the National Baseball Writers Association in 1976, which afforded him the opportunity to emcee the induction ceremonies at the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown that July. He had served earlier as president of the Chicago Basketball Writers Association.

Baseball writer Jerome Holtzman, who worked many years at the rival Chicago Sun-Times, said: "Dozer had a unique skill. He was the best baseball game writer in America. His game stories were just wonderful."

In 1976, Dozer testified before Congress on proposed antitrust regulations for professional sports.

After retirement from the Chicago Tribune in 1980, Dozer wrote for the Phoenix Gazette for five years. He later wrote for the Mesa Tribune and was editor for the Phoenix Suns Fast Break magazine.