At 9:15, tonight, baseball Hall of Famer Bob Feller, one of the greatest pitchers who ever lived, died in a Cleveland area hospital from acute leukemia. Within just over an hour of his death, both the New York Times and the Washington Post posted obituaries. Although it was only posted four minutes before the Post’s, the Times’ article is much shorter and not as detailed, and certainly isn’t as well constructed. “The Cleveland Indians say Hall of Fame Bob Feller has died. He was 92.” is a terrible lead, especially compared to the Washington Post’s: “Bob Feller, the Iowa farm boy whose powerful right arm earned him the nickname “Rapid Robert” and made him one of baseball’s greatest pitchers during a Hall of Fame career with the Cleveland Indians, has died. He was 92.”
While time is certainly of the essence in breaking a story such as this, the Times could have done better. I’m sure they will publish a longer obituary later, as likely will the Post, but the article in the Post, written by AP writer Tom Withers, was much more well done and , as I said, posted only four minutes after the Times article. Not to mention, the Post article is right on the front page of their website, opposite the headline (the House passing the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell), while the Times is the third or fourth story down on their sports page.
