Dave Anderson, sports columnist, Pulitzer winner, dies at age 89

Dave Anderson, a genteel sports writer whose elegant, descriptive prose won a Pulitzer Prize for commentary as a columnist for The New York Times, died Thursday. He was 89.

He died at an assisted living facility in Cresskill, New Jersey, the Times said. He worked at the newspaper from 1966 to 2007.

An expert on baseball, the NFL, boxing and golf, Anderson wrote 21 books, received the 1994 Red Smith Award for outstanding contributions to sports journalism from the Associated Press Sports Editors and was inducted into the National Sports Writers and Sportscasters Hall of Fame in 1990. He was known for his warmth to friends and strangers alike and unflagging politeness.

His Pulitzer cited six columns from 1980 . The most memorable was “The Food On a Table At the Execution ,” portraying the scene at the Yankee Stadium office of George Steinbrenner when the New York owner forced out rookie manager Dick Howser with two years remaining on his contract.

New York went 103-59 in the regular season but was swept 3-0 by Kansas City in the AL Championship Series, and Steinbrenner gave the implausible explanation that Howser decided to leave baseball for real estate development in Florida. Howser and his successor, Gene Michael, were on hand for the announcement.

“Near the door of George Steinbrenner’s office in Yankee Stadium yesterday, there were two trays of bite-sized roast beef, turkey and ham sandwiches, each with a toothpick in it,” Anderson was writing then.