Moskowitz, Anthony made their marks at local level

They were different, Bob Moskowitz and Tony Anthony, the Peninsula sports journalism giants who passed away recently. And yet, native New Yorkers both, their love of local sports carried them through decades in service of local readers.

Moskowitz, who died on Nov. 28 at 93, was legendarily brash and temperamental. Those were not necessarily bad traits for someone who penned the column “The Way The Ball Bounces” for 34 years in the morning Daily Press, allowing him to vent his unending stream of opinions.

Anthony, who died on Dec. 1 at 86, was quiet and reserved, described by many who knew him as a gentleman. That made his words during two decades as sports editor at the afternoon Times-Herald all the more effective.

“He didn’t correct you often,” longtime Times-Herald and Daily Press sportswriter Al Pearce said of Anthony, “but when he did, he was respectful and you listened.

“He was a genuinely nice guy.” Both began work at the Newport News papers in the late 1950s and departed in the early 1990s, a time when the Times-Herald and Daily Press sports departments were competitive — with the writers alternating at the same desks — despite working for the same owners. Their New York upbringings resulted in a shared love of baseball, but for competing teams.

Anthony admired the Yankees and talked fondly of attending games at Yankee Stadium in his youth. Moskowitz was a lifelong fan of the New York (later San Francisco) Giants after watching them play at the Polo Grounds as a child.

“One day in the press box at War Memorial Stadium, and I think it might have been May 11, Bob Moskowitz quizzed me about whether I knew the significance of the number 511 in baseball history,” former Daily Press sportswriter Mike Holtzclaw recalled. “I told him that it was the number of (pitching) wins for Cy Young, but also the number of home runs for Mel Ott.

“Mel Ott was one of his favorite players for the Giants growing

up, so he was delighted I knew how many home runs he hit. As much as Major League Baseball, he loved War Memorial Stadium and worked to preserve it and celebrate it.”

Indeed, Moskowitz was as happy covering local baseball and state collegiate sports as he was in the press box at the two Washington Redskins-Miami Dolphins Super Bowls he covered for the Daily Press. His passion for state sports earned him induction into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame and lifelong friendships.

In 1997, area author Wilford Kale turned to Moskowitz when he needed help finishing the book “Goal to Goal: 100 Seasons of William & Mary Football.”

Their collaboration reflected the experience of so many who knew the mercurial sportswriter whose career included 34 years at the Daily Press, a decade at the York Town Crier and stints as scorekeeper for the Norfolk Tides and as a sports information director (at Christopher Newport and the Apprentice School).

“We cussed and discussed elements of the project, and it was a much better project for that,” Kale said. “He had strong opinions and we argued, but it was not acrimonious.

“Bob could pick up the phone and call former William & Mary coaches Marv Levy (who coached Buffalo to four Super Bowls) and Lou Holtz (who coached Notre Dame to a national title) and talk with them like he’d seen them last week.

“For the next 10 to 12 years we had lunch every week, often twice a week, just to talk sports. We became great friends and I miss him.”

Like Moskowitz, Anthony wrote up his share of big events. Area sports journalist Greg Bicouvaris said Anthony talked often about how much he enjoyed covering the Baltimore Colts during the Johnny Unitas-Don Shula era of the 1960s.

But Anthony, the Times-Herald sports editor from 1971 until its merger with the Daily Press in 1991, made his mark covering local sports. Pearce said Anthony loved high school and collegiate track and field in particular, and often followed local athletes to the Penn Relays.

When Anthony — who covered community sports in his final three years at the Daily Press — retired in 1994, columnist Skip Miller wrote admiringly about how a youth sports event was as important to him as the Olympics or World Series.

“This is about the people who read our newspaper,” Miller quoted Anthony as he stayed late to type in youth results, rather than assigning it to one of his writers, because he wanted it done right. “If we don’t get it in the paper, nobody will ever know about it.’’

Moskowitz and Anthony, sportswriters of vastly differing temperaments, enjoyed similarly fulfilling family and social lives. Moskowitz was married to wife JoAn for 57 years, had two children (David and Michele) and was named Man of the Year by the Temple Sinai Brotherhood.

“My first thought was that he and JoAn are back together, and that made me happy,” Holtzclaw said upon hearing of Moskowitz’s death.

Anthony, once recognized by the Virginia Council of Greek Orthodox Churches as Virginia’s Outstanding Greek Orthodox Citizen, leaves behind Marika, his wife of 62 years. He had two daughters, Kathy Ann and Melissa, and a grandson, Alexander, who adored him.

“Tony enjoyed a very balanced life,” Bicouvaris said. “He enjoyed his work life, but he loved his church and his family.”