Joe Falls


Joseph Francis Falls was an American journalist. He began his career in his native New York City. At the age of 17 in 1945, he took a job as a copyboy for the Associated Press. After an apprenticeship of eight years, Falls moved to the Detroit bureau of the AP.
In Detroit, Falls flourished. He was hired by the Detroit Times in 1956 to cover the Detroit Tigers. He continued on the Tigers' beat with the Detroit Free Press from 1960 to 1978. His final move was to the Detroit News where he was a columnist and eventually sports editor.
During his career, Falls also had weekly columns in both The Sporting News and The Hockey News. It is said many young writers were so taken by his writing they wanted to become sportswriters. He also kept a statistic on Rocky Colavito during his years as a member of the Detroit Tigers. When Colavito stranded a runner, Falls would give him an RNBI. This infuriated Colavito and created a tense relationship between the two for several years.
Falls won several awards during his career. In 2001, he won the J. G. Taylor Spink Award from the Baseball Writers' Association of America. After his retirement in 2003, he was named to the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame.
Falls died of complications from diabetes and heart failure at age 76 in Detroit.

Books

  • "Man in Motion," Joe Falls
  • "Detroit Tigers," Joe Falls
  • "The Boston Marathon," Joe Falls
  • "So you think you're a die-hard Tiger fan," Joe Falls
  • "Daly Life: Every Step a Struggle: Memoirs of a World-Champion Coach," by Chuck Daly with Joe Falls
  • "The Detroit Tigers: An Illustrated History," Joe Falls
  • "Steve Yzerman: Heart of a Champion," Joe Falls, Francis J. Fitzgerald
  • "A Legacy of Champions: The Story of the Men Who Built University of Michigan Football," Joe Falls, Bob Wojnowski, John U. Bacon, Angelique S. Chengelis, Francis J. Fitzgerald, Chris McCosky
  • "Joe Falls: 50 years of sports writing:," Joe Falls
  • "Greatest moments in Detroit Red Wings history," Joe Falls, Jerry Green, Vartan Kupelian
  • "So you love Tiger Stadium too," Joe Falls, Irwin Cohen

    Selected articles

  • "," February 1950
  • "", Associated Press, July 1953
  • "", Associated Press, September 1953
  • "", Associated Press, November 1954
  • "", The Sporting News, March 20, 1957
  • "", The Sporting News, March 18, 1959
  • "", Baseball Digest, July 1960
  • "", Baseball Digest, April 1961
  • "", Baseball Digest, May 1961
  • "," Baseball Digest, June 1961
  • "", Baseball Digest, June 1961
  • "," Baseball Digest, July 1961
  • "," Baseball Digest, August 1961
  • "", Baseball Digest, August 1961
  • "," Baseball Digest, April 1962
  • "", Baseball Digest, May 1962
  • "," Baseball Digest, March 1963
  • "", Baseball Digest, June 1963
  • "", Baseball Digest, July 1963
  • "", Baseball Digest, March 1964
  • "", Baseball Digest, May 1964
  • "", Baseball Digest, May 1964
  • "", Baseball Digest, June 1964
  • "", Baseball Digest, June 1964
  • "", Baseball Digest, July 1964
  • "", Baseball Digest, August 1964
  • "", Baseball Digest, September 1964
  • "", Baseball Digest, May 1965
  • "", Baseball Digest, June 1965
  • "", Baseball Digest, June 1965
  • "", Baseball Digest, July 1965
  • "", Baseball Digest, September 1965
  • "", Baseball Digest, October 1965
  • "," Baseball Digest, October 1965
  • "", Baseball Digest, February 1966
  • "", Baseball Digest, July 1966
  • "", Baseball Digest, August 1966
  • "", Baseball Digest, February 1969
  • "", Baseball Digest, July 1969
  • "", Baseball Digest, September 1970
  • "", Baseball Digest, August 1974
  • "", Baseball Digest, July 1975
  • "", Baseball Digest, February 1977
  • "," Baseball Digest, November 1978
  • "," Baseball Digest, December 1978
  • "", Baseball Digest, December 1979
  • "," Baseball Digest, February 1981
  • "," Baseball Digest, October 1981
  • "", Baseball Digest, July 1986
  • "," Baseball Digest, September 1986
  • "", Baseball Digest, June 1994
  • "", Baseball Digest, December 1996
  • "," Baseball Digest, November 2002