St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist JOE STRAUSS, a “relentless reporter and fearless writer who earned respect throughout baseball’s press boxes and clubhouses for his distinctive voice and incisive coverage of the game,” died early yesterday morning from “complications related to a yearlong battle against leukemia,” according to Derrick Goold of the ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH. Strauss was 54. He “spent nearly three decades covering baseball.” His was the voice that “chronicled, day by day, how CAL RIPKEN JR.’s historic Iron Man streak came to an end, that brought context to the beginning of the Atlanta braves’ dynasty, and was among the first to capture the peerless beginning of ALBERT PUJOLS’ career with the Cardinals.” Strauss “received many national awards for his work, and his ability to craft a game story and his unyielding reporting influenced many who worked beside him or just read him.” Post-Dispatch Sports Editor ROGER HENSLEY said, “A sound bite of a quote was simply not enough. He wanted to know the thinking behind the initial answer. He was a consummate reporter in pushing those he was interviewing for more information.” Strauss’ first newspaper job was with the Gwinnett Daily News in Georgia, where he “served as ….beat writer” for the Braves, Falcons and Univ. of Georgia “before vaulting” in ’88 to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was the Braves beat writer there until ’91 when he began to serve as a “national baseball writer and national writer for the AJC before returning to beat work to cover the Orioles for The Baltimore Sun.” From ’97-’01, Strauss “blended traditional beat work for the Sun with expansive features and weekly Sunday columns.” He joined the Post-Dispatch in’02. Strauss’ passing “comes less than 13 months after” the newspaper lost columnist BRYAN BURWELL to cancer. Strauss is survived by his wife, DIANA, and their daughter, ALEXIS (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 12/28).
FOND REMEMBRANCE: In St. Louis, Jeff Gordon writes Strauss was “perpetually skeptical, finding half-empty glasses on every counter.” Strauss was an “old-school print guy,” who “loved playing cards, and golf.” He “waged a remarkable fight against” leukemia, "enduring one form of aggressive treatment after another.” Strauss “kept plugging way, working week after week through the crests and valleys of his treatment.” Gordon writes, "We must attempt to honor his spirit by persisting through adversity, looking past the company line for real truths and by stepping up when others need help” (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 12/28). Former Post-Dispatch columnist BERNIE MIKLASZ said, “It was really hard to explain Joe to people who didn’t know him. I would say, at times, he was like unduly feisty, trying to be combative and he was never hesitant to stir the pot.” He added, “He was a tough, salty guy on the outside and, at times, as a colleague and friend, he could be difficult to deal with because he was complex. But underneath all of that, he was a genuinely sweet, caring man” (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 12/28). FOXSPORTS.com’s Ken Rosenthal wrote Strauss “was the classic newspaper beat man, fiercely independent, beholden only to his readers.” Strauss was the “type of reporter who slowly is disappearing from the media landscape.” He “knew the game well enough to match wits daily” with former Cardinals manager TONY LA RUSSA. La Russa said of Strauss, “There were some difficult variables there. Joe was very insightful. He had a lot of experience. He could figure things out as well as anybody” (FOXSPORTS.com, 12/27). Pujols on Twitter wrote, “I was blessed to play under your watch” (TWITTER.com, 12/27). Rams coach JEFF FISHER said of Strauss, “He was really great to be around for the last couple years. He was very fair and very intelligent” (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 12/28).
