Larry Whiteside, a baseball writer in Boston, Kansas City and Milwaukee for almost half a century who was a pioneer for blacks in journalism and a mentor for reporters regardless of their race, died Friday after a long illness. He was 69.
Whiteside had worked for The Boston Globe from 1973 until he was sidelined by Parkinson’s disease in the past decade.
Whiteside covered the Boston Red Sox in the 1975 and 1986 World Series and memorably left in the middle of Roger Clemens’ record-setting 20-strikeout game in ’86 to cover a Celtics playoff game. Whiteside was present when Clemens matched the feat in Detroit in 1996.
In 1971, Whiteside created “The Black List” to aid sports editors in helping hire qualified black journalists. There were only nine names on the list when he started, but by 1983 it had expanded to more than 90.
When he was hired by the Globe in 1973, Whiteside was the only black reporter in America covering major league baseball on a daily basis for a major newspaper.
(the Globe’s obituary)