Northeast Ohio is honoring one legendary sportswriter while mourning another. Paul Hoynes will receive a Baseball Hall of Fame career award after more than 40 years covering Cleveland baseball for The Plain Dealer. Bill Livingston, a Plain Dealer columnist for more than three decades, died last week at age 77.
Ideastream Public Media’s sports commentator Terry Pluto worked with both men.
“You have two people that were in the largest paper in the state of Ohio, being read for more than three decades, and you get used to them even if you don't like what they write sometimes or anything else,” Pluto said. “And I think that was a blessing, what Paul and Bill Livingston brought to the Plain Dealer.”
Pluto highlighted the contrasting backgrounds of the two men. Paul Hoynes, a Cleveland Heights native, replaced Pluto as the baseball writer at The Plain Dealer in 1985, while Bill Livingston, who grew up in Texas, arrived in 1984 after stints at The Dallas Morning News and The Philadelphia Inquirer.
“(Livingston) basically replaced Hal Lebovitz, the longtime and revered Cleveland writer and sports columnist,” Pluto said. “(Livingston) wrote until he was 70. I remember sitting with him in the playoffs in 2018, his last year covering LeBron, and he said to me, ‘You know, I think I've had it.’ Not long after that, Bill retired.”
The two men also approached sportswriting differently, primarily because they had different jobs.
“As a baseball writer, you were locked into the news," Pluto said. "You have opinions, but that's not your main job. Your job is to tell what was going on with the Tribe back in the old days, or the Guardians now, as Paul's still doing at the age of 74."
“(Livingston) felt a columnist should have a tough edge and not be afraid to put some opinions out and shake people up a little bit,” Pluto said. “He loved the Olympics. He loved all kinds of different sports. And I liked that part of him because I'm kind of more baseball, basketball, football. That's it. His view of the world was a little bigger than mine.”
Pluto also reflected on the adjustment of working alongside Livingston after leaving the Akron Beacon Journal and returning to The Plain Dealer as a columnist in 2007.
“We were sort of rivals,” Pluto said. “It was a little difficult for Bill and for myself. (It was) kind of like, okay, now we're on the same team. How are we going to do this? What I really appreciated over time is how we were able to kind of build a good relationship together.”
One moment in particular remains vivid for Pluto; covering the Cleveland Cavaliers’ historic comeback from a 3–1 deficit to win the 2016 NBA Championship.
“It’s close. The final score was, 93-89,” Pluto recalled. “We’re going back and forth. I remember it’s 89-89 and LeBron (James) blocks a shot from behind. Kyrie Irving hit a three-pointer and they were still only up by three. Steph Curry misses a jump shot, which would have tied the game. Bill just looks up and goes and almost yelled, ‘They’re actually going to win this thing.’ And then as a writing, I kept asking, ‘Bill, what was the score?’ because I was so afraid I was going to mess up. It was just a lot of fun to see two old hands trying to make sure we have one last great championship story for Cleveland to write about. I still remember 93-89 final score.”
Reflecting on both men, Pluto said their work gave Clevelanders a connection to sports and a sense of joy.
“Paul realizes, like I do, that sports is just this wonderful diversion from real life and from the troubles that people are having,” Pluto said. “It’s a lot of joy for Paul and myself, and then Bill before us, I think, to be able to write sports for people that love this stuff.”
Hoynes, 74, continues to cover the Guardians, while Livingston passed away last week at age 77.
