Joe Donnelly, former Newsday sports writer, dies at 87

Late in the 1991 baseball season, the Mets fired manager Bud Harrelson. Harrelson decided not to speak with reporters after his dismissal, except for one — Newsday baseball writer Joe Donnelly.

Donnelly had a reputation for being a dogged reporter who was widely respected throughout the game, as evidenced by his ability to reach Harrelson during a tough personal moment.

“He was a pro’s pro,” said former Newsday sports writer Mark Herrmann. “He had such respect for the business and, the business that he was covering, that it was just infectious.”

Donnelly, who covered the Mets and Yankees for most of his 33 years at Newsday, died Sunday at South Shore University Hospital in Bay Shore after suffering a heart attack at Hauppauge High School Thursday, where he was set to referee a junior varsity girls basketball game, his family said. He was 87.

“First and foremost, he loved baseball,” said son Steven Donnelly, 57, of Saratoga Springs. “He knew baseball better than anybody I’ve ever met or known. He would see and understand things at a high level and acumen that had few peers.”

Donnelly, a Brooklyn native turned longtime Huntington resident, began his career in 1958 as a general assignment reporter at the World-Telegram & Sun. In 1960, he moved to Sport magazine, where he was both an editor and writer. After a seasonlong stint covering the Baltimore Orioles and Washington Senators for United Press International in Washington, D.C., Donnelly joined Newsday in October 1962 and would stay until his retirement in November 1995.

Donnelly's interest in baseball went beyond the field. He wanted to know what made players tick.
“I always thought he looked at baseball with the eyes and heart of a scout or an umpire,” said Tom Verducci, a former Newsday baseball writer turned national television analyst. “He wanted to drill down as deep as he could into the game, find out the inner works of the game, and the people who played it. I think Joe was the ultimate insider when covering baseball, because that was his perspective. It wasn’t a 30,000-foot view. He got in the trenches, he always worked clubhouses — not just the New York teams, but the visiting team as well.”

Donnelly went to umpiring school for a long-form piece, getting to spend a few innings calling balls and strikes during a Mets spring training game.

“He admits to blowing a call,” his son said. “He called a high strike on Darryl Strawberry that he said in retrospect was not a high strike, and Strawberry let him have it.”

These were the kinds of experiences that Donnelly relished. He thought being on a beat was the purest form of sports journalism, his son said.

“I think Joe always had the reputation as someone who knew the game of baseball as well or better than everyone else covering it,” Verducci said. “When anyone read Joe Donnelly, they knew they were getting the heart of the matter when it came to what was going on in baseball.”

Donnelly was well-liked in the clubhouse and the press box.

“He was always good company, the kind of guy that you liked,” said former Newsday baseball writer Steve Jacobson.

Donnelly put together and played on baseball teams composed of New York media members. The group would play annual games against Boston reporters, the Yankees coaching staff, and made two trips to Venezuela to play a team of Venezuelan celebrities and media personalities. The group needed special permission from President Richard Nixon to travel to the South American country, his son said.

Donnelly’s time at Newsday was defined by baseball writing, but it was certainly not limited to it. He also wrote features on other sports. Donnelly also covered the news conference where they announced that the new hockey team on Long Island would be named "The Islanders," according to Herrmann.

“He was the first one ever to write a story about the ‘New York Islanders,’ " Herrmann said.  

Donnelly’s retirement was as active as his career. He spent a decade working as an official scorekeeper for the Mets and Yankees, and, through his relationship with Harrelson, held the same role with the independent Long Island Ducks.

“He was honest and fair,” his son said. “He was probably a little strict on the scoring. He felt like a major-league baseball player should catch that ball. But he was very well respected.”

Donnelly was a softball umpire for 33 years and was inducted into the Huntington Softball Hall of Fame in 2014. He was a basketball referee for the last 37 years of his life, working multiple leagues around Long Island — including Section XI, the body that governs Suffolk County high school sports.

Donnelly was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2020, but did not let it slow him.

“He was reffing at 87 years old, wearing a mask with a whistle in his mouth, with lung cancer,” said daughter Julie Bretz, 50, of California.  "That was our dad.”  

Donnelly was also a golf caddie, something he did into his 70s — and often before heading to Shea or Yankee Stadium for a full night of work — and was a golf ranger for Cold Spring Hills Country Club.

Donnelly’s life was full of love — for his family, for his profession, and for baseball.

“To my knowledge, nobody on the press box level had a greater love for the game and a healthier respect for what it takes to play at a high level,” Donnelly wrote shortly before his retirement. “It’s sort of like what Roger Craig, who gave Brooklyn its lone world championship, said of his 35 years in baseball: 'For kind of a mediocre guy, I did OK.' I’ll take that same summation. Thanks for sharing some time with me.”

In addition to his son and daughter, Joe Donnelly is survived by his wife of 59 years, Anne, daughters Laurie Schuberg of Virginia, Mary Donnelly of Great Neck, son Michael Donnelly of Huntington, sister Mimi Satriano of New Jersey, brother Jack Donnelly of Texas, and seven grandchildren. The family will be holding a private celebration of life. Joe Donnelly will be cremated, his family said. The family requests that any stories or remembrances of Joe Donnelly be sent to them at memoriesofjoedonnelly@gmail.com.