Hal McCoy is a former beat writer for the Dayton Daily News (Dayton, Ohio), covering the Cincinnati Reds baseball team. He was honored by the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2002 as the winner of the J. G. Taylor Spink Award, which is awarded annually "for meritorious contributions to baseball writing." He has won 52 Ohio and national writing awards and was the first non-Cincinnati newsperson elected to the Cincinnati Journalists Hall of Fame. He also was inducted into the National Sports Media Association Hall of Fame and the Irish-American Baseball Hall of Fame. He has a stone on Dayton's Walk of Fame and the press box at Dayton's Howell Field is named the Hal McCoy Press Box. McCoy has been the Cincinnati BBWAA Chapter Chair 22 times and was the BBWAA national president in 1997. He is the third writer from the Dayton Daily News to win the J. G. Taylor Spink Award, joining Si Burick (1982) and Ritter Collett (1991). Residing in Englewood, Ohio, McCoy is an honors graduate in journalism from Kent State University.
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Monday, 11 August 2025 / Published in Features, Home Features, Ohio Harness Racing

McCoy: Home Field Advantage…Troy’s Polhamus First To Win In Opening Night Racing At Troy

Miami County's most noted, and most active, horseman quietly goes about his business of training winners.  Quietly?  He says he doesn't do interviews, but he did this one for Press Pros.  Mike Polhamus shares his love for horses and competition on opening night of the Miami County Fair racing.
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Wednesday, 06 August 2025 / Published in Features, Ohio Harness Racing

McCoy: Swartz Reaching New Heights, Setting His Sights Forward On A Two-Year-Old

Three wins shy of 2,000 entering Wednesday's racing card at the Urbana fair, New Carlisle native Russell Swartz's story of the horseman next door with the horse of a lifetime is a hard one to beat.
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Saturday, 19 July 2025 / Published in Features

McCoy: Teachers Are More Important Than Sports Writers

You know the phrase...behind every successful man stands a pretty special woman?  Nothing more true than the one who taught me to type and set me on my path as a writer at Akron East High School.
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Friday, 04 July 2025 / Published in Features, Ohio Harness Racing

McCoy: Gillespie An Outstanding ‘Fair’ Harness Driver

He was 16 when he bought his first horse for $500, and sold it a month later for $20,000...proving that Greenville's Ronnie Gillespie was cut out for the harness racing game, and closing in on a thousand wins as one of the state's favorite 'fair' drivers.
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Saturday, 14 June 2025 / Published in Features

McCoy: Graham Overcomes Adversities-Plus To Advance

Graham Local is headed for the OHSAA Division V state baseball finals after overcoming a slew of adversities, including an overnight rain delay, to be Lynchburg-Clay in the semifinals, 4-1, with Adam Levy leading the way on the mound and in the batter's box.