I was devastated to hear that my favorite sports writer and longest-tenured beat writer in all of baseball, Hal McCoy of the Dayton Daily News, will no longer be covering the Reds after this season. In a sign of the economic times and the declining newspaper industry, the paper will no longer be covering the team on a daily and game-by-game basis in the same fashion it does today.

McCoy informed his readers on his blog Thursday night of the news.

"The hammer fell today and it hurts like hell. They’re putting the ol’ baseball scribe out to pasture and if there are teardrops on your screen, well, that’s from me, just an old softie. My run is over - 37 years of bliss, doing a job that wasn’t a job. It was pure joy and pure fun," the 68-year old wrote in his tearful farewell post.

McCoy, a Hall of Famer, covered the team for nearly three decades. I have been fortunate enough to interview a few times for our Reds/MLB podcast, Wire To Wire. He loved to talk baseball and would do so anytime. Despite the fact that he's been legally blind for over six years, McCoy still has been the benchmark for a team beat writer in any sport.

His blog is one of six bookmarks in my mobile phone and when the Reds were actually still keeping my interest I checked it out daily. He will be missed by me and Reds' fans across the world.

Farewell Hal and thanks for all of your hard work and keeping me informed on my most beloved passions for so many years.

WIRE TO WIRE - Hal McCoy Interview (5.9.2009)

MLB cincinnati reds, hal mccoy