Rod Beaton (sportswriter)

Rod Beaton
Middle-aged man wearing eyeglasses, a gray sweater, with black and gray hair, and a gray-haired beard
Born
Hugh Roderick Beaton Jr.

(1951-09-28)September 28, 1951
Augusta, Georgia, U.S.
DiedJune 22, 2011(2011-06-22) (aged 59)
Arlington County, Virginia, U.S.
Alma materUniversity of Delaware
OccupationSports journalist
Years active1977–2006
Employers

Hugh Roderick Beaton Jr. (September 28, 1951 – June 22, 2011) was an American sportswriter and journalist. He covered ice hockey and baseball for The News Journal in the late 1970s, then became one of the original writers for USA Today in 1982. He served as president of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association from 1985 to 1987, when voting for starters in the National Hockey League All-Star Game shifted from the sportswriters to the league's fans.

Beaton focused solely on writing about baseball for USA Today since the late 1980s. He traveled to Minor League Baseball games to watch the younger players and write about, prior to them making it to Major League Baseball. He was credited by The Washington Post for establishing a network to gather information, for writing columns that discussed prospect talent for each major league team, and for giving exposure to many future star players.[1] Sports Illustrated writer Jeff Pearlman described Beaton as a journalist who would not degrade a player just to get attention, and wrote "in a voice that was authoritative and oft-funny".[2]

As a student, Beaton graduated from the University of Delaware, was involved with Students for a Democratic Society, participated in Vietnam War protests, and helped to form a student union in high school. He was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2000, which was later modified to a diagnosis of dementia with Lewy bodies. He retired from journalism in 2006, and died at age 59.

  1. ^ Schudel, Matt (July 16, 2011). "Rod Beaton, USA Today sportswriter, dies at 59". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C. Retrieved January 12, 2022.; Schudel, Matt (July 23, 2011). "Sportswriter was part of original staff of USA Today". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. p. 11.
  2. ^ Pearlman, Jeff (October 9, 2009). "Sportswriter living a nightmare with debilitating disease". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved January 12, 2022.