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Quick Facts
Biography
Frank Grant Menke (October 10, 1885 – May 13, 1954) was an American newspaper reporter, author, and sports historian.He wrote for the Hearst Newspapers from 1912 to 1932 and his articles appeared daily in 300 newspapers across the country.He was billed by the Hearst syndicate as "America's Foremost Sport Writer".He later devoted much of his effort to his work as an author of books on sports history.Two of his works, The All Sports Record Book and The Encyclopedia of Sports, became known as authoritative reference works that were revised and reissued for several decades.
Early years
He was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1885.His father, Christopher J. Menke, was an Ohio native and a printer.He worked in construction as a teenager and played semi-professional baseball as a pitcher and outfielder. From 1906 to 1911, he worked as a reporter for the Cleveland Press and the Cleveland News.
Sports writer and editor for Hearst newspapers
In 1911, Menke moved to New York and, in 1912, became a sportswriter for the International News Service (INS) the wire service for the Hearst newspapers.He remained with the INS until late 1916 when he formed The Menke Syndicate, Inc.By March 1917, Menke returned to the Hearst newspapers as a feature writer and sports editor for Hearst's Newspaper Feature Service, also known as the King Features Syndicate.Menke's daily sports column appeared in 300 newspapers across the United States and Canada in the late 1910s and early 1920s and was translated into Spanish, French and Chinese for publication abroad.He was billed by the Hearst newspapers as "America's Foremost Sport Writer" and the "'Babe Ruth' of the Scribes".In 1931, Bill Ritt, sports editor of a competing syndicate, paid tribute to Menke:
Should sports writers, in congress assembled, ever decide to award a medal to the scribe who has given the most meritorious service in behalf of his fellow laborers in the athletic vineyards, this department's nomination would be Frank G. Menke.Menke for many years a nationally known sports writer, is also the Lincoln, the Bancroft, the Emil Ludwig, the Sherlock Holmes of sideline scribblers.
From 1913 to 1922, Menke's college football All-America team selections were published in newspapers across the United States.
From 1918 through the 1920s, Menke wrote about no athlete more frequently than Jack Dempsey.The two became friends, and Menke was long a supporter of Dempsey.In 1926, Dempsey went into the horse racing business and named a thoroughbred hose "Frank G. Menke" after Menke.
Menke spent one year as the editor of the New York Press in 1934.
Author
Menke also worked with Ty Cobb, Gene Tunney, and James J. Corbett on their autobiographies and ghost wrote articles for Babe Ruth.In 1929, Menke published The All Sports Record Book, which was re-issued and updated annually throughout the 1930s.In 1939, he published a new work, The Encyclopedia of Sports.He thereafter published revised and expanded editions of his encyclopedia through 1953.The final edition of The Encyclopedia of Sports published during Menke's lifetime was 1,018 pages. It was periodically updated with revised editions being published even after his death.The sixth revised edition, published in 1978, covered 68 major sports in 1,125 pages.
As baseball prepared to celebrate the centennial of the sport in 1939, Menke released the results of his research showing that the sport was not invented in 1839 by Abner Doubleday in Cooperstown, New York.Menke first published his findings in a magazine called Ken and then reprinted in the first edition of The Encyclopedia of Sports, which was released in February 1939.Menke concluded that the game had been played along the East Coast since at least 1805 and pointed out that Doubleday was 20 years old and enrolled at a military academy when he was supposed to have invented the game.While the quality of Menke's research was acknowledged by leading newspapers including The Sporting News, the Little Falls Times, a newspaper serving the Cooperstown area, wrote that Menke had an ulterior motive for his claims and belonged to "the class that would belittle Washington, Lincoln and other men who have played their part in American history".
In the late 1930s and 1940s, Menke worked for eight years as the publicity director for Churchill Downs, the home of the Kentucky Derby.During his years working with Churchill Downs, he published several books about horse racing, including The Story of Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Derby (1940), Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Derby Since 1875 (1942), Down the Stretch: The Story of Colonel Matt J. Winn (1945), and Harness Horse History (1945).
Family and death
In May 1954, Menke died in his hotel room in Cincinnati, after suffering a heart attack while returning from a vacation in California to his home in Fairfield.
Articles by Menke
Baseball
- Federal League Worries Fultz (Federal League), February 27, 1914
- Baseball Good Revenue Getter: In Later Years Has Become Very Remunerative Business, March 3, 1914
- Sport Dope (column about George Stallings and 1914 Boston Braves), September 30, 1914
- Sport Dope (1914 World Series), October 8, 1914
- In the World of Sport (1914 World Series), October 17, 1914
- Sport Dope (column about peace talks with the Federal League), December 1, 1914
- Sport Dope (highest baseball salaries), December 26, 1914
- Sport Dope (proposal to play World Series in multiple cities), January 9, 1915
- Sport Dope ("Wild Bill" Donovan), January 12, 1915
- Sport Dope (Bill Hinchman/Battling Nelson), January 22, 1915
- Sport Dope (National League pennant race), March 4, 1915
- Sport Dope (National League Race), March 9, 1915
- Tener Is New Czar In Baseball World (John K. Tener), February 8, 1916
- Collins Has the Edge on Tris Speaker, Says Menke (Eddie Collins/Tris Speaker), April 30, 1916
- American League Jockeyed With Entire Circuit Balanced, May 2, 1916
- Cleveland Paid Too Much for Tris Speaker Thinks Expert Menke (Tris Speaker), April 18, 1916
- Joe Jackson Is a Great Slugger, But Can Not Beat Cobb's Record (Shoeless Joe Jackson), June 17, 1916
- Menke Declares Sox Will Win Series in Five Game Romp (1916 World Series), October 8, 1916
- Clout by Ty Cobb Causes a Divorce; Matty Gives Good Advice on Hurling (Ty Cobb/Christy Mathewson), July 20, 1918
- John Heydler Is Right Man Head of Major League (John Heydler), November 27, 1918
- Pitchers Finally Got Next to Babe Ruth's Slugging and His Average Began to Drop (Babe Ruth), April 27, 1919
- Reds Lose Lead; Sox Come from Behind (1919 World Series), October 7, 1919
- One More Defeat and White Sox Dream Are Ended (1919 World Series), October 7, 1919
- White Sox Take Another and Fatten Chances (1919 World Series), October 8, 1919
- Stove Leaguers Don't Have To Select All-American Baseball Team -- It Picks Itself (1921 All-America Baseball Team), November 19, 1921
- Menke Recalls Days When College Boys Found Going Rough, January 11, 1922
- Legislative Folks Do Lot Of Vain 'Sloganing' Against Judge Landis: Baseball's Chieftain Merely Chuckles At 'Out With Landis' (Kenesaw Mountain Landis), January 24, 1922
- Preponderance of Backstops Guiding Teams This Season (catchers as managers), February 22, 1922
- 'Showdown' Expected in Holdout Squabble: Fabulous Prices of Rookies Wreck Morale of Club, March 4, 1922
- Gentle Barney Gets Hooked (Barney Dreyfuss), October 27, 1924
- Aspiring Twirler Now Finds Curve Ball Necessary, April 20, 1923
- Frank Frisch Luckiest of Ball Players (Frankie Frisch), October 22, 1924
- Miller Huggins Made Hornsby a Hitter (Miller Huggins/Rogers Hornsby), December 26, 1924
- Four Men Left of 1920 World Champions (1920 Cleveland Indians), January 3, 1925
- Jack Dunn Is Genius Of Baseball World, Frank Menke Thinks (Jack Dunn), February 9, 1925
- Chris Von Der Ahe's Baseball Party (Chris von der Ahe), June 5, 1925
- $11,000 'Lemon' Pitching In All His Early Glory (Rube Marquard), July 17, 1925
- Heydler's Advice to Jake Not Common Sense (John Heydler/Jack Fournier), November 25, 1925
- Home for Indigent Players Aim of Diamond Fraternity, January 4, 1926
- Tobacco Chewing Habit Caused Pennock Misery (Herb Pennock), October 15, 1926
- Menke Predicts Yanks Will Flop Next Year (1927 New York Yankees), October 28, 1926
- Landis May Be Ousted From Czar Post Next Year: Some Moguls Against His Appointment; Would Like to Know If He Is Worth $50,000 a Year (Kenesaw Mountain Landis), December 1, 1926
- Menke Suggests Red Sox Sign Speaker, Collins, Cobb: Trio Sure To Bring Pennant To Bean Town; Tris and Ty Will Find It Hard to Resist Game, December 21, 1926
- Menke Takes Rap at Landis as Sensation Seeker: Silver Thatch Busy Dodging Verbal Bricks; Scandal Has Rocked Ex-Jurist Like a Ship in a Storm (Kenesaw Mountain Landis), December 31, 1926
- Menke Says Connie Mack No Longer 'Miracle Man': New Failures Show Players Brought Fame; Has Been Getting Sad Results for Last 13 Years (Connie Mack), July 27, 1927
- Reilly Made Shrewd Deal When He Sold Delaney's Contract (Jack Delaney), January 5, 1928
- Menke Figures Athletics To Capture World Series: Macks Have It On Cubs, He Asserts (1929 World Series), September 28, 1929
- 'Copper' Thinks Athletics Will Cop Big Crown (1931 World Series), October 7, 1931
Boxing
- Wants Pugilists Better Governed: National Commission To Have Supervision Over Sport Is Proposed (advocating creation of a national boxing commission), February 3, 1914
- Sport Dope (Jack Johnson/Jess Willard), January 8, 1915
- Sport Dope (Battling Nelson), January 18, 1915
- Sport Dope (Jack Johnson/Jess Willard), February 18, 1915
- Menke Says Betting Favors Frank Moran (Frank Moran), October 19, 1915
- Little Jack Dillon Springs Ring Surprise of Year -- Whales Frank Moran in Easy Fashion at Brooklyn (Jack Dillon), June 30, 1916
- Scribe Says Fulton Afraid of Dempsey: Salt Lake Boy Earns Right To Contest (Fred Fulton/Jack Dempsey), March 19, 1918
- Checkers Started Miske in Boxing (Billy Miske), July 20, 1918
- Will Dempsey-Willard Go Be Staged? Frank Menke Not So Sure That It Will; Jess May Have Idea in His Madness (Jess Willard/Jack Dempsey), February 14, 1919
- Championship Fight Between Willard and Jack Johnson Was Real Fake, Says Menke (Jack Johnson/Jess Willard), March 23, 1919
- Dempsey Shuns Lady Nicotine But Falls for Sweet Stuff (Jack Dempsey), May 18, 1919
- Beckett Proves To Be Over-Rated Boxer: So as Carpentier Licked Beckett, So Will Dempsey Trounce Georges in Ring, Menke Believes (Georges Carpentier/W. N. T. Beckett), December 13, 1919
- Time to Lift Ban on Fight Movies, View of Menke (advocating repeal of federal law prohibiting moving pictures of boxing contests), April 25, 1920
- Leight-Weight Family of the Heavy-Weight Champion: Why Has Jack Dempsey a Giant's Physique and Tremendous Powers of Endurance When His Parents, Sisters and Brothers Have Been Frail, Underweight or Invalids All Their Lives? (Jack Dempsey), January 30, 1921
- Life Ceases To Be Bed of Sweet Scented Roses for America's Thumb Ipressario (Tex Rickard), November 10, 1921
- Clique Combine Against Rickard May Result in Repeal of New York's Boxig Law: Fist Slingers Let Money-Mad Managers Gamble Meal Tickets (Tex Rickard), November 29, 1921
- Heavyweight Champion More Apt To Be Beaten By Smaller Opponent, December 27, 1921
- Thump Impressario [sic] Insists That Champ Box At 135 Pounds (Benny Leonard), January 4, 1922
- Fistic Champions Take Turns In Playing Title Role In 'The Dodgers': Ring Bosses Would Rather Loaf Than Fight Tough Ones, February 2, 1922
- 'Battling Bill' Brennan Reads Paper and Promptly Faints: Scorer of 60 Kayo Victories Told To Go and Secure 'Rep' (Bill Brennan), March 18, 1922
- Dempsey In Loud Clothes: Champ Doesn't Understand Why Frank Menke Doesn't Appreciate His Remarkable Toggery (Jack Dempsey), July 2, 1922
- Havana Logical Scene of Dempsey-Wills Go, Says Meinke (Jack Dempsey/Harry Wills), November 22, 1922
- Langford Had To 'Pull' Punches To Get Bouts Asserts Menke (Sam Langford), April 28, 1923
- Dual Plan Behind Bout: Shelby Affair Merely Means to Ballyhoo Dempsey-Wills Engagement (Dempsey vs. Tommy Gibbons), June 2, 1923
- Dempsey-Gibbons Bout West's Lone Topic of Conversation (Dempsey vs. Gibbons), June 13, 1923
- Firpo Deserves Royal Welcome by His Countrymen (Luis Firpo, "The Wild Bull of the Pampas), September 29, 1923
- Wills Will Never Get Crack At Title Held By 'Jack' Dempsey (Harry Wills), October 1, 1923
- Harry Greb Reckless At Spouting Charges In Newspapers (Harry Greb), January 8, 1924
- Montana Comes Back Despite Ring Bloomer (Dempsey vs. Gibbons), October 25, 1924
- Johnson's Ring Fame Due To Wild Blow (Jack Johnson), November 1, 1924
- Flowers Finds Himself in Tough Spot (Tiger Flowers), January 5, 1925
- Menke Sees Mystery In Terrific Punch of Jack Delaney (Jack Delaney), February 4, 1925
- Jack Dempsey Will Never Fight Harry Wills (Jack Dempsey/Harry Wills), April 9, 1925
- Benny Leonard's Old Pals Gone to Bow-wos (Benny Leonard), October 7, 1925
- Dempsey Today Is Better Than Ever, Says Menke (Jack Dempsey), November 13, 1925
- Walker Draws Up Smart Deal with Kearns (Mickey Walker/Jack Kearns), November 27, 1925
- 'Wife of Champ Has No Easy Life,' Jack's Estelle Sighs (Jack Dempsey), January 6, 1926
- Scramble to Groom Next Heavy Champ Under Way, April 30, 1926
- Menke Defends Dempsey, Declares Champ Is Fit (Jack Dempsey), June 26, 1926
- Quitting Mix When Beat Not Sign of Yellow, July 20, 1926
- Menke Sees Little Logic In Harry Wills' Claims, August 10, 1926
- Dempsey of Old Will Be In Ring, Menke Declares (Jack Dempsey vs. Gene Tunney), September 18, 1926
- Menke Says Dempsey Forgot Famous Shift (Dempsey vs. Tunney), September 29, 1926
- Marines Have Another One Looking for Title (Albert Foreman), October 16, 1926
- Monte Munn Abandons Politics for Squared Ring: Begins Battle For Ring Fame at 28 Years; Grid Star Shows Promise, But Has Only Met Punks (Monte Munn), November 1, 1926
- Menke Warns Fighters to Ignore Greeley's Advice: Many Champs Hit for West and Oblivion, December 13, 1926
- Sport World Reluctant to Accept Tunney as Champ: Bumped Over Gibbons, Carp and Dempsey; Beat 'Em All as They Came Along, Yet Is Not 'Accepted' (Gene Tunney), December 20, 1926
- Only Four Contenders Remain for Tunney's Title: Many Cleared from Path of Heavy Champ, January 5, 1927
- Menke Sees Operation as One hope for Dempsey: Recurrence of Old Ill Makes Jack Sick Man; Ex-Champ Insists He Needs No Surgical Treatment (Jack Dempsey), March 15, 1927
- Dempsey Pins Hope On Bout About July 4: Ex-Champ Looking Over Sites for His Training Camp (Jack Dempsey), March 20, 1927
- Dempsey-Sharkey Bout Appears Out of Question: Former King Says He Has 'Lost' Punch; But Sparring Mates Give Proof He Is Playing Possum, June 7, 1927
- Menke Favors Dempsey by Knockout in Five Rounds: Expert Gives Reasons for Picking Jack; Says Tunney Can Not take a Shellacking Around Body (Dempsey vs. Tunney), September 22, 1927
- Was Kelly Game? Fought Better Man He Wouldn't Quit Pounded to Death (Andy Kelly), December 11, 1927
- Joe Jeannette One Battler McVey Couldn't Keep Down: Sam Knocked Him Down 36 Times In Bout; Wore Himself Out by Punching Fore and Resigned in 49th (Sam McVey/Joe Jeannette), February 2, 1928
- Menke Figures Tom Will Win, (Gene Tunney vs. Tom Heeney), July 24, 1928
- Dempsey Brought Success; Garden Claimed Credit(Sharkey-Stribling fight), April 4, 1929
- Dempsey To Quit Promoting Fights: Will Forget All About It Unless Business Conditions Improve, May 15, 1930
- Schmeling and Sharkey Start Getting Bold: They Expect Nothing Short of Murder When They Meet June 21, June 8, 1932
- Max Baer Beats Fish Vender In 20-Round Tilt (Max Baer/King Levinsky), July 5, 1932
- Farley Not to Resign As Head of Fight Board (James Farley), December 23, 1932
American Football
- Sport Dope (Michalis Dorizas), November 5, 1914
- Sport Dope (1914 College Football All-America Team), November 25, 1914
- Sport Dope (1914 Michigan Wolverines football team), December 2, 1914
- Mightiest Ground Gainers on Gridiron Depend Upon Strength of Line - Meinke: Greatest Halfback Dub On Grid Machine With Comparatively Weak Line (role of linemen), November 17, 1921
- Stars Reap Golden Harvest For Few Minutes of Play: 'Bo' McMillan, Star of Centre College Team Offered $1,000 Per Game -- Jim Thorpe, the Great Indian Averages $1,000 For Each Engagement (birth of professional football), December 8, 1921
- Veteran Football Officials Sidetracked for 'Fledglings' -- Critics Say: Holier-Than Thou Grid Nabobs Come In For Raking Over, January 23, 1922
- Forward Pass Is Sad Failure in Offense, Says Meinke (Forward pass), November 13, 1922
- Menke Comes to the Front, Praises Line That 'Helps' Backs (line for Notre Dame's Four Horsemen), December 25, 1924
- Publicity Made Grange Great, Says Frank Menke: Illinois Star Good Only in Open Field Running and Is Not As Great As Tryon and Oberlander (Red Grange), December 11, 1925
- College Football Steeped In Hypocrisy, Menke Cries, January 7, 1926
- Heston Greatest Grid Star of All Time -- Yost (Willie Heston), November 2, 1926
- Great Among the Greats, Says Menke of Rockne: Taught Army 'U' Value of Forward Pass; Combination With Dorais Brought Fame to Notre Dame (Knute Rockne), November 9, 1926
- Menke Says Huddle System Should Be Barred: Asserts Game Needs Radical Improvement; Would Cut Number of Subs Used in Each Period, December 2, 1926
- Wade and Assistants Have Great Record at Alabama: Coach's Easy Ways Keep His Record Hidden (Wallace Wade), December 11, 1926
- Menke Charges Varsity Football Commercialized: Quotes W. Va. Wesleyan As Good Example; Says Larger Schools Must Pay More Than $500 for Stars (corruption in college football), January 7, 1927
- 'Cold' Football Players Easily Injured - Menke: I.N.S. Sports Editor Tells Of Own Observation of Cripplings, December 11, 1931
- Lower Prices Real Cure For Football 'Evil': Menke Says High Prices Have Been Responsible For Present Conditions, December 20, 1931
Horse racing
- In the World of Sport (call for reform in horse racing), March 13, 1915
- Short Stories of the Track (Tod Sloan (jockey)), May 21, 1925
- Moral of This Race Tip Is Plain to All (corruption in horse racing), October 17, 1925
- Visit To Tijuana Sees Many Celebrities At Race Track, January 5, 1926
- Whitney Horses Gallop Into Big Fortune Class (Harry Payne Whitney), November 8, 1926
- Breeder of Fine Derby Winners Returns to Racing: John Madden Famous for Sharp Trades; Bred Flying Ebony and Zev Among Other Turf Stars (John E. Madden), November 24, 1926
Other
- With Menke At the Waldorf Gazing At The Big Smokes, December 12, 1913
- Most Athletes Are Married Men: Formerly, The Reverse Was True, But Cupid Has Now Changed Things, March 5, 1914
- Menke Sees Something Good in Yale After All -- Listen, April 24, 1916
- Wealth of Croesus Plunged on Battle Between 'Scorpions': Pair of Tarantula Can Whip a Vinagaroon, Say Wager-Mad Sports Fiends and Battle Ground is Selected for Battle of Death -- Game is Run Secretly (new Texas "sport" matching tarantulas against vinegaroons), November 29, 1921
- Standardization of Bowling Urged By 'Grand Old Man of Alleys': Alley Game Deals Old Pop Wallop, Says Expert (Joe Thum), February 7, 1922
- Flying Falls Rule Sized Up As Catastrophe for Curley's Clique: Flying Falls Knock Pre-Arranged Bouts 'Gang Aglae' -- Claim (Jack Curley/pro wrestling), February 17, 1922
- New York Sports Fans More Gullible Than Any, February 1, 1923
- American Doctors Say Weak Hearts Killed Golfers Past Fifty, October 2, 1923
- Suzanne Tennis Marvel Of All Time, Says Menke (Suzanne Lenglen), October 27, 1926
- Joie Ray's Display of Courage Draws Tribute From Feature Writer: Frank G. Menke Has High Praise for Great Performance of Ray in Recent Boston Marathon -- Joie Came Out of Oblivion to Stage Fine Comeback (Joie Ray), May 18, 1928