Turncoat Billy on BJ editorial page

Former BJ Washington correspondent and Columbus bureau chief, who retired as Columbus bureau chief of the Dayton Daily News, writes in today’s BJ editorial page about how he turned from Indians fan to Tigers fan because he couldn’t stay the perpetual heartbreak of rooting for Cleveland pro teams.

Bill Hershey

When Bill’s family moved from Ohio to Flint, Michigan, he was a 9-year-old fourth grader with an Indians pennant in his bedroom and was teased by children in that state up north, as Woody Hayes was fond of calling it, for his Buckeye allegiance.

He wrote supportive letters to Herb Score after Yankee Gil McDougal’s line drive struck the Indians pitcher in the face, badly damaging his eye, and to Jimmy Piersall, the Indians outfielder heckled by Tigers fans for his outbursts, the result of mental illness. And received replies.

The Tigers won the 1968 World Series, turncoat Billy became and remained a Tigers fan.

Now that LeBron James has returned to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the widely-heralded Second Coming, Bill writes, 9-year-olds throughout Ohio have hopes for a return to the glory that was Cleveland so long, long ago.

To read Bill’s BJ Editorial Page column, click on http://www.ohio.com/editorial/william-hershey-broken-hearts-for-james-to-mend-1.510875