Aniello "Neal" Russo (June 12, 1920 – March 6, 1996) was an American

sportswriter Sports journalism is a form of writing that reports on matters pertaining to sporting topics and competitions. Sports journalism has its roots in coverage of horse racing and boxing in the early 1800s, mainly targeted towards elites, and into t ...

. Russo was one of 14 children born to

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

immigrants and grocers Thomasina and Pietro Russo in

Farrell, Pennsylvania Farrell is a city in western Mercer County, Pennsylvania, United States, along the Shenango River. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 4,258. The city is part of the Hermitage micropolitan area. History Once dubbed "The Magic City, ...

. He graduated from

Farrell High School Monsignor Farrell High School is a Catholic high school for boys, located in the Oakwood section of Staten Island, New York, United States. Opened in 1961, the school is named in honor of Monsignor Joseph Farrell, a Catholic priest, as well as ...

in 1938, and later from the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

at the top of his class. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he served in the 434th Fighter Squadron in

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

, primarily at

RAF Wattisham Royal Air Force Wattisham or more simply RAF Wattisham was, between 1939 and 1993, the name of a Royal Air Force station located in East Anglia just outside the village of Wattisham, south of Stowmarket in Suffolk, England. During the Cold W ...

. He wrote the

479th Fighter Group 479th may refer to: * 479th Antisubmarine Group, inactive United States Air Force unit * 479th Bombardment Squadron, inactive United States Air Force unit * 479th Field Artillery Brigade (United States), field artillery brigade of the United States ...

's newspaper, ''Kontak'', for which pilot

Robin Olds Robin Olds (born Robert Oldys Jr.; July 14, 1922 – June 14, 2007) was an American fighter pilot and general officer in the United States Air Force (USAF). He was a "Flying ace, triple ace", with a combined total of 17 victories in World War II ...

created cartoons. After the war, Russo moved to

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

and began a 43-year career at the ''

St. Louis Post-Dispatch The ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' is a regional newspaper based in St. Louis, Missouri, serving the St. Louis metropolitan area. It is the largest daily newspaper in the metropolitan area by circulation, surpassing the '' Belleville News-Democra ...

''. He was on the

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they ...

beat for their final two seasons in St. Louis in 1952–1953. He succeeded Bob Broeg and preceded

Rick Hummel Richard Lowell Hummel (February 25, 1946 – May 20, 2023) was an American author and sports columnist best known for his work for the ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch''. Hummel was honored in 2007 with the J. G. Taylor Spink Award for baseball writin ...

on the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

beat from 1959 to 1978. His unconventional work practices and antics around the offices of the ''Post-Dispatch'',

Busch Stadium Busch Stadium (also referred to informally as "New Busch Stadium" or "Busch Stadium III") is a baseball stadium located in St. Louis, Missouri. It is the home of Major League Baseball's St. Louis Cardinals. It has a seating capacity of 44,383, ...

, and beyond included weight-loss challenges and stand-up comedy routines. Russo moonlit as an official scorer and as a

crossword A crossword (or crossword puzzle) is a word game consisting of a grid of black and white squares, into which solvers enter words or phrases ("entries") crossing each other horizontally ("across") and vertically ("down") according to a set of cl ...

puzzle writer. On April 6, 1978, he made a controversial call that resulted in

Bob Forsch Robert Herbert Forsch (January 13, 1950 – November 3, 2011) was an American professional baseball player who spent most of his sixteen years in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the St. Louis Cardinals (1974–1988) before finishing his pl ...

's first

no-hitter In baseball, a no-hitter or no-hit game is a game in which a team does not record a hit (baseball), hit through conventional methods. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in ...

. He covered St. Louis Flyers hockey, boxing, and youth sports. In addition to his work with the ''Post-Dispatch'', he contributed to ''Sports Illustrated'' and ''

The Sporting News ''The Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a ...

''. Russo died of congestive heart failure on March 6, 1996, in St. Louis. He was posthumously inducted to the St. Louis Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame in 2002.

References

External links

Neal Russo
on Find a Grave {{DEFAULTSORT:Russo, Neal 1920 births 1996 deaths American writers of Italian descent Sportswriters from Pennsylvania University of Pittsburgh alumni St. Louis Post-Dispatch people People from Farrell, Pennsylvania United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II Writers from St. Louis Sportswriters from Missouri