R.I.P.: Former WCBS-FM NYC Sports Reporter Phil Pepe

Phil Pepe

Former WCBS 101.1 FM sportscaster Phil Pepe, a longtime Daily News Yankee beat writer whose career covering New York sports spanned 50 years, died Sunday at the age of 80 at his home in Englewood, N.J..

Pepe covered the Yankees for The News from 1968-1981 and wrote the lead game story for every World Series from 1969-81.

He left the paper in 1989 for WCBS radio, where he did morning sports — including his signature “Pep Talk” — for more than 15 years. He was also the director of broadcasting/radio analyst for the Class-A New Jersey Cardinals of the New York-Penn League for 12 seasons from 1994-2005.

He was the executive director of the New York chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America for the past 21 years, having also served as the chapter’s chairman in 1975 and 1976. He attended every BBWAA awards dinner since 1962 and ran the event for more than two decades.

After graduating from St. John’s, Pepe joined the New York World Telegram and Sun in 1957 and became the paper’s Yankee beat writer in 1961, the same year Roger Maris broke Babe Ruth’s single-season home run record.

Pepe stayed at the Telegram until it folded in 1966, and then wrote scripts for ABC radio with Howard Cosell.

In addition to his career in newspapers and radio, Pepe was a prolific author, writing close to 50 books with some of sports’ biggest names. He co-wrote Bob Gibson’s autobiography, and wrote books with Mickey Mantle, Whitey Ford, Ken Griffey Sr., Jim Kaat, Gary Carter, Bud Harrelson, Howie Rose and Tim McCarver. His last book was in 2013 on the Yankees’ Core Four.