J.P. Hoornstra

1 month ago | thebiglead.com | J.P. Hoornstra |Frank Fitzpatrick

Longtime Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Frank Fitzpatrick was charged with the difficult task of filing the final dispatch from Richie Ashburn's broadcasting career on Sept. 10, 1997: "Mr. Ashburn, the Hall of Famer whose half-century as a Phillies outfielder and wry color commentator stretched from Curt Simmons to Curt Schilling, died early yesterday in a New York hotel only hours after working a Phillies-Mets game at Shea Stadium."Ashburn and his play-by-play partner, Ford C.