He covered every big sports story from Bob Knight to IndyCar: Journalist Dick Mittman dies

Indianapolis Star

07-07-2025

INDIANAPOLIS — Throughout his illustrious 46 years as the consummate newspaper man — always a pro, always a gentleman, who learned his trade in the days of old school journalism where hot type abounded and newsrooms bustled and reporters' desk drawers might or might not have had a bottle of whiskey inside — Dick Mittman compiled 10,188 bylines.
He amassed those stories, an average of 217 a year, at The Indianapolis Times, The Indianapolis Observer, the Chicago Daily News, the Indianapolis News and the Indianapolis Star, where he ended his career.
Perhaps best known as a sports journalist focused on auto racing at his beloved Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Mittman also covered IU basketball during the Bob Knight era, the Indiana Pacers, the 1984 Olympics and Butler basketball.
But his most memorable time, Mittman once said, was sitting in a World Series hospitality suite for two hours next to Casey Stengel, the incorrigible manager of the dominating championship New York Yankees in the 1950s.
"Never one to back down, Mittman has verbally jousted with A.J. Foyt and Bob Knight ... and won their respect," IndyStar columnist Robin Miller wrote when Mittman retired from the Star in 1998. "Nobody ever worked harder to get a story under deadline, and his tenacity is what makes him a good reporter. And also to his credit, Dick always tried to see the best in people."
When Mittman died last week at the age of 92, condolences from coworkers, competitors, friends and family poured out on social media.
"Dick had an encyclopedic knowledge of the Indy 500," said Dawn Mitchell, who worked with Mittman at the Star.
"Sorry to learn of the passing of Dick Mittman whose byline and smooth writing style graced so many race reports and feature stories down through the decades," said Mark Bourcier, an author and writer from Indianapolis.
"The man generated as many stories as he wrote and lived a full, fulfilled live," said Conrad Brunner, who worked with Mittman at the Star.
The memories of Mittman included mentions of how kind he was, how respected he was and how fair he was. That is why Mittman was able to get the scoop from sources who trusted him, and that is why he was able to get interviews with high-profile people who usually refused to talk to the press.
"His job never felt like work," Mittman's obituary reads, "because he loved every minute of it."
"Richard 'Dick' Carl Mittman, 92, traded in his press pass for angel wings on July 1, 2025"
Mittman's dreams of one day having that coveted press pass started early. He was still in high school when he started as a copy boy at The Times in 1950. A year later, he had impressed the higher ups at the newsroom enough to be named the critic for radio, television and movies.
After graduating from Arsenal Tech High School, Mittman married his late, beloved wife Pat on Jan. 30, 1953. Days later, he got on a ship headed to basic training to begin his service in the U.S. Army during the Korean War.
While in the Army, Mittman wrote for the military publication Stars & Stripes where he realized his love of journalism and storytelling meant newspapers would be his career.
After finishing a two-year stint in the Army, Mittman returned to The Times working on the city desk writing headlines and editing copy.
"But they knew I wanted to cover sports and I finally got to cover the Bloomington semistate and then interview Oscar Robertson," Mittman told IndyStar when he retired in March 1998. "I moved into sports full time after that."
That sports department was made of of six guys and Mittman made $70 a week. He didn't care one bit. He was living his dream and that dream would get even bigger when Mittman got his first big story ... the 1957 Indianapolis 500.
His prolific and well-written accounts of that race and his sports coverage for the next six years earned him the job of sports editor at The Times in 1963. But two years later, the newspaper which was the Star's morning competition folded.
Mittman landed a job with a local weekly called The Indianapolis Observer, then moved a few hours northwest where he spent a year with the Chicago Daily News. Then came the call he had been waiting for.
The Indianapolis News was offering him a job as a reporter covering racing.
"Dick's affection for auto racing, turned out to be a timeless plus for the motorsports community," Miller wrote when Mittman retired. "Because he enjoyed midgets, sprint, stock cars, dragsters and Indy cars, he always lobbied to get them space whether it was in The Times, the News or the Star."
But racing wouldn't be the sport that defined Mittman.
"He covered pretty much every sport that involved a ball, puck, horse, wheel or stopwatch," Mittman's obituary reads. "His words painted the picture of the sports world for readers across the country, from the 1984 Olympics to a pass he famously threw — yes, threw — to Dan Marino in the Hoosier Dome. (We like to think Dan's career peaked right then)."
Mittman was on the beat for IU basketball in the 1970s leading up to the team's undefeated season and national title in 1976. The year before, he captured the contentious aura of the red sweater wearing, raving Knight.
"Bob Knight is madder than a wet hen. Or a dry duck. Or a spurned Lattin lover," Mittman wrote in a January 1975 News article. "Knight's anger is aimed at the press. Sports Illustrated magazine features a cover story on his No. 1 ranked Hoosiers and, even more so, on him. He considers the article demeaning."
A year later, Mittman was there to witness Knight leading his team to the NCAA national championship. The headline on his article in bold, black lettering read: "One, uno, ein or un. IU proves its ranking."
"Quinn Buckner did a fancy little dance in front of the Indiana University bench and suddenly the cork popped on two years of pent-up emotions," Mittman wrote. "Hoosier players jumped, hugged and raised their arms in triumph as the clock ticked off the final seconds of an 86-68 victory over Michigan."
That national championship ended two seasons of nearly unparalleled basketball excellence with IU undefeated in both regular seasons.
"It has been a two year quest to get this," Knight told Mittman after the NCAA title was won.
For the next two decades, Mittman would touch almost every sport that competed in Indianapolis. In 1984, he was chosen to cover the summer Olympics, where he proved he had earned the spot.
At the top of the front page of the Indianapolis News' evening edition July 28, 1984, above the masthead, a promotion of what would be coming in next week's newspaper included the words "Dick Mittman at the Olympics."
At those games in Los Angeles, Mittman wrote of a "bubbly" gymnast Mary Lou Retton as a "favorite winner." He watched Carl Lewis explode a final 100 meters in 8.94 seconds to win his fourth gold. Mittman called it "watching history." He dubbed Cheryl Miller "certainly one heck of a basketball player."
"Bobby Knight said he would whip the world and he did," Mittman wrote after the U.S. won gold. "And he did it well, getting only one technical foul."
While Mittman was usually the one writing about other people throughout his career, he sometimes did things that captured the attention of other reporters who wrote articles on him.
Mittman made news for coming up with an idea more than 50 years ago to give an award to an Indy 500 driver the day before the race. It was an award no driver really wanted.
The honor, named The Jigger Award by the members of the American Auto Racing Writers and Broadcasters Association, was typically given to one of the last drivers bumped from the field, usually a driver who failed to qualify under unusual circumstances.
Mittman and his presence at IMS turned him into an icon.
In 2017, when IndyCar team owner David Letterman was ending a news conference, he called out for one of the sports writers he used to read in the Indianapolis News.
'Where is Dick Mittman?' Letterman asked. 'Did he go home?''
"About that time, the white-haired, retired Mittman was within earshot and replied to Letterman's query," IndyCar.com wrote. ''Yes,' Mittman replied. 'I'm over here.''
'My God, I've been seeing your byline since I was a kid,' Letterman said. 'Nice to meet you. You were a fixture in our house forever. Thank you very much."
Mittman's newspaper career came to an end in 1998. His last assignment was to cover the Butler men's basketball run in the NCAA tournament. His last article was published March 14, 1998, after Butler lost to New Mexico 79-62.
After retiring at 65, Mittman went to the Indy Racing League and Indianapolis Motor Speedway where he worked in public relations.
"It was auto racing that truly revved Dick's engine," reads Mittman's obituary. "He capped his legendary writing career with his dream job at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, covering the sport he loved most. As a proud, longtime member of the IMS Oldtimers Club, Dick wasn't just reporting on racing. He was part of its history."
Mittman was preceded in death by his wife, Pat. He is survived by his children Randy (Michelle) Mittman, Julie Gootee, and Rick (Jerri) Mittman; grandchildren Evy (Kevin) Daly, Bailie, Reed, and Sam Mittman; great-grandchildren Kevin, Elizabeth, Hannah, Andrew, and Abby Daly; sisters-in-law Linda Smith and Karen Mittman; and a host of beloved nieces, nephews, and fellow sports fans.
"Christmas Eve will never be quite the same without Dick's dramatic reading of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas,' but the stories, love and laughter he gave us will echo forever," reads Mittman's obituary. "If a life well-lived is measured by the memories left behind, Dick's legacy is a treasure chest overflowing."
Mittman's memorial service is noon Monday at Flanner Buchanan Washington Park East, following a visitation 9 a.m. to noon. Share memories of Mittman or plant a tree in his honor.