SAN BRUNO, Calif. -- Bob Stevens, a sportswriter for the San Francisco Chronicle who covered baseball for nearly 50 years and who was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, died January 2. He was 85.

Stevens' died at his home about 10 miles south of San Francisco.

Stevens, who began writing for The Chronicle in 1935, was inducted into the sportswriters' wing of the Hall of Fame in 1999, where he joined such journalists as Red Smith and Ring Lardner.

He began by covering Pacific Coast League teams and was the beat writer for the San Francisco Seals from 1940 until the Giants came to San Francisco in 1958.

Stevens then became the Giants' beat writer, and also covered every World Series and All-Star game from 1958 to 1978.

One of Stevens' best lines came after Willie Mays' triple to center field in the 1959 All-Star game.

"The only man who could have caught that ball," Stevens wrote, "hit it."

Stevens is survived by his wife, daughter, three grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.