Graham's writing style was notable for his use of lengthy passages of "unrelieved dialogue" in developing portraits of the persons about whom he wrote.

[1] Condensed versions of his columns from the Journal-American were regularly featured in Baseball Digest and have fallen into public domain.

During his career as a sportswriter, Graham was known for his use of conversational dialogue as a device to develop a word portrait of athletes.

[3] In a foreword to a later edition of Graham's history of the Yankees, Leonard Koppett wrote, "He didn't take a lot of notes.

Graham reported on a conversation with Leo Durocher during which New York Giants manager Mel Ott and his players walked out of the opposing dugout.

"[5] It was another Durocher conversation recorded by Graham that led to the nickname "Gashouse Gang" for the 1934 St. Louis Cardinals.

"[6] Colleague Jimmy Cannon wrote:"A gentle man who seemed to walk on the tips of his toes as if he intended to pass through the world without disturbing anyone.

He was an original, this embarrassed poet, who changed sports writing, and brought to it the dignity of folk literature.

"[8] Giants' manager Mel Ott reportedly "stuttered" and "stammered" trying to find words of denunciation for Graham and finally said: "Dammit, Granny.

Frank Graham is the nicest, kindest, gentlest, finest, sweetest and most wonderful person I ever met in my life.

Despite his personal reputation as a gentleman, Graham was attracted to the shadowy underworld surrounding sport.

In the "Dictionary of Literary Biography," Edward J. Tassinari wrote:"[M]any of Graham's pieces reflect the New York ambience of the 1920s and the influences of Runyon and Hemingway in terms of characterization, atmosphere, and dialogue.

Graham loved the offbeat, shadowy figures and rogues that dwelt on the fringes of his favorite sports – the gamblers, bookies, struggling horse trainers, and injury-riddled jockeys, and fight managers and promoters hustling for a buck or demonstrating the resiliency to continue in search of that elusive big payday.

When Graham appeared at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in 1961 to accept a lifetime achievement award from the New York chapter of the Baseball Writers' Association of America, a UPI reporter covering the event wrote: "[T]he crowd rose to its feet in acknowledgement of one of the top writers in the country.