J. G. Taylor Spink Award

The J. G. Taylor Spink Award is the highest award given by the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA). The award was instituted in 1962 and named after J. G. Taylor Spink, publisher of The Sporting News from 1914 to 1962, and first recipient. The honoree does not have to be a member of the BBWAA, but every recipient from the award's inception through 2013 had been a BBWAA member at some time; the first recipient to have never have been a member was 2014 recipient Roger Angell.[1]

For the like-named award for minor league players, see Topps Minor League Player of the Year Award.
J. G. Taylor Spink Award
J. G. Taylor Spink, the award's namesake
SportBaseball
Given for"Meritorious contributions to baseball writing"
LocationNational Baseball Hall of Fame
Cooperstown, New York
Presented byBaseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA)
History
First award1962
First winnerJ. G. Taylor Spink
Most recentDick Kaegel (2021)
WebsiteOfficial website

The Spink Award is presented at the induction festivities of the Baseball Hall of Fame in the year following the selection of the recipient. Through 2010, the award was presented during the actual induction ceremony; since then, it has been presented at the Hall of Fame Awards Presentation, held the day before the induction ceremony. In recent years, the Hall of Fame has announced the finalists for the award and final vote totals. Previously, the results were kept secret.

Winners are not considered to be members of the Hall. They are not "inducted" or "enshrined", but are permanently recognized in an exhibit at the Hall's library. For several years in the early 2000s, Spink Award honorees became life members of the Veterans Committee, which elects players whose eligibility for BBWAA consideration has ended, and is also the sole body that elects non-players for induction into the Hall. Starting with elections for induction in 2008, voting on the main Veterans Committee, which then selected only players whose careers began in 1943 or later, was restricted to Hall of Fame members. After further changes announced for the 2011 and 2017 elections, Spink Award winners are eligible to serve on all of the era-based voting bodies that replaced the Veterans Committee (three from 2011 to 2016, and four from 2017 forward).

Among the well-known Spink Award winners are Fred Lieb, Shirley Povich, Jerome Holtzman, Ring Lardner, Wendell Smith, Warren Brown, Sam Lacy, and Peter Gammons.

In February 2021, BBWAA voted to strip Spink's name from the award due to his history of racism.[2][3][4]

Recipients

Note: For the years below — through 2006 — the year reflects when the recipient was announced; the award is formally presented the following year. In 2007, the BBWAA changed the year designation for the award to coincide with the Hall of Fame induction ceremony, i.e., the year after the award is announced. This makes it appear as though 2007 was skipped, though it was not.

1963 recipient Ring Lardner
1967 recipient Damon Runyon
1975 recipient Shirley Povich
2004 recipient Peter Gammons
2014 recipient Roger Angell
2019 recipient Jayson Stark
Year Honoree Beat
1962 J. G. Taylor Spink St. Louis
1963 Ring Lardner Chicago
1964 Hugh Fullerton Chicago
1965 Charles Dryden Chicago
1966 Grantland Rice New York City
1967 Damon Runyon New York City
1968 H. G. Salsinger Detroit
1969 Sid Mercer New York City
1970 Heywood Broun New York City
1971 Frank Graham New York City
1972 Dan Daniel New York City
Fred Lieb New York City
J. Roy Stockton St. Louis
1973 Warren Brown Chicago
John Drebinger New York City
John F. Kieran New York City
1974 John Carmichael Chicago
James Isaminger Philadelphia
1975 Tom Meany New York City
Shirley Povich Washington, D.C.
1976 Harold Kaese Boston
Red Smith New York City
1977 Gordon Cobbledick Cleveland
Edgar Munzel Chicago
1978 Tim Murnane Boston
Dick Young New York City
1979 Bob Broeg St. Louis
Tommy Holmes New York City
1980 Joe Reichler New York City
Milton Richman New York City
1981 Allen Lewis Philadelphia
Bob Addie Washington, D.C.
1982 Si Burick Dayton, Ohio
1983 Ken Smith New York City
1984 Joe McGuff Kansas City, Missouri
1985 Earl Lawson Cincinnati
1986 Jack Lang New York City
1987 Jim Murray Los Angeles
1988 Bob Hunter Los Angeles
1989 Ray Kelly Philadelphia
1989 Jerome Holtzman Chicago
1990 Phil Collier San Diego
1991 Ritter Collett Dayton, Ohio
1992 Leonard Koppett New York City
Bus Saidt Philadelphia
1993 Wendell Smith Pittsburgh
1994 (no award presented) n/a
1995 Joe Durso New York City
1996 Charley Feeney New York City
1997 Sam Lacy Washington, D.C.
1998 Bob Stevens San Francisco
1999 Hal Lebovitz Cleveland
2000 Ross Newhan Los Angeles
2001 Joe Falls Detroit
2002 Hal McCoy Dayton, Ohio
2003 Murray Chass New York City
2004 Peter Gammons Boston
2005 Tracy Ringolsby Denver
2006 Rick Hummel St. Louis
2007 (see explanatory note at top of section) n/a
2008 Larry Whiteside Boston
2009 Nick Peters San Francisco
2010 Bill Madden New York City
2011 Bill Conlin Philadelphia
2012 Bob Elliott Montreal / Toronto
2013 Paul Hagen Dallas–Fort Worth / Philadelphia
2014 Roger Angell The New Yorker
2015 Tom Gage Detroit
2016 Dan Shaughnessy Boston
2017 Claire Smith New York City
2018 Sheldon Ocker Akron, Ohio
2019 Jayson Stark Philadelphia
2020 Nick Cafardo Boston
2021 Dick Kaegel St. Louis, Kansas City

Notes

This award should not be confused with the Topps Minor League Player of the Year Award, which is also known as the "J. G. Taylor Spink Award".

See also

References
  1. "Roger Angell Wins Spink Award" (Press release). National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. December 10, 2013. Retrieved December 10, 2013.
  2. "BBWAA removes J.G. Taylor Spink's name from Hall of Fame writing award over racist language". espn.
  3. "Spink's name stripped from Hall of Fame award over racism". startribune.
  4. Lucia, Joe (February 5, 2021). "BBWAA removes JG Taylor Spink's name from annual award, renames it as "Career Excellence Award"". Awful Announcing.
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