Pioneering sportswriter Claire Smith, the first woman to cover a Major League Baseball beat extensively and an influential voice among African-American writers, is the 2017 winner of the J.G. Taylor Spink Award in balloting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.
The honor, announced Tuesday at the Winter Meetings in suburban Washington, D.C., is named for the longtime Sporting News publisher and has been presented annually since 1962 “for meritorious contributions to baseball writing.”
Congratulations to Claire Smith, the BBWAA’s 2017 J.G. Taylor Spink Award winner! #HOFW2017 https://t.co/QNmNPWDfYn pic.