The J. G. Taylor Spink Award is the highest award given by the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) to its members. The award was instituted in 1962 and named after J. G. Taylor Spink, publisher of The Sporting News from 1914 to 1962, who was also the first recipient.
The Spink Award is awarded at the induction ceremonies of the Baseball Hall of Fame the year following the selection of the recipient. 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 elections, Spink Award winners are eligible to serve on all three of the Veterans Committee voting bodies that consider candidates from different eras of baseball.
Among the well-known Spink Award winners are Fred Lieb, Shirley Povich, Jerome Holtzman, Ring Lardner, Sam Lacy, and Peter Gammons.
Read more about J. G. Taylor Spink Award: Recipients of The J. G. Taylor Spink Award, Similarly Named Award
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