J. G. Taylor Spink Award

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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, but are permanently recognized in an exhibit at the Hall. If still living, winners also become 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.

Among the well-known Spink Award winners are Fred Lieb, Shirley Povich, Jerome Holtzman, Ring Lardner, Sam Lacy, and Peter Gammons. The 2007 award winner has been announced as the late Larry Whiteside of The Boston Globe, one of the pioneering African American writers.