Claire Smith named 2017 J.G. Taylor Spink award recipient

By: Matt Alberston, Historical Columnist

The BBWAA announced former Philadelphia Inquirer editor and columnist (1998-2007) Claire Smith as the J.G. Taylor Spink Award recipient for 2017. The announcement came this past December. Smith, a native of Langhorne, Pa. and a Temple University alumna is the first female and fifth African-American to win the prestigious award. She is the 57th person to receive the award, joining seven others who also covered Philadelphia baseball during their careers.

According to the National Baseball Hall of Fame website, the Spink Award is presented to "a baseball writer (or writers) 'for meritorious contributions to baseball writing' and is presented during Hall of Fame Weekend by that year's President of the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA)." Smith will join 2017 Hall of Fame inductees Jeff Bagwell, Tim Raines, Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez, Commissioner emeritus Bud Selig, and John Schuerholz during the festivities in Cooperstown on July 30. 

In a December 2016 article, Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Frank Fitzpatrick detailed Smith's ties to Pennsylvania, her dream to become a journalist, and her inspiration throughout her career. It was her late mother, a chemist for General Electric, for instilling her passion for baseball. Smith spent her underclassman college years at Penn State but dropped out because she wasn't sure what career path she wanted to pursue. "I wanted to work in baseball, but after 21/2 years at Penn State, I dropped out and was one of life's lost souls." Her father, an illustrator and artist, asked what she wanted to pursue in life to which she answered that she wanted to work in baseball. He inspired her to return to college and chase her dream. Eventually, she graduated from Temple University with a focus in journalism and soon took a job at the Bucks County Courier. Smith then jumped to the ill-fated Evening Bulletin where in 1981 she wrote her first piece on baseball – a fan reaction piece about Pete Rose breaking Stan Musial's National League hit record. 

Smith joined the Hartford Courant after the Evening Bulletin folded in 1982. It was while working for the Courant that one of her most memorable journalist experiences took place. She was covering the 1984 NLCS between the Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres. At that time, the National League allowed each club to establish and enforce their own clubhouse rules and the Padres had a policy where women weren't permitted in locker rooms. Smith was pushed out of the San Diego locker room without any quotes, making it difficult to meet her deadline. Smith  was in tears but asked a colleague to tell Padres star Steve Garvey that she needed to speak with him. The colleague did so and Garvey, surrounded by other reporters, excused himself and left the locker room to speak with Smith. Garvey consoled Smith but reminded her that she had a job to do. 

The incident in San Diego led newly appointed commissioner Peter Ueberroth determined that the leagues, not the clubs, would now control locker room access and that properly credentialed media personnel would have access. 

Claire Smith is currently a researcher and writer for ESPN and also spent time as a New York Times journalist from 1991-1998.