ESPN

Claire Smith Named First Female Spink Award Winner COOPERSTOWN – Claire Smith, the first female to cover a Major League Baseball beat extensively and as an influential voice among African-American writers, was elected the 2017 winner of the J.G. Taylor Spink Award in balloting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, it was announced today. She will be honored with the award presented annually to a sportswriter “for meritorious contributions to baseball writing” during the Hall of Fame’s Induction Weekend July…