Avenger of the Week | Claire Smith, Sports Writing Pioneer

via "This baseball writer is in a league of her own" by PBS NewsHour on YouTube

Last week, baseball writer Claire Smith became the first woman to receive the J.G. Taylor Spink Award at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. According to Wikipedia, the “J. G. Taylor Spink Award is the highest award given by the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA).” Trailblazing is something that Ms. Smith is used to. She was the first woman to cover baseball full-time, and for the first few years she worked covering the Mets, she recalled signs in the press box reading, “No women and children.”

“I stand here on this stage on behalf of every person in my profession who has been stung by insidious gender discrimination or racism and continued,” Smith said Saturday at Doubleday Field. “You are unbreakable. I am proud.”

As lovers of baseball and genderavenging women, we’re tipping our caps and raising our giant foam fingers in congratulations to Claire Smith, baseball writer extraordinaire.

We raise our foam fingers to celebrate @baseballhall JG Taylor Spink Award-winning writer @MzCSmith. #GenderAvenger https://www.genderavenger.com/blog/avenger-of-the-week-claire-smith-sports-writing-pioneer