2003 J. G. Taylor Spink Award Winner Murray Chass

Murray Chass was a pioneer in the coverage of business and labor issues within baseball. A former New York Yankees beat writer who helped set the standard in print journalism for the position of national baseball writer, he has covered baseball for more than 43 years.

Covering the Yankees for the New York Times from 1970 through 1986, Chass was one of the first beat writers in the country to cover the organization as a whole, not just report the games. His Times colleague, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Dave Anderson, described Chass thusly: "He and Dick Young were the two best reporters I've been around in 50 years. I'd hate to be the President of the United States if Murray were covering the White House."

Chass becomes the sixth member of the New York Times to be honored, joining John Drebinger (1973), John F. Kieran (1973), Red Smith (1976), Leonard Koppett (1992) and Joseph Durso (1995).