2005 J. G. Taylor Spink Award Winner Tracy Ringolsby

Tracy Ringolsby, who has written extensively for 30 years about every aspect of professional baseball, was elected the 2005 winner of the J.G. Taylor Spink Award

Ringolsby, a native of Cheyenne, Wyo, has covered baseball for more than 30 seasons, most of them as a beat reporter and two as a national writer. He has worked for the Rocky Mountain News in Denver since 1992 and has covered the Colorado Rockies since they began play as a National League expansion franchise in 1993.

In addition to being a consummate beat writer, Ringolsby was one of the first baseball writers to concentrate on scouting and player development. His focus on those vital areas, which largely had been overlooked, enabled Tracy to provide more depth to his beat coverage. In 1981, he helped found Baseball America, a publication solely devoted to those areas at the outset, and helped give it early credibility. He has worked tirelessly to have scouts recognized in the Hall of Fame.

Ringolsby was at the forefront of labor coverage, dating to December 1975 when he was in the federal courtroom in Kansas City for the opening day of testimony in the Andy Messersmith-Dave McNally case that resulted in players gaining free agency. Tracy has been chairperson of five BBWAA chapters and was the BBWAA's national president in 1986.