2026 BBWAA Career Excellence Award Winner Paul Hoynes

Paul Hoynes began his career covering Cleveland baseball teams that were mired in a postseason drought.

But Hoynes would eventually chronicle seasons that were among the best ever seen by baseball fans along Ohio’s North Shore. And the jovial writer was on top of every pitch.

Joining the Indians beat in 1983 for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Hoynes personified the beat writer – working tirelessly on news pieces while grinding out copy over a six-month regular season. This dogged approach helped him total more than 6,000 bylines, the most in the long history of the newspaper that dominated Cleveland for decades.

All the while, Hoynes kept the press box at Municipal Stadium and Progressive Field upbeat with his friendly demeanor, assistance to young writers and his legendary “hawk call” – an unmistakable shriek that he would belt out during games.

As the team evolved into a powerhouse in the 1990s, Hoynes’ copy became daily must-reads for a fanbase that passionately followed Cleveland baseball. He covered Cleveland’s World Series teams in 1995, 1997 and 2016 and the tragic Spring Training boating accident in 1993 that claimed the lives of pitchers Steve Olin and Tim Crews.

Hoynes served as president of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America in 2007.