Sporting News supports proposal to remove J.G. Taylor Spink name from BBWAA award

Spink was the publisher of the largest, most powerful baseball publication in the country for nearly half a century, and he used that position to strongly advocate against the integration of the sport. In the decades before Jackie Robinson’s debut, Spink largely ignored the Negro Leagues and its players and used his publication to sustain negative — and untrue — stereotypes of not just Negro League ballplayers, but also Black Americans in general.

This decision isn’t made lightly, or without considerable research, reflection and conversation. Spink’s uncle (Al) and father (Charles) founded the company that Jason, Joe and I work for now. Taylor Spink took over as publisher of The Sporting News after Charles’ death in 1914 and held the role until his own passing in 1962. Under his direction, The Sporting News became the unquestioned best source of baseball information, from the National and American Leagues all the way down to the lowest levels of Organized Baseball.