King, Smith receive well-deserved trip into HOF

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — The recognition of Bill King and Claire Smith this week by the National Baseball Hall of Fame takes me back to the very beginning of my career in the 1970s.

Smith was elected as the first female recipient of the J.G. Taylor Spink Award by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America for meritorious contributions to baseball writing, and King was named the winner of the Ford C. Frick Award for excellence in baseball broadcasting. It was his sixth time on the ballot.

I broke in as a freelance writer based in San Francisco, working for newspapers and magazines all over North America. Bill was the ubiquitous and eccentric play-by-play radio broadcaster in the San Francisco Bay Area for the Warriors, Raiders and ultimately the A’s. Claire was on the sports desk at the old Philadelphia Bulletin and often edited my stories.

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Bill was a voice on the radio and soon-to-be wonderful and supportive presence in the press box. Claire was a more-than-kind voice on the phone. We finally met when I was hired by the San Diego Union-Tribune to cover the Clippers and Padres, and she broke new ground by joining the Yankees’ beat for the Hartford Courant.

They both became dear friends, so I reveled in the collective joy shared by many on all ends of the spectrum this week. Bill died suddenly from complications after knee surgery in October 2005. Echoing Mike Krukow — the former Giants pitcher and broadcaster for the team since 1990 — my only regret is that Bill isn’t around to enjoy it.

Claire was at the BBWAA meeting on Monday and poignantly accepted the honor.

“It’s really my first inclination to say, ‘Why me?'” Claire told me after the meeting. “There are so many talented women who kicked the door open. I don’t pretend to be one of them. I came on a little later, but I’m so proud to be what they call an ink-stained wretch.”

True story. I arrived in San Francisco in 1975 just about a month after the Warriors swept the then-Bullets to win their first NBA title. I had a few published clips, some cassette audio tapes and a resume in my arsenal only two years removed from graduating with an …

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