Boston BBWAA to Honor Bill James
Posted by Matt Sisson on Monday, December 14, 2009 at 12:04 pm
The Boston Chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America will honor Bill James, a senior advisor with the Boston Red Sox, with the Judge Emil Fuchs Memorial Award. Judge Emil Fuchs was the owner of the Boston Braves from 1923 to 1935 and his family maintains the Fuchs Award, which is presented in his honor each year by the The award has been presented to numerous baseball greats in the past including Henry Aaron, Peter Gammons, Jim Rice, Ernie Harwell, and Bud Selig.
The award will be presented to James during the 71st annual Boston Baseball Writers Awards Dinner which is being held on January 14th at the Westin Waterfront Hotel in Boston. The Boston BBWAA will also honor:
- Boston Red Sox pitcher Jonathan Papelbon — Red Sox Fireman of the Year
- Boston Red Sox pitcher Daniel Bard — Red Sox Rookie of the Year
- Boston Red Sox infielder Nick Green — Jackie Jensen Award
- Boston Red Sox senior advisor/baseball operations Bill James — Judge Emil Fuchs Memorial Award
- Boston Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell — Good Guy Award
- Boston Red Sox pitcher Casey Kelly — Greg Montalbano Award
- Lou Merloni — Former Boston Red Sox Award
- Minnesota Twins catcher Joe Mauer — Ted Williams Award for baseball’s leading hitter
- Colorado Rockies manager Jim Tracy — Manager of the Year
The Baseball Writers Association of America, with chapters in each Major League city, was formed in 1908 to work with baseball officials to improve working conditions for writers at the nation’s big league ballparks. During the Great Depression the Boston Chapter, like many of the member cities, began holding an annual Awards Dinner, in part, to raise money to help members and their families who were in need. The Boston Chapter’s Dinner is one of just a handful still going.
In recent years, the Boston Chapter has earmarked proceeds from the dinner for a variety of charitable organizations. Donations to The Jimmy Fund, the Red Cross September 11 Fund and the Hurricane Katrina Fund are among them, in addition to college scholarships for members’ children and grandchildren.
