Kurkjian earns baseball writers' highest honor

ESPN analyst Tim Kurkjian is the 2022 winner of the BBWAA Career Excellence Award, the National Baseball Hall of Fame announced Tuesday.

Kurkjian will be honored with the award -- which was established in 1962 and is presented annually “for meritorious contributions to baseball writing” -- during the Hall of Fame’s 2022 induction weekend from July 22-25 in Cooperstown, N.Y.

In becoming the 73rd winner of the award, Kurkjian received 211 votes from 375 ballots cast by BBWAA members with 10 or more consecutive years of service. The late Marty Noble, a renowned New York sportswriter, received 89 votes, while Baseball America founder Allan Simpson received 71. Four ballots were left blank.

Kurkjian has been with ESPN since 1998, working as a columnist for ESPN.com and a reporter, analyst and host for “Baseball Tonight,” winning an Emmy Award in 2002 for his work on the latter program and another for his contributions to “SportsCenter” in 2003-04.

The University of Maryland graduate began his career with the Washington Star in 1979 before becoming the Rangers beat writer for the Dallas Morning News two years later. After four years on the Rangers beat, Kurkjian moved on to the Baltimore Sun to cover the Orioles for four years. He spent seven years as Sports Illustrated’s senior baseball writer before joining ESPN.

Kurkjian also has authored three books: “America’s Game” in 2000, “Is This a Great Game or What?” in '07 and “I’m Fascinated by Sacrifice Flies” in '17.

Kurkjian has served on two Era Committees for the Hall of Fame and is on the board of directors for the Shirley Povich Center for Sports Journalism at the University of Maryland, where he gave the commencement speech in 2007.