Thomas Boswell loves the Village of Cooperstown, New York.
In four months, when the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum holds it’s annual induction weekend in upstate New York, writer/columnist Thomas Boswell will be among the happiest of baseball fans walking Cooperstown’s Main Street. Put aside the fact that eight miles north of the village, at the Alice Bush Opera Theater on July 26, Boswell will be honored as the 76th winner of the Baseball Writer’s Association of America (BBWAA) Career Excellence Award winner.
Employed at The Washington Post for 52 years, beginning as an overnight copy boy; the 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. shift, Boswell put in his time and wordsmith skills to inform and entertain baseball fans. As one of the most recognizable and admired names in the sportswriter’s sphere, Boswell, 77, earned his stripes with the reader’s trust. He covered every World Series between 1975–2019. Due to the pandemic in 2020, Boswell sat out the Fall Classic.
Beyond being officially recognized by his peers of having his day in baseball’s spotlight, on a weekend that will also recognize Cleveland Guardians’ broadcaster Tom Hamilton as the Ford. C. Frick Award winner, and five former players as the newest members to the Hall of Fame: CC Sabathia, Billy Wagner, Ichiro Suzuki, Dick Allen, and Dave Parker, Boswell is so familiar with Cooperstown he could double as a tour guide.
“I love Cooperstown,” Boswell told The Epoch Times on Friday. “Early in my career I covered the Orioles. I was there for the Robinsons’ [Frank and Brooks] inductions, and when Palmer [Baltimore Orioles’ pitcher Jim Palmer] got in. When I was in my mid-20’s, I was so proud to be a sportswriter that I took my parents to Cooperstown to see the Hall of Fame.”
One of the “must stops” during the tour at the museum was the “writers’ wing.” It was very important for the Boswells to see the plaques of Washington Post sportswriters Bob Addie and Shirley Povich, as those who had been inducted as players, managers, umpires, and executives. Addie and Povich are past winners of the Career Excellence Award.
“I had to see where my childhood hero Shirely Povich’s plaque is at the Hall of Fame. And, I grew up loving Bob Addie’s writing. He was primarily a baseball writer. Shirley was a wonderful, very stylish sports columnist,” says Boswell, who first joined The Washington Post in 1969.
Addie had much to do with Boswell’s decision on a career in sports writing.
Boswell talks about making his career decision by accident, after graduating from Amherst College with a degree in English literature. After sustaining a sports injury that ultimately disqualified him from naval officers candidate school, Boswell needed a job. With both parents employed as librarians at the Library of Congress, reading books came naturally to him. Along with his interest in reading, as luck or as fate would have it, the Boswells and Addie shared the same family dentist.
“During a dental appointment, my parents asked to leave a message for Mr. Addie; asking if Tom could get a job in The Washington Post sports department,” Boswell recalls. “You tell Tom to go down and see the sports editor. Tell him I sent you. Well, I did. The guy could have cared less who I was but gave me a job. During my shift I would fetch coffee and run for hamburgers at White Tower, transcribe reports, and cover high school football for six years in a row.”
Perhaps Boswell’s favorite memory of visiting Cooperstown, leading up to this coming summer’s visit, came during his ninth or 10th trip. During an hour and a half sit-down interview with Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio in a hotel room, at the conclusion, Boswell remembers running out of questions. Before departing, a topic popped into mind. Boswell asked the “Yankee Clipper” for his favorite baseball memory.
“[DiMaggio] is driving to Cooperstown with a friend. DiMaggio was at the wheel and his friend was sitting in the passenger seat alongside him,” according to Boswell. “They had made the drive to Cooperstown many times, but anyone who has made the drive knows the roads are winding, and you could get lost. On this visit, DiMaggio and his friend are lost. They pulled over, and saw a farmer working his fields on a tractor. Looking for directions to get them to Cooperstown, the farmer drives his tractor over to the car. The farmer fills DiMaggio’s friend in on where to go, and then says—‘I see you, Joe,’ and goes back to trending to his field.”
Earning the BBWAA’s highest award, given “for meritorious contributions to baseball writing,” which is voted on annually by its members, comes from a lifetime of working in a position that he absolutely loves. Baseball, Cooperstown, writing, Boswell is as content a person as any. Candidates for the award are chosen by a three-member BBWAA-appointed committee. Voting was conducted last November.
