2005 BBWAA Career Excellence Award Winner Tracy Ringolsby

A native of Cheyenne, Wyo, Tracy Ringolsby covered baseball for more than 40 seasons, most of them as a beat reporter and several as a national writer.

He worked for the Rocky Mountain News in Denver starting in 1992 and covered the Colorado Rockies when they began play as a National League expansion franchise in 1993.

In addition to being a consummate beat writer, Ringolsby was one of the first baseball writers to concentrate on scouting and player development.

His focus on those vital areas, which was largely overlooked, enabled him to provide more depth to his beat coverage.

In 1981, he helped found Baseball America, a publication solely devoted to those areas at the outset, and helped give it early credibility.

He worked tirelessly to have scouts recognized for their work in the game.

Ringolsby was at the forefront of labor coverage, dating to December 1975 when he was in the federal courtroom in Kansas City for the opening day of testimony in the Andy Messersmith-Dave McNally case that resulted in players gaining free agency.

Ringolsby has been chairperson of five BBWAA chapters and was the BBWAA's national president in 1986.