Elliott edged out for Hall of Fame

Kingston native and Canadian amateur baseball icon Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun was edged out for the Spink Award this morning in an announcement by the BBWAA at its annual meeting.

The '08 Spink Award with its induction into the Baseball Hall-of-Fame at Cooperstown was captured by Nick Peters, who covered the San Francisco Giants in the Bay Area for 47 years, starting in 1961 and retiring in 2007. 

Peters drew 210 of the 440 ballots cast. Elliott was second with 123, followed by Dave Van Dyck with 107. Van Dyck is a longtime baseball beat reporter for the Chicago Tribune. It was Elliott's first year on the ballot and in the history of the award only two first-time nominees have won the Spink Award for outstanding coverage of baseball. Elliott will be eligible again in 2009. 

Richard Griffin