Collier to be Inducted Into Writers’ Wing of Baseball Hall of Fame

Phil Collier, who has covered baseball the past 37 years for the San Diego Union, will be inducted in 1991 into the writers’ wing of the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Collier, who celebrates his 65th birthday today, was unanimously voted by the Baseball Writers of America Association as recipient of the J.G. Taylor Spink Award for long and meritorious service.

“It’s like a dream,” Collier said. “You hope something like that can happen, but it’s nothing you could ever expect.

“To tell you the truth, I was just hoping it’d happen before I died.”

Collier, one of the writers most respected by major league baseball executives, has been swamped the past two days with telephone calls and telegrams from baseball officials.

“It’s a great honor,” Collier said, “and one I’ll always cherish.”