Red Smith Award Goes to Dick Schaap

Dick Schaap went about the business of journalism with a twinkle in his eye, never taking himself or his subject too seriously.

He shunned pretense and embraced people, and it didn’t matter whether his subject was a pitcher or a president, a golfer or a governor. Schaap, who died in December, is the 2002 winner of the Associated Press Sports Editors Red Smith Award, for extended meritorious service to sports journalism.

Voters were past APSE presidents and past winners of the award. Dallas Morning News sports editor Dave Smith, who qualifies on both counts, said there were 14 names on the ballot, and “Dick was an overwhelming winner.”

Months after his death, Schaap continues to win awards. He was the first journalist inducted into the True Heroes of Sport Hall of Fame by the Northeastern University Center for Sport and Society. He also won his fourth sports Emmy last month, this one for his autobiography.