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Akron Beacon Journal's Sheldon Ocker wins Hall of Fame's Spink Award

He'll be honored during MLB's Hall of Fame weekend in July.

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Sheldon Ocker, who covered the Cleveland Indians from 1981-2013 for the Akron Beacon Journal in Ohio, has won the J.G. Taylor Spink Award for meritorious contributions to baseball writing.

The 75-year-old Ocker will be honored during the Hall of Fame's induction weekend July 27-30 in Cooperstown, New York.

He covered the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers for 10 years before switching to baseball. He was president of the Baseball Writers' Association of America in 1985 and chairman of the Cleveland chapter 11 times. Ocker was selected Ohio Sports Writer of the Year in 1997 and 2000 by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association.

Ocker was on 168 of 426 ballots cast by BBWAA members with at least 10 consecutive year of membership, the association announced Tuesday at baseball's winter meetings.

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