The Quincy Exchange Club was honored to have Baseball Hall of Famer and sportswriter for the St. Louis Post Dispatch, Rick Hummel, as its speaker today.  Hummel, a Quincy native and 1964 graduate of Quincy High School, became the first Quincy person inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York in July of 2007 when he received the J.G. Taylor Spink Award for baseball writing.

Having covered his first major league game in 1973, Hummel is a past national president of the Baseball Writers Association of America and was voted Missouri Sportswriter of the Year four times by the National Sportswriters and Sportscaster’s  Association. He serves on the Baseball Hall of Fame Overview Committee, which reviews the candidacies of former players for possible selection to the Hall by the Veterans Committee.

Hummel, who attended Quincy College for two years, is a 1968 graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism.  He credits the late Melvin Tappe for steering him to become a writer rather than a broadcaster.  His deep knowledge of the game of baseball and it's history has led to many people calling him "The Commish" in reference to being qualified to be the baseball Commissioner.

Four years ago Rick, along with former Cardinal Manager, Tony LaRussa wrote a new book called "One Last Strike". Rick will be heading for Florida soon for spring training in preparation for the 2018 Major League Baseball season.

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