PAUL HAGEN: Born in East Aurora, N.Y. ... to be given the J.G. Taylor Spink Award presented by the Baseball Writers' Association of America for meritorious contributions to baseball writing. ... attended Ohio University and began his writing career in 1974 working in San Bernardino, Calif., where he covered the Los Angeles Dodgers for three years. ... also worked in the Dallas-Fort Worth area for a decade covering the Texas Rangers for the Dallas Times-Herald and Fort Worth Star-Telegram. ... worked for 25 years in Philadelphia covering the Phillies for the Philadelphia Daily News. ... currently works for MLB.com, as a national reporter focusing on the Phillies.

Congratulations to Paul on a great honor and a great career.

As a near contemporary of his in Athens ('75 for me), it's a little shocking to see how many years he (we) have accumulated in our chosen professions. 

Paul would have had the pleasure of seeing Mike Schmidt playing for the 'Cats, as did I.  Think of that, two OU HOF'ers from that era.  Will we see that again?

I hate to burst your bubble, but he is not a member of the Hall of Fame and he is not a graduate either. There were 63 persons honored for the press award this year, but they are not official members of the Hall of Fame.