PRESS RELEASE – In conjunction with the Southern League of Professional Baseball Clubs, the Tennessee Smokies are proud to announce that long-time Smokies beat writer Nick Gates of the Knoxville News Sentinel has been named the league’s 2010 Sportswriter of the Year, as voted upon by the league’s radio broadcasters and general managers.
Gates has been covering the Smokies since 1972. Over the past 38 seasons, he has worked with five different Major League Baseball parent clubs and 21 different team managers. The now three-time Southern League Sportswriter of the Year also covered the Smokies’ two most recent championship clubs in 1978 and 2004, calling both Bill Meyer Stadium and Smokies Park home.
This is the third league Sportswriter of the Year award for Gates. The Smokies honored him last month with the naming of press row at Smokies Park as “Nick Gates Press Row.”