Rick Hummel

Rick Hummel (born February 25, 1946 in Quincy, Illinois) is an American author and sports columnist best known for his work for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Hummel was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York in 2007 when he was honored with the J. G. Taylor Spink Award for baseball writing. Known throughout baseball by his nickname "The Commish", he is a former President of the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Hummel was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 1980.

Early life

Richard Lowell Hummel is a native of Quincy, Illinois, graduating from Quincy Senior High School in 1964. At first Hummel remained in his hometown for higher education, attending Quincy University before transferring to the University of Missouri to attend their renowned School of Journalism. Rick Hummel expressed an interest in sports journalism and broadcasting at an early age, having auditioned for a job at Quincy station WGEM (AM) when he was twelve years old. Hummel did not get the announcing job, but later in high school he worked as a spotter for former MLB player and coach Elvin Tappe and his twin brother Melvin as they broadcast Quincy High School games. It was Melvin Tappe who also encouraged Hummel to pursue a career as a sports writer. While attending the University of Missouri Hummel returned home during two summers to work for the Quincy Herald-Whig. At Mizzou, he worked on the Sports Information department's statistics crew for football games alongside another future sports notable, John Walsh, now executive vice president and executive editor of ESPN.