Tracy Ringolsby (born April 30, 1951 in

Cheyenne, Wyoming Cheyenne ( or ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Wyoming, as well as the county seat of Laramie County, with 65,132 residents, per the 2020 US Census. It is the principal city of the Cheyenne metropolitan statistical ...

) is an American sportswriter. He was a columnist for ''

Baseball America ''Baseball America'' is a sports enterprise that covers baseball at every level, including MLB, with a particular focus on up-and-coming players in the MiLB, college, high school, and international leagues. It is currently published in the form o ...

'' from its beginning until cutbacks with free-lance writers were eliminated during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. In retirement, he created a Rockies focused website, InsideTheSeams.com, and a University of Wyoming focused website, WelcomeTo7220.com, in reference to the school being located at the highest elevation (7,220 feet) of any Division 1 school. He worked for the ''

Rocky Mountain News The ''Rocky Mountain News'' (nicknamed the ''Rocky'') was a daily newspaper published in Denver, Colorado, United States, from April 23, 1859, until February 27, 2009. It was owned by the E. W. Scripps Company from 1926 until its closing. As ...

'' in

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, until its closure during spring training 2009, and spent 2009–2013 as the pre-game/post-game analyst with Fox Sports Rocky Mountain/ROOTSPORTS for Rockies telecasts. He is the former president of the

Baseball Writers' Association of America The Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) is a professional association for journalists writing about Major League Baseball for daily newspapers, magazines and qualifying websites. The organization was founded in 1908, and is known fo ...

(BBWAA) and was a member from 1976 to 2013, and rejoined the BBWAA in 2016 when employees of

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, where he worked for more than four years, were admitted to the BBWAA.

Awards

Ringolsby won an Emmy in 2010, 2011 and 2012 for his Beyond the Boxscore segment on the Rockies pre-game show. He was the 2000 recipient of the Shining Star Award for journalistic excellence, presented by the

Colorado Press Association The Colorado Press Association is a non-profit association dedicated to promoting the newspaper industry in Colorado. __TOC__ History The Colorado State Press Association was formed in Denver, Colorado on August 8, 1878. In 1889, J.D. Dillenback ...

, becoming the first sports writer nominated for the award. Ringolsby was the 2005 recipient of the

J. G. Taylor Spink Award The BBWAA Career Excellence Award, formerly the J. G. Taylor Spink Award, is the highest award given by the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA). It is given "for meritorious contributions to baseball writing" and voted on annually by ...

which was presented at the

Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-r ...

Cooperstown Cooperstown is a village in and county seat of Otsego County, New York, United States. Most of the village lies within the town of Otsego, but some of the eastern part is in the town of Middlefield. Located at the foot of Otsego Lake in the C ...

, New York, on July 30, 2006. He was selected Colorado Sports Writer of the Year in 2005 and 2008, and was honored by the Wyoming Sports Hall of Fame for career achievement in 2009. He also received an honorary doctorate in letters from the

University of Wyoming The University of Wyoming (UW) is a public land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, and opened in September 1887. The University of Wyoming ...

in the spring of 2009.

Background

A native of Wyoming, Ringolsby is a graduate of

Cheyenne East High School Cheyenne East High School is a public high school (grades 9-12) located in Cheyenne, Wyoming, United States, It serves Laramie County School District #1. The school enrolls students who attended Carey JHS, Alta Vista ES, Anderson ES, Baggs ES, Buf ...

, and a member of the school's Hall of Fame. He began his writing career as one-man sports staff for the '' Wyoming State Tribune'', the afternoon newspaper in Cheyenne, the day after he turned 17. He later worked for

United Press International United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ...

before beginning a career of covering Major League Baseball.

Writing career

After two years in college, Ringolsby chose to follow up on the sports writing career he began in Cheyenne during his high school days, and went to work for United Press International. He worked for UPI from June 1971 until February 1977, spending time at the UPI bureaus in Cheyenne, Denver and Kansas City. Ringolsby was a beat writer covering he

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fie ...

for the ''

'' from 1992, the year before the Rockies played their first game, until Feb. 27, 2009, the day the paper folded. Ringolsby previously worked for the '' Long Beach Independent Press-Telegram'' (California Angels, March 1977 – July 1980), the ''

Seattle Post-Intelligencer The ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' (popularly known as the ''Seattle P-I'', the ''Post-Intelligencer'', or simply the ''P-I'') is an online newspaper and former print newspaper based in Seattle, Washington, United States. The newspaper was foun ...

'' (Seattle Mariners, July 1980 – July 1983), the '' Kansas City Star-Times'' (Kansas City Royals, August 1983 – February 1986), and the ''

Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885 by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ''Galvesto ...

'' (Texas Rangers, March 1986 – 1991).

Other activities

Ringolsby is a co-founder of ''

'' and a former member of the board of directors for the Professional Baseball Scouts Foundation during its existence. He was a member of the

Society for American Baseball Research The Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) is a membership organization dedicated to fostering the research and dissemination of the history and record of baseball primarily through the use of statistics. Established in Cooperstown, New ...

from 1979 through 2009, and rejoined for 2014–15. He wrote a syndicated baseball column from 1986–2006, and was a columnist for FoxSports.com from April 2006 until July 2012. Ringolsby was a member of the board of directors of the Cowboy Joe Club at the University of Wyoming for 12 years, and a former member of the Board of Directors of the National Western Stock Show. Ringolsby and his wife, Jane, live outside of

, with their five horses, Donotto, Alpo, Sunny, Valkyra and Simon. His daughter, Laramie, and grandson, Scout, reside in Cheyenne. Ringolsby is a member of a pioneer family in Wyoming with roots to three of the four families that originally settled southeast Wyoming and southwest Nebraska—the Wilkinson, Golden and Tracy families.

References

External links

Baseball Hall of Fame

* Rich Lederer
"Baseball Beat Q&A: Tracy Ringolsby on the BBWAA,"
''Baseball Analysts'', December 26, 2007. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ringolsby, Tracy 1950s births American sportswriters People from Cheyenne, Wyoming Living people BBWAA Career Excellence Award recipients Major League Baseball broadcasters Rocky Mountain News people Sportspeople from Cheyenne, Wyoming Year of birth missing (living people)