MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2004 Regular Session
To: Rules
By: Senator(s) Michel, Butler, Chaney, Dearing, Frazier, Gordon, Harden, Harvey, Jackson (11th), Jackson (32nd), Little
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION COMMENDING THE POSTHUMOUS INDUCTION OF LEE BAKER, AWARD-WINNING SPORTSWRITER WHO COVERED MISSISSIPPI SPORTS FOR FIVE DECADES, INTO THE MISSISSIPPI SPORTS HALL OF FAME CLASS OF 2004.
WHEREAS, the Jackson Touchdown Club and Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame has unveiled the Class of 2004 of the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame, which features the posthumous induction of Lee Baker, award-winning sportswriter for The Jackson Daily News and The Clarion-Ledger, who covered Mississippi sports for five decades; and
WHEREAS, when inducted, he will join a group of six media persons who are Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame members; and
WHEREAS, he was born on Staten Island, New York, and raised in Wood River, Illinois. He attended Erskine College in South Carolina and Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi, where he served as Editor of the school paper and Sports Information Director. He began covering sports in Mississippi in 1948, worked briefly for the Alton, Illinois, newspaper before returning to Mississippi in 1955 to write for The Jackson Daily News; and
WHEREAS, Lee was named Sports Editor of The Jackson Daily News in 1958 and wrote the famed "Bakers Dozen" column for 35 years; and
WHEREAS, he covered an estimated 10,000 basketball games, 2,500 football games, 7 Super Bowls, the NCAA Final Four, the NCAA Track and Field Championships, the World Series, numerous college bowl games, swimming meets, weightlifting contests, gymnastic events and the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic games. His career spanned 10 United States Presidents, 19 Mississippi State football coaches and 8 Ole Miss basketball coaches; and
WHEREAS, he received numerous writing awards and was a five-time winner of Mississippi Sportswriter of the Year; was the first person in Mississippi sports media history to cover predominantly black colleges and high schools and one of the first writers in the South to give women's athletics full coverage; and
WHEREAS, he retired from writing in 1998 and was a Charter member of the Mississippi Sportswriters Association Hall of Fame and became only the second noncoach to be inducted into the Mississippi Association of Coaches Hall of Fame in 1979. He passed away on April 22, 2003, at the age of 78; and
WHEREAS, it is with great pride that we recognize this outstanding sportswriter who has brought honor to the State of Mississippi:
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING THEREIN, That we do hereby commend the posthumous induction of Lee Baker, award-winning sportswriter who covered Mississippi sports for five decades, into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2004.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this resolution be presented to the surviving family of Lee Baker at induction ceremonies, and be made available to the Capitol Press Corps.