Claire Smith, the first African-American female newspaper reporter to cover major league baseball on a daily basis, is one of three finalists for the J.G. Taylor Spink Award, the top honor for a baseball writer.Smith currently is a coordinating editor for ESPNs universal news group, with an emphasis on baseball. She previously worked as a reporter for the Hartford Courant, as a national baseball columnist at The New York Times and as a columnist for The Philadelphia Inquirer.Smith is representing the New York chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America.Jim Reeves, the longtime Fort Worth Star-Telegram columnist and Texas Rangers beat writer, and Juan Vene, of the South Florida chapter, are the other finalists.The Spink Award goes to a writer for meritorious contributions to baseball writing and is presented during Hall of Fame Weekend. The winner will be announced in December during the winter meetings. Wholesale Adidas NHL Jerseys .S. -- Nikolaj Ehlers registered a hat trick for the third straight game and Jonathan Drouin had a goal and five assists as the Halifax Mooseheads hammered the host Cape Breton Screaming Eagles 10-1 on Tuesday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. Wholesale China Jerseys . LOUIS -- Heading into the final stretch of the season, the issues for the Chicago Bears banged-up defence only seem to be getting worse. http://www.jerseyschinawholesale.com/ . -- For the first time in two months, an opponent was standing up to Alabama. Cheap Adidas NHL Jerseys .C. -- Charlotte Bobcats coach Steve Clifford said after all of these years in the NBA hes still amazed at some of the things LeBron James does. Wholesale Jerseys China . -- James Young couldnt wait to apply those tweaks to his jump shot, and the first one he made against UT Arlington told him it could be a good night. Tim Cahill is the only Australian-based player to feature in the Socceroos squad for two World Cup qualifiers next month as coach Ange Postecoglou looks to avoid a repeat of last years Middle Eastern loss.Newly-returned to Australia after signing with Melbourne City, the veteran striker leads an experienced group of 23 players named by coach Ange Postecoglou on Wednesday to take on Iraq in Perth on September 1 and United Arab Emirates in Abu Dhabi five days later.Matthew Spiranovic is back in the squad for the first time since October and Massimo Luongo returns after missing the friendly series with Greece.Front of Postecoglous mind for this squad was fitness, given Australias sole qualifying defeat in four years came in October last year, when Australia was defeated by Jordan in Amman.We saw last year at this time, the September-October window, that players who came in that were underdone really struggled, Postecoglou said.The primary thing for me when we got this squad together was to make sure whoever we bring in has good fitness.Both Iraq and UAE present challenges for us and every player will need to be ready to hit the ground running.That means theres no place for locally-based Asian Cup winners Alex Wilkinson, James Troisi and Matt McKay, or recent call-ups Jamie Maclaren, Jason Geria and Josh Risdon.Postecoglou said in a perfect world, the five-month A-League off-season would be shortened by bringing forward the leagues start from October.The squad is one of Postecoglouus most experienced since coming to the job in late 2013, with no untried players and an average of 23 caps among the players.ddddddddddddTomi Juric has been rewarded for his fine start with his new Swiss club Luzern, and will vie for a striking role with Cahill, China-based bolter Apostolos Giannou and Nathan Burns.The matches come a little bit too early for Craig Goodwin, who scored in his first start for new Dutch club Sparta Rotterdam on the weekend.Postecoglou said he was pleased with his work in growing the pool of international talent at his disposal.Weve now arrived at the final stage of World Cup qualifying where we will face a stronger group of opponents in testing conditions and we are comfortable that we have a core group of players with a stronger base of international experience.SOCCEROOS SQUADGoalkeepers: Adam Federici, Mitchell Langerak, Mat Ryan.Defenders: Milos Degenek, Alex Gersbach, Ryan McGowan, Trent Sainsbury, Brad Smith, Matthew Spiranovic, Bailey Wright.Midfielders: Chris Ikonomidis, Jackson Irvine, Mile Jedinak, Massimo Luongo, Mark Milligan, Aaron Mooy, Tom Rogic,Forwards: Nathan Burns, Tim Cahill, Apostolos Giannou, Tomi Juric, Robbie Kruse, Mathew Leckie.MATCH DETAILSThursday, September 1 - Australia v Iraq - NIB Stadium, PerthTuesday, September 6 - United Arab Emirates v Australia - Mohamed Bin Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi ' ' '