(AP Photo/Sara D. Davis)
The rosters are set for the 80th MLB All-Star Game. That means we are just a week away from finding out who is the winner of the 2009 Golden Spikes Award, the annual award given to the top amateur baseball player in the country.
The award will be given out at the 2009 MLB All-Star fan fest Tuesday July 14, in St. Louis.
Here are the five finalists, in no particular order.
A.J. Morris - Jr.- RHP (Kansas State): Morris was 14-1 with a 2.09 ERA with a school-record 100 strikeouts for the Wildcats, earning Big 12 Pitcher of the Year honors.
The College Baseball Examiner (CBE) All-American First Team selection is the first GSA finalist in school history. His 14 wins was the most in one season in school history and was tied for 3rd most in Big 12 history.
Morris was taken in the 4th round (112th pick overall) of the MLB draft by the Washington Nationals.
Dustin Ackley (pictured above-left) - Jr. - 1B/OF (North Carolina): The 2009 ACC Player of the Year followed up his tremendous sophomore campaign with an even better one and was rewarded with a CBE All-American First Team selection.
Ackley hit .399 with 20 HR, 61 RBI and 67 runs scored this season and set the career hits mark at Chapel Hill (329). Ackley was taken with the 2nd overall pick in the MLB draft, going to the Seattle Mariners.
(AP Photo/Nati Harnik)
Mike Leake (pictured right) - Jr. - RHP (Arizona State): Leake earned Pac-10 Pitcher of the Year honors for the second year in a row.
He was 15-1 with a 1.23 ERA (both led the nation) and 143 strikeouts.
Leake was a CBE All-American First Team selection and was selected in the 1st round (8th pick overall) of the MLB draft by the Cincinnati Reds.
Kent Matthes - Sr. - OF (Alabama): The lone senior among the nominees, Matthes is coming off a year in which he set an Alabama school record for most home runs in a season (28).
Matthes finished the year batting .358 with 67 runs scored and 81 RBI. He was a CBE All-American First Team selection and is the first Crimson Tide player to be voted as a GSA finalist since Roberto Vaz in 1997.
(AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi, File)
Stephen Strasburg (pictured left) - Jr. - RHP (San Diego State): The accolades keep adding up for the No. 1 overall pick in the 2009 MLB draft (to the Washington Nationals).
Unfortunately, Strasburg waited until the NCAA Regionals to lose his first game of the season. He finished the year 13-1 with a 1.32 ERA with 195 strikeouts (tops in the country).
Strasburg was a CBE All-American First Team selection and Mountain West Conference Pitcher of the Year. He is the first Aztec to be a GSA finalist since Travis Lee in 1996 (he won the award).
My pick: In my picks for CBE All-Americans, I had Leake and Strasburg winning co-pitcher of the year with Ackley winning player of the year. If I had a vote in the GSA, my vote goes to Strasburg and he will more than likely win.
Previous winners:
1978- Bob Horner, Arizona State
1979- Tim Wallach, Cal State Fullerton
1980- Terry Francona, Arizona
1981- Mike Fuentes, Florida State
1982- Augie Schmidt, New Orleans
1983- Dave Magadan, Alabama
1984- Oddibe McDowell, Arizona State
1985- Will Clark, Mississippi State
1986- Mike Loynd, Florida State
1987- Jim Abbott, Michigan
1988- Robin Ventura, Oklahoma State
1989- Ben McDonald, Louisiana State University
1990- Alex Fernández, Miami-Dade Community College
1991- Mike Kelly, Arizona State
1992- Phil Nevin, Cal State Fullerton
1993- Darren Dreifort, Wichita State
1994- Jason Varitek, Georgia Tech
1995- Mark Kotsay, Cal State Fullerton
1996- Travis Lee, San Diego State
1997- J. D. Drew, Florida State
1998- Pat Burrell, University of Miami
1999- Jason Jennings, Baylor
2000- Kip Bouknight, South Carolina
2001- Mark Prior, Southern California
2002- Khalil Greene, Clemson University
2003- Rickie Weeks, Southern University
2004- Jered Weaver, Long Beach State
2005- Alex Gordon, University of Nebraska
2006- Tim Lincecum, University of Washington
2007- David Price, Vanderbilt University
2008- Buster Posey, Florida State University
Be sure to check back here next Tuesday for the official announcement from Busch Stadium in St. Louis. And please read my commentary on who will more than likely be next year's No. 1 draft pick.
Thanks for reading.
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