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Thirty New Players Added…

UCLA's Jeff Gelalich is among 30 new players named to the 2012 Golden Spikes Watch List.

DURHAM, N.C. — USA Baseball released its 60-man midseason Golden Spikes Award Watch List on Tuesday, bringing the organization one step closer to naming the top amateur baseball player in the country.

The Watch List will continue to be a “rolling” list until May 29 — when the final 30 semifinalists for the award are announced — ensuring that athletes can play themselves into consideration for the award. The Golden Spikes Award trophy will be awarded live at MLB Network’s studios for the second year in a row, with a presentation scheduled for Friday, July 6. Through USA Baseball’s partnership with Major League Baseball Advanced Media (MLBAM), the presentation will also be simulcast with a live stream available from GoldenSpikesAward.com, MLB.com and USABaseball.com.

Thirty new players have been added to the list since its initial release on Feb. 16, while another 30 remain. Florida and the Southeastern Conference continue to lead all schools and conferences with Watch List players, placing four and 16 on the midseason update, respectively. Carlos Rodon of North Carolina State is a new addition and currently stands as the list’s lone freshman. Adam Brett Walker of Jacksonville, Michael Roth of South Carolina and Mike Zunino of Florida each carry over as the only players who were semifinalists for the Golden Spikes Award in 2011.

USA Baseball officials will announce the 30 semifinalists for the 2012 Golden Spikes Award on Tuesday, May 29. The list of 30 will then be sent to a voting body consisting of past USA Baseball National Team coaches and press officers, members of media that closely follow the amateur game, select professional baseball personnel and current USA Baseball staff, representing a group of more than 200 voters in total.

Fan voting will once again be a part of the Golden Spikes Award in 2012. Tuesday, May 29, marks the day when amateur baseball fans from across the country will be able to vote for their favorite semifinalist on GoldenSpikesAward.com. As part of this selection process all voters will be asked to choose three players from the list of 30 names. On Tuesday, June 5, USA Baseball will announce the three finalists, and voting will once again commence that same day.

Beginning with Florida State’s Buster Posey in New York in 2008, USA Baseball partnered with MLBAM to create GoldenSpikesAward.com, and until 2011, streamed its annual presentations online live from MLB All-Star FanFest. Stephen Strasburg of San Diego State won the award in 2009 in St. Louis, and Bryce Harper of Southern Nevada took home the trophy from Anaheim, Calif., in 2010. UCLA’s Trevor Bauer was the 2011 winner, accepting the trophy as part of a live presentation on “MLB Tonight” in MLB Network’s Studio 42.

Other past winners of the Golden Spikes Award include Terry Francona (1980), Will Clark (1985), Robin Ventura (1988), Jason Varitek (1994), Rickie Weeks (2003), Jered Weaver (2004), Tim Lincecum (2006), and David Price (2007).

Important 2012 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award dates include:

Thursday, Feb. 16: 50-man preseason Watch List released, shaped by USA Baseball officials and advisors
Tuesday, May 1: 60-man midseason Watch List released, shaped by USA Baseball officials and advisors
Tuesday, May 29: 30 semifinalists announced, selected by USA Baseball officials; semifinalist voting begins; voters select three
Friday, June 1: Deadline to vote for finalists, 5 p.m. ET
Tuesday, June 5: Three finalists announced; finalist voting begins; voters to select o
ne Friday, June 15: Deadline to vote for winner, 5 p.m. ET
Friday, July 6: Live Golden Spikes Award presentation from MLB Network studios

The complete 2012 midseason Golden Spikes Award Watch List is as follows:

Name, Position, Class, School, Conference (in order of name, new players bolded)

Justin Amlung, RHP, Junior, Louisville, Big East
Mark Appel, RHP, Junior, Stanford, Pac-12
Adam Brett Walker, OF/C, Junior, Jacksonville, Atlantic Sun
Kris Bryant, IF, Sophomore, San Diego, WCC
J.T. Chargois, RHP/IF, Junior, Rice, C-USA
Jason Coats, OF, Senior, Texas Christian, Mountain West
Joey DeMichele, IF, Junior, Arizona State, Pac-12
Josh Elander, C/OF, Junior, Texas Christian, Mountain West
Austin Elkins, IF, Junior, Dallas Baptist, Independent
Kent Emanuel, LHP, Sophomore, North Carolina, ACC
Dylan Floro, RHP, Junior, Cal State Fullerton, Big West
Marty Gantt, OF, Senior, College of Charleston, SoCon
Kevin Gausman, RHP, Sophomore, Louisiana State, SEC
Jeff Gelalich, OF, Junior, UCLA, Pac-12
Marco Gonzales, LHP/IF, Sophomore, Gonzaga, WCC
Nick Goody, RHP, Junior, Louisiana State, SEC
Trevor Gott, RHP, Sophomore, Kentucky, SEC
Andrew Heaney, LHP, Junior, Oklanhoma State, Big 12
Kurt Heyer, RHP, Junior, Arizona, Pac-12
D.J. Hicks, IF, Junior, Central Florida, C-USA
Travis Jankowski, OF, Junior, Stony Brook, America East
Brian Johnson, LHP/IF, Junior, Florida, SEC
Derek Jones, OF, Junior, Washington State, Pac-12
Corey Knebel, RHP, Sophomore, Texas, Big 12
Pat Light, RHP, Junior, Monmouth, Northeast
Michael Lorenzen, OF/RHP, Sophomore, Cal State Fullerton, Big West
Josh Ludy, C, Senior, Baylor, Big 12
Austin Maddox, RHP/IF, Junior, Florida, SEC
Luke Maile, C/IF, Junior, Kentucky, SEC
Michael Morin, RHP, Junior, North Carolina, ACC
Trenton Moses, IF, Senior, Southeast Missouri State, Ohio Valley
Tyler Naquin, OF, Junior, Texas A&M, Big 12
T.J. Oakes, RHP, Junior, Minnesota, Big Ten
Peter O’Brien, C, Senior, Miami (Fla.), ACC
D.J. Peterson, IF, Sophomore, New Mexico, Mountain West
Stephen Piscotty, IF/RHP, Junior, Stanford, Pac-12
Danny Poma, OF, Senior, Hofstra, CAA
Matt Price, RHP, RS Junior, South Carolina, SEC
James Ramsey, OF, Senior, Florida State, ACC
Matthew Reckling, RHP , Senior, Rice, C-USA
Tony Renda, IF, Junior, California, Pac-12
Raph Rhymes, OF , Junior, Louisiana State, SEC
Brady Rodgers, RHP, Junior, Arizona State, Pac-12
Carlos Rodon, LHP, Freshman, North Carolina State, ACC
Michael Roth, LHP/IF, Senior, South Carolina, SEC
Richie Shaffer, IF, Junior, Clemson, ACC
Ryne Stanek, RHP , Sophomore, Arkansas, SEC
Zach Stephens, IF, Sophomore, Tennessee Tech, Ohio Valley
Chris Stratton, RHP, Junior, Mississippi State, SEC
Ross Stripling, RHP, Senior, Texas A&M, Big 12
Marcus Stroman, RHP, Junior, Duke, ACC
Preston Tucker, IF, Senior, Florida, SEC
Josh Turley, LHP, Junior, Baylor, Big 12
Michael Wacha, RHP, Junior, Texas A&M, Big 12
Tyler Wagner, RHP, Sophomore, San Diego, WCC
Bobby Wahl, RHP, Sophomore, Mississippi, SEC
Christian Walker, IF, Junior, South Carolina, SEC
Alex Yarbrough, IF, Junior, Mississippi, SEC
Kyle Zimmer, RHP, Junior, San Francisco, WCC
Mike Zunino, C, Junior, Florida, SEC

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ANAHEIM, CA. – USA Baseball announced Tuesday the selection of Southern Nevada’s Bryce Harper as the recipient of the 2010 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award (GSA). This year marks the 33rd consecutive year that the Golden Spikes Award has been presented to the nation’s premier amateur baseball player.

In partnership with Major League Baseball (MLB) and Major League Baseball Advanced Media, the interactive media and Internet company of MLB, the award was presented at MLB All-Star FanFest in Anaheim. In conjunction with the presentation, an award show highlighting the five finalists for the GSA was aired www.MLB.com.

2010 Golden Spikes Award winner Bryce Harper.

Chris Duffy (Central Florida), Yasmani Grandal (Miami [Fla.]), Drew Pomeranz (Mississippi) and Chris Sale (Florida Gulf Coast) were the other finalists for the award.

“This year’s five finalists for the Golden Spikes Award presented our voting committee with another difficult challenge,” said Paul Seiler, USA Baseball Executive Director/CEO.

“Each player authored an incredible season in 2010, and they are all deserving of the award. In the end, however, the committee determined that Bryce Harper’s incredible season with Southern Nevada stood above the rest. We at USA Baseball are honored to recognize Bryce’s achievements with the award for the top amateur baseball player in the country.”

The No. 1 overall selection by the Washington Nationals in the 2010 MLB First-Year Player Draft, Harper exceeded all expectations during his freshman season at Southern Nevada (CSN), belting 31 home runs (CSN single-season record), with 98 RBIs and a .443 average. The Las Vegas native was named 2010 Scenic West Athletic Conference (SWAC) Player of the Year and First Team SWAC All-Conference.

The Coyotes backstop also received several accolades from the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) including ABCA Division I Baseball Player of the Year, Division I Baseball First-Team All-American and Division I Rawlings Big Stick Award Winner.

The selection of Harper marks the second time in the history of the GSA that a junior college player won the award. Alex Fernandez (Miami Dade CC) took home the trophy in 1990. Harper and Fernandez are also the only two non-NCAA Division I players to ever win the award as well.

Harper becomes the second catcher in three years to win the GSA, joining 2008’s recipient, Buster Posey (Florida State). Jason Varitek (Georgia Tech, 1994) is the only other backstop to have won the GSA.

For the third year in a row, fans were able to stay up to date on the award by visiting www.GoldenSpikesAward.com. The Web site features content devoted exclusively to the GSA, including news, voting history, past-winner photo galleries, and photographs and video highlights for 2010 finalists.

Since 1978 USA Baseball has honored the top amateur baseball player in the country with the GSA. Following the first ever presentation of the trophy to Bob Horner of Arizona State, the GSA has been awarded each year to the player who exhibits exceptional athletic ability and exemplary sportsmanship.

The 2009 GSA winner was Stephen Strasburg of San Diego State. Past winners of the prestigious award include current Major League Baseball players such as Posey (’08), David Price (’07), Tim Lincecum (’06), Alex Gordon (’05), Jered Weaver (’04), Rickie Weeks (’03), Khalil Greene (’02), Jason Jennings (’00), Pat Burrell (’98), J.D. Drew (’97), Mark Kotsay (’95), and Jason Varitek (’94). Former Major League stars that have captured the award include Robin Ventura (’88), Jim Abbott (’87), Will Clark (’85), Dave Magadan (’83), Terry Francona (’80), Tim Wallach (’79) and Bob Horner (’78).

Former Washington Husky Joins Impressive List Of Consecutive Winners.

Lincecum

Lincecum led the NL with 261 strikeouts and tied for the league lead with four complete games and two shutouts.

A product of Liberty High in Renton, Lincecum spent the 2004 through 2006 seasons with the Huskies and won the Golden Spikes Award as the nation’s top amateur baseball player in 2006.

He is just just the fourth National Leaguer to win the Cy Young in consecutive seasons. Sandy Koufax won it in 1965 and 1966 and both Randy Johnson (1999-2002) and Greg Maddux (1992-95) won four straight. In the AL, Pedro Martinez, Jim Palmer, Denny McLain and Rogers Clemens have each won two straight, with Clemens having won two in a row on two separate occasions.

The Cy Young Award is the biggest single-season honor ever given to a former Husky in one of the big three professional sports.

Only 10 points separated the top three vote-getters. Chris Carpenter was second and St. Louis teammate Adam Wainwright finished third despite getting the most first-place votes.

The 2009 honors for Lincecum and Kansas City Royals ace Zack Greinke reflect a recent shift in how voters pick baseball’s best pitchers. Wins, losses and ERA used to determine the Cy Young Award winner – now it’s detailed statistics such as WHIP, FIP and BABIP.

Greinke equaled the previous low of 16 wins for a non-shortened season when he won the AL award on Tuesday.

“It’s turned into a game of complete numbers and statistics and what people do with that,” Lincecum said. “So I mean just to put more options in the voters’ heads about what’s supposed to be more important, which takes priority over another, that’s all based on opinion.”

Lincecum received 11 first-place votes, 12 seconds and nine thirds for 100 points in balloting released by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. Carpenter had nine firsts, 14 seconds and seven thirds to take second with 94.

Wainwright, who led the NL with 19 wins and 233 innings, had 12 first-place votes, five seconds and 15 thirds for 90 points. Trevor Hoffman, who finished behind Tom Glavine in 1998, is the only other player to get the most firsts and not win the award.

“The guys I was going up against, Wainwright and Carpenter, had tremendous seasons,” the 25-year-old Lincecum said. “It was a lucky one for me. I’ll take them as I come I guess.”

Two voters, Will Carroll of Baseball Prospectus and Keith Law of ESPN.com, did not include Carpenter on their ballots. Carroll had Wainwright in the top spot, Lincecum second and Arizona’s Dan Haren third. Law voted for Lincecum, Atlanta’s Javier Vazquez and Wainwright in third. Those were the only votes in any position for Haren and Vazquez.

Lincecum, who had a $650,000 salary and is headed for a big raise now that he’s eligible for arbitration, did not have any bonus provision for winning the award. Carpenter receives $100,000 for finishing second, Wainwright $100,000 for winding up third and Vazquez $70,000 for being voted fourth.

Lincecum teamed with Matt Cain to give the Giants a strong 1-2 punch at the top of their rotation, helping them stay in contention all year in one of baseball’s biggest surprises. He went 15-7 with a 2.48 ERA in 32 starts and 225 1-3 innings.

“I’m excited,” Giants infielder Pablo Sandoval told The Associated Press. “I’m very happy for him. He did a great job for the team and he had great numbers.”

San Francisco selected the 5-foot-11, 170-pound Lincecum with the 10th overall selection in the 2006 draft out of Washington, and he instantly became the organization’s top pitching prospect since Hall of Famer Juan Marichal signed with the New York Giants as an amateur free agent in 1957. He made his major league debut in 2007 and is 40-17 with a 2.90 ERA in three seasons.

(Release)