Wednesday, June 09, 2010

DURHAM, N.C. - USA Baseball announced that FGCU pitcher Chris Sale is one of the five finalists for the 2010 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award (GSA). This year will mark the 33rd consecutive year that the Golden Spikes Award has been presented to the nation's premier amateur baseball player.

“It is surprising to hear,” said Sale. “It is a great honor. I’m looking forward to going out to California and meeting with the other finalists and finding out who the winner is.”

Chris Duffy, IF/OF, Central Florida; Yasmani Grandal, C, Miami (Fla.); Bryce Harper, C/IF/OF, Southern Nevada; Drew Pomeranz, LHP, Mississippi; and Sale round out the five finalists.

“Chris Duffy, Yasmani Grandal, Bryce Harper, Drew Pomeranz, and Chris Sale authored incredible seasons in 2010,” said USA Baseball Executive Director/CEO Paul Seiler. “We congratulate each of them personally, along with their coaching staffs, teammates and their schools’ baseball programs.”

Left-hander Chris Sale, who was selected 13th overall by the Chicago White Sox in the 2010 MLB First-Year Player Draft, finished his junior campaign with an 11-0 record, two saves and a 2.01 ERA in 17 appearances. He racked up a nation's-best 146 strikeouts with just 14 walks for a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 10.4-to-1 for the year. The Lakeland, Fla. native was named Collegiate Baseball's National Player of the Year and a Louisville Slugger/Collegiate Baseball First-Team All-American. Sale is the first Division I National Player of the Year and also the first Division I All-American in FGCU baseball program history. He is also the first FGCU player to be named a GSA finalist.

Sale became the Atlantic Sun's tenth first-round choice and also the highest choice for an Atlantic Sun student-athlete since Toronto selected Kennesaw State’s Chad Jenkins with the 20th pick in 2009 draft. The A-Sun’s highest pick was Joey Hamilton (Georgia Southern), who was drafted 8th overall by the San Diego Padres in 1991.

“Chris Sale is very deserving as a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award,” said FGCU coach Dave Tollett. “This is a tremendous honor for him, and he has been an outstanding representative of our program during his career.”

Fans can continue to stay up to date on the award by visiting GoldenSpikesAward.com, powered by MLB Advanced Media (MLBAM), the interactive media and Internet company of Major League Baseball (MLB). 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.

The 2010 GSA will be awarded live at 11:30 a.m. PT (2:30 p.m. ET) on July 13 at All-Star FanFest in Anaheim as part of a production by MLB and MLBAM. Award show footage will be streamed live on the Internet exclusively at GoldenSpikesAward.com and MLB.com. This will be the second year in a row that the live award presentation will be held immediately preceding MLB Commissioner Allan H. (Bud) Selig’s Town Hall Meeting at All-Star FanFest.

In 2007, USA Baseball instituted a new selection and balloting procedure for the most prestigious award in amateur baseball, and it is following the same model again in 2010. After accepting nominations for the GSA from sports information directors across the country, a committee narrowed down the list to 30 semifinalists. The names of the semifinalists were then forwarded to a voting body of nearly 200 members, and they each selected five finalists. The five players with the most votes are recognized as finalists, and the voting body will now determine the eventual 2010 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award winner.

Beginning Tuesday, fans will also be able to vote on the 2010 GSA by visiting GoldenSpikesAward.com and selecting their favorite finalist. Voting for fans and the voting body ends at 5 p.m. ET on Friday, June 18.

About the Golden Spikes Award
Since 1978, USA Baseball has honored the top amateur baseball player in the country with the Golden Spikes Award. Following the first ever presentation of the Award to Bob Horner of Arizona State, the Golden Spikes Award has been presented each year to the player who exhibits exceptional athletic ability and exemplary sportsmanship. The 2009 Golden Spikes Award winner was Stephen Strasburg of San Diego State. Past winners of this prestigious award include current Major League Baseball players such as 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 W allach (’79), and Bob Horner (’78). For more information, please visit www.GoldenSpikesAward.com.

About USA Baseball
USA Baseball is the National Governing Body of amateur baseball in the United States and is a member of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC). The organization selects and trains the World Baseball Classic Team and World Cup Team (and all other USA Baseball Professional Teams); the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team; the USA Baseball 18U, 16U and 14U National Teams; and the USA Baseball Women’s National Team, all of which participate in various international competitions each year. USA Baseball also presents the Golden Spikes Award annually to top player in college baseball. For more information, please visit www.USABaseball.com and www.GoldenSpikesAward.com.