Dec. 7, 2007
LUBBOCK, Texas - San Diego State sophomore pitcher Stephen Strasburg and senior second baseman Garett Green have been named to the 2008 Brooks Wallace Player of the Year Award Watch list. The initial list contains a total of 224 nominees with the Aztec twosome among the five players representing the Mountain West Conference.
Strasburg returns to SDSU for his second season after being named a Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American in 2007. He finished the season with a record of 1-3, seven saves and a 2.43 earned run average as the Aztecs' closer. He struck out 47 and walked only 15 over 37 innings and was named the MWC co-Freshman of the Year.
This past summer, Strasburg pitched for the Torrington Twisters in the New England Collegiate Baseball League, compiling a mark of 1-0 with eight saves and a 1.29 ERA. He was a first-team all-NECBL selection and was named the league's top reliever. He was invited to join Team USA for its five-game series against Chinese Taipei in late June, making two appearances resulting in one save and a 1.80 earned run average.
Green, who joined the Aztecs in 2007 from Cypress Junior College, is SDSU's top returning hitter after batting .324 with 12 doubles and 35 RBI last spring. He led the Aztecs with 14 multiple-hit games and finished the season with an eight-game hitting streak during which he batted .484. In league play, Green hit .384 with five doubles and 13 RBI.
The Wallace Award is presented to the nation's top collegiate baseball player in conjunction with the College Baseball Hall of Fame's annual induction festivities. The 2008 award banquet will be held Thursday, July 3, in the United Spirit Arena on the campus of Texas Tech University.
Dedicated to the memory of former Texas Tech shortstop and assistant coach, Wallace was a slick-fielding shortstop at Texas Tech from 1977 to 1980. A four-year starter, he was named All-Southwest Conference and All-District Six his senior year when he led the Red Raiders to their first-ever appearance in the Southwest Conference Tournament. After playing two years in the Texas Rangers organization, he returned to Texas Tech and served as a graduate assistant and later as an assistant coach. In the summer of 1984 he was diagnosed with cancer and fought the disease courageously until his death on March 24, 1985, at age 27.
The selection committee for the Wallace Award is comprised of a national panel of preeminent coaches, sports information directors, former winners and beat media who most closely follow the sport. The list of players will expand and contract during the regular season and additional Wallace Watch candidates may be added as the season progresses.