May 21, 2008
SAN DIEGO - USA Baseball has announced that San Diego State sophomore right-hander is among the 50 semifinalists for the 2008 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award (GSA). He is the first Aztec to reach this stage in the balloting since Travis Lee won the award in 1996.
Strasburg has also been listed as one of 10 semifinalists for the Roger Clemens Award for national pitcher of the year and is among 16 players remaining in contention for the Dick Howser Trophy, awarded to the country's top college player. He entered the week with an 8-2 record and a 1.59 earned run average. His 128 strikeouts this season ranked first in the nation entering the week.
This year will mark the 31st consecutive year that the USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award has been presented to the nation's premier amateur baseball player. In 2007, USA Baseball instituted a new selection and balloting procedure for the most prestigious award in amateur baseball, and it will follow the same model again in 2008.
After accepting nominations from sports information directors across the country, a committee voted to determine the 50 semifinalists. The names of the 50 semifinalists will now be forwarded to a voting body of 125 who will select the five finalists and the eventual 2008 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award winner.
Fans can follow online at GoldenSpikesAward.com as the list of 50 players is narrowed to five finalists on Tuesday, June 3, en route to the announcement of this year's winner on Wednesday, July 16.
"USA Baseball is proud to recognize these 50 athletes and their respective baseball programs as semifinalists for the 2008 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award," said Paul Seiler, USA Baseball Executive Director/CEO. "As in 2007, we see 40 different schools represented on this year's semifinalist list - this again speaks to the level of baseball talent among college programs across the country."