July 2, 2009
LUBBOCK, Texas - San Diego State pitcher Stephen Strasburg was named the winner of the Dick Howser Trophy at the College Baseball Foundation's National Awards show Thursday evening in Lubbock, Texas. As the equivalent of the Heisman Trophy for college football, The Dick Howser Trophy is the annual award presented to the nation's outstanding collegiate baseball player. The nominees for the award are selected from the country's 288 Division I colleges.
The San Diego, Calif. (West Hills HS), resident finished the 2009 season as the national leader in earned run average (1.32), strikeouts (195), hits allowed per nine innings (5.37) and strikeouts per nine innings (16.9) to compliment a 13-1 overall record. The 2008 USA Baseball Player of the Year for all divisions, Strasburg was the first selection in the 2009 Major League Baseball free agent draft by the Washington Nationals.
The son of Jim Strasburg and Kathleen Swett who both attended San Diego State, he helped lead the Aztecs to a 41-23 record and their first NCAA tournament since the 1991 season
Also a finalist for the prestigious Golden Spikes Award the SDSU right-hander is also the 2009 College Baseball Foundation Pitcher of the Year. Strasburg (two-time MWC Pitcher of the Year as a sophomore and junior) pitched 109 innings in 15 starts, had a pair of complete games, had a hand in four shutouts (two in personal complete games), gave up 65 hits, and walked just 19 hitters in 15 contests. Opponents batted just .172 against the Aztecs' standout.
The two-time consensus All-America also whiffed 180 batters in his first two seasons at San Diego State in 2007 and '08 and was a semifinalist for the 2008 Howser Trophy. Strasburg struck out an SDSU and MWC record 23 hitters against Utah on April 11, 2008, and allowed opposing hitters a composite .136 batting average - shattering the previous MWC season mark by 75 points. He was a relief ace for the Aztecs as a freshman with seven saves.
The 2009 season marks the 23rd annual presentation of the Dick Howser Trophy, which traditionally has been presented in Omaha, Neb., around the NCAA World Series and at campus sites during the autumn following spring awards. Voting for the Dick Howser Trophy has been conducted by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association membership since 1999.
The St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce® is the founder and owner of The Dick Howser TrophyTM. Dick Howser was a famous baseball player from Florida State who went on to manage the New York Yankees and led the Kansas City Royals to the World Series Championship in 1985. He died of cancer in 1987 at the young age of 51. The NCBWA votes for the recipient based on nominees' performance, character, leadership and courage--all features to be emulated in memory of the late Dick Howser.