Golden Spikes Award winners Mike Fuentes and Alex Gordon were elected to the National College Baseball Hall of Fame, as announced by the College Baseball Foundation on Thursday.
There are now 18 former Golden Spikes Award winners in the National College Baseball Hall of Fame. With Fuentes’ inclusion, the first four GSA winners–Bob Horner, Tim Wallach, Terry Francona, and Fuentes–have all earned spots in the Hall. Gordon becomes the most recent Golden Spikes winner to be elected, replacing 2003 GSA recipient Rickie Weeks.
Fuentes had a storied career at Florida State, capping it off with his Golden Spikes-winning year in 1981. That season, the outfielder batted .353 with 27 homers and 83 RBIs, also scoring 92 runs. Fuentes collected 106 hits that season and during the year, broke Horner’s NCAA career home run mark, which now belongs to Pete Incaviglia. Fuentes was the first ever GSA winner from Florida State and has since been joined by Mike Loynd (1986), J.D. Drew (1997), and Buster Posey (2008). An alumnus of USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team, Fuentes played for Team USA in 1980.
Gordon put together one of the greatest careers in University of Nebraska history, which included winning the Golden Spikes Award in 2005. Playing third base for the Huskers that season, Gordon batted .372 with 19 homers and 66 RBIs. He led Nebraska to the College World Series that year, the program’s second CWS appearance in program history. Gordon remains the only player in Nebraska history to win the Golden Spikes Award; this past season, Husker infielder Max Anderson was named a GSA semifinalist. Gordon also played for the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team in 2004 before beginning a 14-year career with the Kansas City Royals, in which he won eight gold gloves and a World Series.
To be eligible for the College Baseball Hall of Fame ballot, players must be out of college for 15 years and have completed one year of competition at a two-year institution in the CCCAA, NJCAA or a four-year NCAA (Division I, II or III) or NAIA institution. Ballot-eligible coaches must be retired for two years or be active and no less than 75 years old.
The class will be honored at the Night of Champions presented by Prairiefire on February 15, 2024, in Overland, Kansas.
