Adley Rutschman Named Forty-Second Golden Spikes Award Winner

Rutschman is the ninth Pac-12 Conference player to win the Golden Spikes Award
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Art or Photo Credit: Kevin Jones

OMAHA, Neb. - Oregon State's Adley Rutschman was named the 42nd winner of the Golden Spikes Award on Thursday in a presentation during "Baseball Tonight" on ESPN2. Presented in partnership with the Rod Dedeaux Foundation, the Golden Spikes Award honors the top amateur baseball player in the United States based on their athletic ability, sportsmanship, character and overall contribution to the sport.

Rutschman is the first athlete from Oregon State University and ninth Pac-12 Conference player to win the award, following Bob Horner (Arizona State, 1978), Terry Francona (Arizona, 1980), Oddibe McDowell (Arizona State, 1984), Mike Kelly (Arizona State, 1991), Mark Prior (Southern California, 2001), Tim Lincecum (Washington, 2006), Trevor Bauer (UCLA, 2011) and Andrew Vaughn (California, 2018). This is the first time the Pac-12 Conference has had back-to-back Golden Spikes Award winners.

"USA Baseball is proud to name Adley Rutschman the forty-second winner of the Golden Spikes Award after a remarkable record-breaking season for Oregon State University," said USA Baseball Executive Director and CEO Paul Seiler. "His ability to manage one of the elite pitching staffs in the nation while also leading the NCAA in multiple offensive categories was unmatched in the amateur game this year, making him a truly deserving recipient of this prestigious award."

After earning College World Series MVP honors and leading Oregon State to the national championship in 2018, Rutschman followed with a record-setting junior season in Corvallis that garnered Pac-12 Player of the Year, Co-Defensive Player of the Year and Batting Champion honors. The switch-hitting catcher managed the pitching staff for the Beavers to a 3.02 team ERA and finished his junior season hitting .411 with 17 home runs, 58 RBIs and a .751 slugging percentage. He started all 57 games in his final season and his Oregon State-record 76 walks contributed to an NCAA-leading .575 on-base percentage.

A consensus first-team All-American, he was selected with the number one overall pick by the Baltimore Orioles in the 2019 Major League Baseball Draft, making him the first Golden Spikes Award winner to be taken first overall since Bryce Harper in 2010. He is the eighth Golden Spikes Award winner to be selected with the first overall pick in the Draft, joining Horner (1978), Ben McDonald (1989), Phil Nevin (1992), Pat Burrell (1998), David Price (2007), Stephen Strasburg (2009) and Harper (2010).

Rutschman joins a group of past winners that include Andrew Vaughn (2018), Brendan McKay (2017), Kyle Lewis (2016), Andrew Benintendi (2015), A.J. Reed (2014), Kris Bryant (2013), Mike Zunino (2012), Trevor Bauer (2011), Bryce Harper (2010), Stephen Strasburg (2009), Buster Posey (2008), and David Price (2007).

Historically, Golden Spikes Award winners have gone on to have tremendous success in Major League Baseball. Of the 41 previous winners, five have earned Rookie of the Year honors, two have won the Cy Young, three were named MVP and 10 have won a World Series championship as a player or manager, combining for a total of 16 championships. In addition, 18 previous winners have made one or more All-Star Game appearances as a player or manager, combining for 56 total selections.

The award winner was selected through the distribution of ballots to a voting body consisting of national baseball media, select professional baseball personnel, previous Golden Spikes Award winners and select USA Baseball staff, totaling a group of over 200 voters and accounting for 95% of the vote. Fan voting continued to be a part of the Golden Spikes Award in 2019 and contributed to the remaining 5% of the total vote.

For more information on the Golden Spikes Award and its past winners, visit GoldenSpikesAward.com or follow along on social media at @USAGoldenSpikes on Instagram and Twitter.