Golden Spikes Award
The Golden Spikes Award is bestowed annually to the best Amateur [baseball in the United States|amateur] baseball player in the United States. The award, created by USA Baseball and sponsored by the Major League Baseball Players Association, was first presented in 1978. It is given to an amateur player who best exhibits and combines "exceptional on-field ability and exemplary sportsmanship". Along with the Dick Howser Trophy, the Golden Spikes Award is considered the most prestigious in amateur baseball.
Ten winners of the Golden Spikes Award are members of the National College Baseball Hall of Fame, including Bob Horner, the inaugural winner in 1978. In that same year, he was the List of first overall [Major League Baseball draft picks|first overall MLB draft pick] and proceeded to win the Major League Baseball [Rookie of the Year Award|Rookie of the Year Award]. Seven Golden Spikes Award winners went on to become the first overall MLB draft pick. Only Horner achieved the MLB Rookie of the Year Award in the same year. Jim Abbott, Jered Weaver and Tim Lincecum are the only award winners to pitch an MLB no-hitter, while Horner is the only one to List of [Major League Baseball hitters with four home runs in one game|hit four home runs in one MLB game]. Furthermore, 17 players won the Dick Howser Trophy alongside the Golden Spikes Award. No player has won the award more than once, and no Golden Spikes recipient has yet been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
The winner has been announced annually during a live broadcast of ESPN's SportsCenter since 2014. Immediately following the announcement, the award winner and the other finalists are honored at a banquet in Los Angeles. The most recent recipient of the award is Wehiwa Aloy of the Arkansas Razorbacks. Although it can be given to any amateur player, the award has always been given to a college baseball player.
Winners
| Year | Links to the article about the corresponding baseball year |
| Player | Name of the player |
| Position | The player's position(s) at the time he won the award |
| School | The player's college when he won the award |
| Italics | Player was the first overall MLB draft pick in the same year |
| ^ | Player won the Rookie of the Year Award |
| § | Player also won the Dick Howser Trophy in the same year |
| Member of the National College Baseball Hall of Fame | |
| Player is active |