| Awarded for | Most outstanding college baseball player of the year |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Presented by | Greater Houston Sports Association (1988–2004) Rotary Club of Houston (1996–2004) |
| History | |
| First award | 1988 |
| Final award | 2003 |
The Rotary Smith Award was created in 1988 to honor the most outstanding college baseball player of the year. The award was founded by the Greater Houston Sports Association. In 1996, the Rotary Club of Houston joined the award committee. Prior to the 2004 season, the award was succeeded by the Roger Clemens Award, honoring the most outstanding college baseball pitcher.
| Year | Links to the article about the corresponding baseball year |
|---|---|
| Player | Name of the player |
| Position | The player's position at the time he won the award |
| College | The player's college when he won the award |
| Italics | Denotes player was the first overall MLB draft pick in the same year |
| † | Member of the National College Baseball Hall of Fame |
| Year | Player | Position | College |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Andy Benes | P | Evansville |
| 1989 | Ben McDonald † | P | LSU |
| 1990 | Mike Kelly | OF | Arizona State |
| 1991 | Bobby Jones | P | Fresno State |
| 1992 | Mike Smith | OF | Indiana |
| 1993 | Darren Dreifort † | P | Wichita State |
| 1994 | Jason Varitek | C | Georgia Tech |
| 1995 | Mark Kotsay | OF | Cal State Fullerton |
| 1996 | Kris Benson | P | Clemson |
| 1997 | Tim Hudson | P/OF | Auburn |
| 1998 | Brad Wilkerson † | P/OF | Florida |
| 1999 | Jason Jennings | P/DH | Baylor |
| 2000 | Kip Bouknight | P | South Carolina |
| 2001 | Mark Prior | P | Southern California |
| 2002 | Khalil Greene | SS | Clemson |
| 2003 | Rickie Weeks | 2B | Southern University |
Jerry Colangelo is an American businessman and sports executive. He formerly owned the Phoenix Suns of the NBA, the Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA, the Arizona Sandsharks of the Continental Indoor Soccer League, the Arizona Rattlers of the Arena Football League, and the Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball. He was also instrumental in the relocation of the original Winnipeg Jets team in the NHL to Phoenix to become the Phoenix Coyotes. In 2014, Grand Canyon University renamed its Christian based school of business after Jerry Colangelo, replacing Ken Blanchard's namesake. From December 2015 to April 2016, Colangelo served as chairman of basketball operations for the Philadelphia 76ers, before serving as a special advisor to the team until December 2018.
The Rotary Lombardi Award is an award for college football in the United States. Awarded by the Rotary Club of Houston, Texas annually to the college football player "who best embodies the values and spirit of NFL's legendary coach Vince Lombardi" the Rotary Lombardi Award program was created in 1970 shortly after the death of Lombardi. The committee outlined the original criteria for eligibility for the award, which remained in place until this day:
The Walter Payton Award is awarded annually to the most outstanding offensive player in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision of college football as chosen by a nationwide panel of media and college sports information directors. The honor was first given 37 years ago in 1987 to the outstanding player in the division, but in 1995, eligibility was restricted to offensive players, as the Buck Buchanan Award for defensive players was inaugurated.
The Gagliardi Trophy was first presented in 1993 to the Outstanding Division III college football player of the year by the Jostens Company and the J-Club of Saint John's University in Minnesota. Since that time, the award has become one of the leading collegiate football awards in Division III football, honoring excellence in athletics, academics and community service. The award is named for John Gagliardi, head football coach of Carroll College 1949 to 1952 and Saint John's University in Minnesota from 1953 to 2012. The trophy was presented by the Salem Rotary Club each year in Salem, Virginia until 2018.
The Roger Clemens Award was an award that honored the top NCAA Division I college baseball pitcher of the year. The award was created prior to the 2004 season and succeeded the Rotary Smith Award.
Professional baseball leagues, amateur-baseball organizations, sportswriting associations, and other groups confer awards on various baseball teams, players, managers, coaches, executives, broadcasters, writers, and other baseball-related people for excellence in achievement, sportsmanship, and community involvement.
Henry Payne “Hank” Iba was an American basketball coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head basketball coach at Northwest Missouri State Teacher's College, now known as Northwest Missouri State University, from 1929 to 1933; the University of Colorado Boulder from 1933 to 1934; and the Oklahoma State University–Stillwater, known as Oklahoma A&M prior to 1957, from 1934 to 1970, compiling a career college basketball coaching record of 751–340. He led Oklahoma A&M to consecutive NCAA basketball tournament titles, in 1945 and 1946.
Peekskill High School, established in 1929, is located at 1072 Elm Street in Peekskill, New York, United States. It educates most of the district's ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth graders. The school's current principal is Dr. Jenna Ferris. Peekskill students prepare for the New York State Regents Exams in science, language, mathematics, history and English. In addition to the Regents curriculum, the high school also offers Advanced Placement courses, which prepare students to take the AP Exams offered by the College Board in early May. A new course at the school as of the 2007–2008 school year is the three-year Authentic Science Research program. Several college courses are also offered.
The Warren Spahn Award is presented each season by the Oklahoma Sports Museum to the best left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB). The award is named after Warren Spahn, who holds the MLB record in wins for a left-handed pitcher with 363. The Warren Spahn Award was created in 1999 by Richard Hendricks, the founder of the Oklahoma Sports Museum, to honor Spahn, who resided in Oklahoma. The award was presented at the Masonic Temple in Guthrie, Oklahoma until 2009, when the Bricktown Rotary Club became a sponsor of the award. Since 2009, the award is presented at the annual Warren Spahn Award Gala, hosted by the Bricktown Rotary Club of Oklahoma City at the Jim Thorpe Museum every January.
DHL Hometown Heroes was a 2006 promotional event, sponsored by shipping company DHL, where Major League Baseball (MLB) fans were encouraged to vote for the most outstanding player in the history of each MLB franchise.
The Baylor Bears baseball team represents Baylor University in NCAA Division I college baseball. The team belongs to the Big 12 Conference and plays home games at Baylor Ballpark. The Bears are currently led by head coach Mitch Thompson, who was hired in 2022
An All-American team is an honorary sports team composed of the best amateur players of a specific season for each position—who in turn are given the honorific "All-America" and typically referred to as "All-American athletes", or simply "All-Americans". Although the honorees generally do not compete as a unit, the term is used in United States team sports to refer to players who are selected by members of the national media. Walter Camp selected the first All-America team in the early days of American football in 1889. In 1950, the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) selected its first All-American baseball team. It has since chosen All-American teams and a player of the year for each division. Collegiate Baseball selects All-American, Freshman All-American and High School All-American teams. Baseball America selects pre-season and post-season All-American teams and College Player of the Year honorees.
An All-American team is an honorary sports team composed of the best amateur players of a specific season for each position—who in turn are given the honorific "All-America" and typically referred to as "All-American athletes", or simply "All-Americans". Although the honorees generally do not compete as a unit, the term is used in U.S. team sports to refer to players who are selected by members of the national media. Walter Camp selected the first All-America team in the early days of American football in 1889. In 1950, the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) selected its first All-American baseball team. It has since chosen All-American teams and a player of the year for each division. Collegiate Baseball selects All-American, Freshman All-American and High School All-American teams. Baseball America magazine selects pre-season and post-season All-American teams and College Player of the Year honorees.
The Chuck Tanner Baseball Manager of the Year Award is the original name for two awards that are given by the Rotary Club of Pittsburgh, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is named for Chuck Tanner, former manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates, and was first awarded on November 17, 2007, at the city's Rivers Club. For the first three years, the award was given to a manager in Major League Baseball. In 2010, a second award was presented to the "Chuck Tanner Collegiate Baseball Manager of the Year"; the original award was renamed the "Chuck Tanner Major League Baseball Manager of the Year Award".
The Shriners Hospitals for Children College Classic is an annual six-team college baseball tournament held in Houston and hosted by the Astros Foundation. The 15th annual tournament was held at Minute Maid Park in March 2015. It was initially called Astros College Classic from 2001 through 2002, the Minute Maid Park College Classic from 2003 through 2007, and the Houston College Classic from 2008 through 2015. In December 2015, the Astros Foundation and Shriners Hospitals for Children announced a multi-year naming rights agreement for the tournament, rebranding the event the Shriners Hospitals for Children College Classic.
The 1995 Cal State Fullerton Titans baseball team represented California State University, Fullerton in the 1995 NCAA Division I baseball season. The Titans played their home games at Titan Field. The team was coached by Augie Garrido in his 20th season at Cal State Fullerton.
The 2014 Houston Cougars baseball team represented the University of Houston in the 2014 intercollegiate baseball season. Houston competed in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in its inaugural season as a member of the American Athletic Conference. The Cougars played home games at Cougar Field on the university's campus in Houston, Texas. Fourth-year head coach Todd Whitting, a former second baseman for the team during the 1992, 1994, and 1995 seasons and an assistant coach with the Cougars from 1996 through 2003, led the Cougars.
The Women's College World Series Most Outstanding Player is an award for the best individual performance during the Women's College World Series, the college softball national championship event in the United States. The recipient of the award is announced at the completion of the Women's College World Series Championship Game. The award is similar to Major League Baseball's World Series Most Valuable Player award and college baseball's College World Series Most Outstanding Player award.
Martie Cordaro is the president for the Omaha Storm Chasers, the Triple-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals, and Union Omaha.
