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Golden Spikes Award Winners
By Chris Wright
Last Updated:
The Golden Spikes Award was created in 1978 as college baseball’s answer to college football’s Heisman Trophy — a way to recognize and honor the best player in the country.
College baseball players dream of two things:
Winning the College World Series. And winning the Golden Spikes Award.
Some do both.
Past Winners of Golden Spikes Award
Here is the complete list of Golden Spikes Award winners, presented annually by USA Baseball:
| Year | Player | School |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Charlie Condon | Georgia |
| 2023 | Dylan Crews* | LSU |
| 2022 | Ivan Melendez | Texas |
| 2021 | Kevin Kopps | Arkansas |
| 2019 | Adley Rutschman** | Oregon State |
| 2018 | Andrew Vaughn | California |
| 2017 | Brendan McKay | Louisville |
| 2016 | Kyle Lewis | Mercer |
| 2015 | Andrew Benintendi | Arkansas |
| 2014 | AJ Reed | Kentucky |
| 2013 | Kris Bryant | San Diego |
| 2012 | Mike Zunino | Florida |
| 2011 | Trevor Bauer | UCLA |
| 2010 | Bryce Harper | Southern Nevada (JC) |
| 2009 | Stephen Strasburg | San Diego State |
| 2008 | Buster Posey | Florida State |
| 2007 | David Price | Vanderbilt |
| 2006 | Tim Lincecum | Washington |
| 2005 | Alex Gordon | Nebraska |
| 2004 | Jared Weaver | Long Beach State |
| 2003 | Rickie Weeks | Southern |
| 2002 | Khalil Greene | Clemson |
| 2001 | Mark Prior | USC |
| 2000 | Kip Bouknight | South Carolina |
| 1999 | Jason Jennings | Baylor |
| 1998 | Pat Burrell | Miami |
| 1997 | JD Drew | Florida State |
| 1996 | Travis Lee | San Diego State |
| 1995 | Mark Kotsay* | Cal State Fullerton |
| 1994 | Jason Varitek | Georgia Tech |
| 1993 | Darren Dreifort | Wichita State |
| 1992 | Phil Nevin | Cal State Fullerton |
| 1991 | Mike Kelly | Arizona State |
| 1990 | Alex Fernandez | Miami-Dade CC |
| 1989 | Ben McDonald | LSU |
| 1988 | Robin Ventura | Oklahoma State |
| 1987 | Jim Abbott | Michigan |
| 1986 | Mike Lloyd | Florida State |
| 1985 | Will Clark | Mississippi State |
| 1984 | Oddibe McDowell | Arizona State |
| 1983 | Dave Magadan | Alabama |
| 1982 | Augie Schmidt | New Orleans |
| 1981 | Mike Fuentes | Florida State |
| 1980 | Terry Francona* | Arizona |
| 1979 | Tim Wallach* | Cal State Fullerton |
| 1978 | Bob Horner** | Arizona State |
* – Also won College World Series that season
** – Also won College World Series in different season
Golden Spikes Award Winners By Position
Pitchers are eligible to win the Golden Spikes Award, too. Here’s a breakdown of winners, by position:
- Outfielders: 9
- Infielders: 18
- Catchers: 5
- Pitchers: 17
* — Two-way players who pitched included at both positions.
Biggest Golden Spikes Award Snubs
These 5 stars had a strong case to win the award:
2024: Jac Caglianone, Florida
In almost any other year, Caglianone would have been the runaway winner. Not only did he pitch for Florida, Caglianone swung the most feared bat in college baseball. He tied an NCAA record by homering in 9 consecutive games and became the first SEC player — and second player in NCAA Division I history — to hit 30+ home runs in a season twice in a career. He finished 2024 with 35 home runs.
Caglianone’s only problem is that he did it in a season in which Golden Spikes winner Charlie Condon delivered the single greatest offensive season in SEC history, when adjusted for era: .433 with 37 home runs and 78 RBIs.
2023: Paul Skenes, LSU
There’s no denying winner teammate Dylan Crews was a worthy selection and key piece to LSU’s national championship run.
But Skenes simply was on a different level.
After winning the Olerud Award in 2022 as the nation’s best 2-way player, Skenes transferred from Air Force to LSU and focused strictly on pitching.
The result? Arguably the greatest season in Power Conference history. Skenes went 13-2 and led the country in strikeouts (209). He finished second in ERA (1.69). He did this while pitching in the SEC — the most dominated conference in the country.
Skenes joined Rick Monday (1965, Arizona State) as the only 2 players to win a College World Series title and be selected No. 1 overall in the same year since the MLB Draft began in 1965.
1985: Pete Incaviglia, Oklahoma State
Mississippi State star Will Clark won the award and, along with Rafael Palmeiro, was part of the best 1-2 punch in college baseball history.
Clark hit .420 that season, with 28 home runs and 77 RBIs.
He also produced about half as much as Incaviglia did at the plate.
Incaviglia set NCAA records that will never be broken, mashing 48 home runs with 143 RBIs — in the process setting the NCAA record for career home runs with 100.
Baseball America corrected the oversight, however, when it named Incaviglia the College Baseball Player of the Century. Clark didn’t make the top 10 of that list.
1984: Mark McGwire, USC
Save the steroid jokes. McGwire was prodigious home run hitter — and adequate pitcher, too — from the start.
In 1984, Big Mac pounded 32 home runs — at the time, the 2nd-most in Division I history — to with 80 RBIs and a .387 batting average.
McGwire shared the Pac-10 Player of the Year honors with Arizona State star Oddibe McDowell, who won the Golden Spikes Award after hitting .405 with 23 homers and 74 RBIs.
McGwire (and McDowell) also were starters on the Team USA squad that earned a bronze medal in the 1984 Olympics.
1982: Jeff Ledbetter, Florida State
Augie Schmidt won the Golden Spikes after hitting .372 with 14 home runs and 56 RBIs. In an era when shortstops weren’t counted on for offense, Schmidt’s production stood out.
Still, … Ledbetter set the NCAA single-season record when he smashed 42 home runs and drove in 124 runs. (Incaviglia broke the record in 1985, but Ledbetter remains No. 2 on the all-time single-season home run list.)
As if that weren’t enough, Ledbetter also was Florida State’s ace, going 10-1 with a 3.23 ERA.
Baseball America and The Sporting News got it right: Both magazines named Ledbetter the 1982 College Baseball Player of the Year.
Managing Editor
A 30-time APSE award-winning editor with previous stints at the Miami Herald, The Indianapolis Star and News & Observer, Executive Editor Chris Wright oversees editorial operations for Saturday Down South.
