Yasmani Grandal Named Golden Spikes Award Finalist
June 8, 2010
DURHAM, N.C. – University of Miami junior catcher Yasmani Grandal has been named one of five finalists for the 2010 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award (GSA), as announced by USA Baseball on Tuesday. This year will mark the 33rd consecutive year that the Golden Spikes Award will be presented to the nation’s premier amateur baseball player.
In addition to Grandal, UCF’s Chris Duffy, Southern Nevada’s Bryce Harper, Mississippi’s Drew Pomeranz and Florida Gulf Coast’s Chris Sale round out the five finalists.
Grandal is having one of the most productive offensive seasons in school history for the storied Miami baseball program. The Miami native is hitting .411 with 14 homers, 58 RBI, 55 runs scored and 57 walks in 60 games. Grandal was named 2010 ACC Player of the Year, a Johnny Bench Award finalist and a First Team Louisville Slugger/Collegiate Baseball All-American. He was selected by the Cincinnati Reds in the MLB First-Year Player Draft with the 12th overall pick. The junior becomes the 12th Miami alum to be named a GSA finalist and will attempt to become the school’s second GSA winner (Pat Burrell, 1998). Grandal is the lone finalist still playing, as the Hurricanes will travel to take on Florida in the Gainesville Super Regional, June 11-13.
Fans can continue to stay up to date on the award by visiting GoldenSpikesAward.com, powered by MLB Advanced Media (MLBAM), the interactive media and Internet company of Major League Baseball (MLB). The Web site features content devoted exclusively to the GSA, including news, voting history, past-winner photo galleries, and photographs and video highlights for 2010 finalists.
The 2010 GSA will be awarded live at 2:30 p.m. ET on July 13 at All-Star FanFest in Anaheim as part of a production by MLB and MLBAM. Award show footage will be streamed live on the Internet exclusively at GoldenSpikesAward.com and MLB.com. This will be the second year in a row that the live award presentation will be held immediately preceding MLB Commissioner Allan H. (Bud) Selig’s Town Hall Meeting at All-Star FanFest.
“Chris Duffy, Yasmani Grandal, Bryce Harper, Drew Pomeranz, and Chris Sale authored incredible seasons in 2010,” said USA Baseball Executive Director/CEO Paul Seiler. “We congratulate each of them personally, along with their coaching staffs, teammates and their schools’ baseball programs.”
In 2007, USA Baseball instituted a new selection and balloting procedure for the most prestigious award in amateur baseball, and it is following the same model again in 2010. After accepting nominations for the GSA from sports information directors across the country, a committee narrowed down the list to 30 semifinalists. The names of the semifinalists were then forwarded to a voting body of nearly 200 members, and they each selected five finalists. The five players with the most votes are recognized as finalists, and the voting body will now determine the eventual 2010 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award winner.
Beginning Tuesday, fans will also be able to vote on the 2010 GSA by visiting GoldenSpikesAward.com and selecting their favorite finalist. Voting for fans and the voting body ends at 5 p.m. ET on Friday, June 18.
