2008 Woodie Awards
Beckham, Fields finalists for top baseball honors
Issue date: 5/21/08 Section: Sports
Georgia shortstop Gordon Beckham and pitcher Joshua Fields are among the 50 semifinalists for the 2008 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award, USA Baseball announced Tuesday.
This year will mark the 31st consecutive year that the USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award has been presented to the nation's premier amateur baseball player.
Earlier in the day, Beckham was named the Southeastern Conference Player of the Year and Scholar-Athlete of the Year while Fields was named the SEC Pitcher of the Year in a ballot of the league's coaches.
The duo helped sixth-ranked Georgia to the 2008 SEC title. The Bulldogs (35-19-1) return to action Wednesday at 6 p.m. EDT as the top seed at the SEC Tournament at Regions Park in Hoover, Ala.
Beckham (.401-23-57, 16 SB, .959 FLDG percentage), also a semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy, batted .391-13-33 in SEC action. An Academic All-America candidate, the 6-0, 185-pound native of Atlanta, ranks among the NCAA leaders in home runs, runs scored, total bases and slugging percentage. He has tied the Bulldog record with 23 home runs this season and is three shy of the career mark now with 48. He has set the runs scored record with 76 this year. Beckham is on the national ballot for Academic All-American as a real estate major. He has already made the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District team.
Fields, also a semifinalist for the Clemens Award and on the NCBWA Stopper of the Year list, leads the NCAA with a school record 16 saves this year. A 6-0, 178-pound native of Hull, Ga., Fields owns the SEC and Bulldog career saves record with 39. This year, he is 2-2 with a 1.52 ERA and 53 strikeouts in 29.2 innings. Fields had 12 saves in SEC play this year.
The 2008 GSA will be awarded as part of a production by Major League Baseball and MLBAM that will be streamed live on the Internet exclusively at GoldenSpikesAward.com and MLB.com. The annual event will be held in New York City following MLB All-Star Week with a time and location to be announced in early June.
This year will mark the 31st consecutive year that the USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award has been presented to the nation's premier amateur baseball player.
Earlier in the day, Beckham was named the Southeastern Conference Player of the Year and Scholar-Athlete of the Year while Fields was named the SEC Pitcher of the Year in a ballot of the league's coaches.
The duo helped sixth-ranked Georgia to the 2008 SEC title. The Bulldogs (35-19-1) return to action Wednesday at 6 p.m. EDT as the top seed at the SEC Tournament at Regions Park in Hoover, Ala.
Beckham (.401-23-57, 16 SB, .959 FLDG percentage), also a semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy, batted .391-13-33 in SEC action. An Academic All-America candidate, the 6-0, 185-pound native of Atlanta, ranks among the NCAA leaders in home runs, runs scored, total bases and slugging percentage. He has tied the Bulldog record with 23 home runs this season and is three shy of the career mark now with 48. He has set the runs scored record with 76 this year. Beckham is on the national ballot for Academic All-American as a real estate major. He has already made the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District team.
Fields, also a semifinalist for the Clemens Award and on the NCBWA Stopper of the Year list, leads the NCAA with a school record 16 saves this year. A 6-0, 178-pound native of Hull, Ga., Fields owns the SEC and Bulldog career saves record with 39. This year, he is 2-2 with a 1.52 ERA and 53 strikeouts in 29.2 innings. Fields had 12 saves in SEC play this year.
The 2008 GSA will be awarded as part of a production by Major League Baseball and MLBAM that will be streamed live on the Internet exclusively at GoldenSpikesAward.com and MLB.com. The annual event will be held in New York City following MLB All-Star Week with a time and location to be announced in early June.
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