Dick Howser Trophy on Baseball Almanac

Dick Howser Trophy

The Dick Howser Award is presented annually to college baseball's top player - similar in respect to the Most Valuable Player Award. The award was created in 1987 and winners were selected by the American Baseball Coaches Association until 1998. In 1999 the National College Baseball Writers Association took over the selection process and since then it has been referred to as the "Heisman Trophy of College Baseball."

The Dick Howser Trophy is also, and probably more importantly, a national sponsorship that was created on behalf of Dick Howser himself to promote baseball excellence and scholastic achievement for collegiate baseball. Education is one of the country's biggest concerns and through sports will bring an enhanced national focus.

"This is like the Heisman Trophy of college baseball. An honor like this puts the entire program in the limelight. Obviously, Brad (Lincoln) is in the center of the spotlight with the season that he had, but an award like this casts light on the entire university." - University of Houston Head Coach Rayner Noble (NCBWA Press Release, 06/16/2006)

Dick Howser Trophy In Chronological Order / By Greater Wichita Sports Commission
Year	Player Name^(Quantity)	College
1987	Mike Fiore⁽¹⁾	University of Miami
1988	Robin Ventura⁽¹⁾	Oklahoma State University
1989	Scott Bryant⁽¹⁾	University of Texas at Austin
1990	Alex Fernandez⁽¹⁾	Miami-Dade Community College
1991	Frank Rodriguez⁽¹⁾	Howard Junior College
1992	Brooks Kieschnick⁽¹⁾	University of Texas at Austin
1993	Brooks Kieschnick⁽²⁾	University of Texas at Austin
1994	Jason Varitek⁽¹⁾	Georgia Institute of Technology
1995	Todd Helton⁽¹⁾	University of Tennessee
1996	Kris Benson⁽¹⁾	Clemson University
1997	J.D. Drew⁽¹⁾	Florida State University
1998	Eddy Furniss⁽¹⁾	Louisiana State University
1999	Jason Jennings⁽¹⁾	Baylor University
2000	Mark Teixeira⁽¹⁾	Georgia Institute of Technology
2001	Mark Prior⁽¹⁾	University of Southern California
2002	Khalil Greene⁽¹⁾	Clemson University
2003	Rickie Weeks⁽¹⁾	Southern University
2004	Jered Weaver⁽¹⁾	Long Beach State University
2005	Alex Gordon⁽¹⁾	University of Nebraska
2006	Brad Lincoln⁽¹⁾	University of Houston
2007	David Price⁽¹⁾	Vanderbilt University
2008	Not Yet Announced^(10-2008)	--
Year	Player Name^(Quantity)	College
Dick Howser Trophy

When Mark Prior won the Dick Howser Trophy in 2001 he said, "The Dick Howser Award is a very prestigious and coveted award. I was humbled and honored to be the recipient of this award in 2001. My education has been very important to me and this is one of the few awards that recognizes scholastic achievement in addition to on-field performance. The award was the pinnacle of my collegiate career."

On the official website (link) they have the following description of the award and Dick Howser himself: The St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce ® is the founder and owner of The Dick Howser Trophy™. Dick Howser was a famous baseball player from Florida State and went on to manage the New York Yankees and led the Kansas City Royals to the World Series Championship in 1985. He died of cancer in 1987 at the young age of 51. His life contribution was so much more than baseball. He is quite a legend in his outstanding character as well as his accompolishments.

Do you agree with the choices? If you were a member of the St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce would you have chosen a different player from ANY of the seasons above? Share your opinions on Baseball Fever.

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