Today marks the third year in a row that GoldenSpikesAward.com – powered by MLB Advanced Media (MLBAM), the interactive media and Internet company of Major League Baseball – will be the online home for the award. The Web site features content devoted exclusively to the GSA, including news, voting history, past-winner photo galleries, and photographs and video highlights for the 2010 semifinalists. Fans can follow online at GoldenSpikesAward.com as the list of 30 players is narrowed to five finalists on Tuesday, June 8, en route to the announcement of this year’s winner on Tuesday, July 13.
In 2007, USA Baseball instituted a new selection and balloting procedure for the most prestigious award in amateur baseball, and it will follow the same model again in 2009. After accepting nominations from sports information directors across the country, a committee voted to determine the 30 semifinalists. The names of the 30 semifinalists will now be forwarded to a group of nearly 200 voters which will select the five finalists and the eventual winner.
The 2010 GSA will be awarded live at MLB’s All-Star FanFest in Anaheim as part of a production by Major League Baseball and MLBAM. Online footage of the event will air live exclusively at GoldenSpikesAward.com.
Duffy not only had one of the most impressive seasons by any player to ever don the Black and Gold jersey, but it also was one of the best in Conference USA history as well. The Cypress Creek High School graduate broke the UCF and C-USA records with a .447 batting average and an .850 slugging percentage. Duffy totaled 92 hits, 18 doubles and a .539 on-base percentage during the year.
The senior used the long ball throughout the entire campaign, sending 21 over the wall to set the UCF mark for most homers in a single season. In his final at-bat of his collegiate career, Duffy hit his first grand slam as a Knight in a run-ruled victory at Tulane May 22. While it was his first granny, it also tied him with Bobby Kiser (1987-90) for the UCF career home run record with 43 dingers.
On May 20, Duffy was named one of 25 semifinalists for the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Dick Howser Trophy. Three 2010 finalists for that honor which is given to the nation’s top collegiate player will be announced just prior to the first game of the College World Series with a press conference slated for June 10 at Rosenblatt Stadium. The winner will be named in a national broadcast from Lubbock, Texas, on July 2.