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Nov. 11, 1997

Florida State's J.D. Drew Wins 1997 Golden Spikes Award

USA Baseball's honor highlights Salute to Excellence Awards Program

TRENTON, NJ - USA Baseball announced that J.D. Drew, an outfielder from Florida State University, topped an incredibly talented field of nine finalists to capture the 1997 Golden Spikes Award. Six of the eight draft-eligible finalists were selected in the first round of the 1997 Major League Baseball amateur draft, including the top three picks overall. The 10th annual presentation of the award served as the featured event at USA Baseball's Salute to Excellence Awards Program tonight at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City, which was sponsored by the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA).

"USA Baseball is extremely proud to honor J.D. Drew of Florida State University with the 1997 Golden Spikes Award," said Dan O'Brien, USA Baseball Executive Director/CEO. "J.D.'s accomplishments certainly speak for themselves, and he is quite deserving of this recognitionafter his brilliant collegiate career."

For the past 19 years, USA Baseball has honored the top amateur baseball player in the country with the Golden Spikes Award. The award is presented each year to the player who exhibits exceptional athletic and exemplary sportsmanship. Past winners of this prestigious award include current Major League Baseball stars such as Robin Ventura, Ben McDonald and Will Clark.

In 1997, J.D. Drew capped one of the finest careers in the history of college baseball by claiming four "Player of the Year" awards, in addition to the Golden Spikes Award. Drew was one of only three players in NCAA Division I history, along with Lance Berkman (1997, Rice) and Jeff Ledbetter (1982, Florida State), to chieve a "triple-triple" (100 RBI, 100 Runs and 100 Hits) in a season. Further, he is the only player in Division I history to hit 30 homers and steal 30 bases in the same season.

Selected by the Philadelphia Phillies with second choice overall in the 1997 amateur draft, Drew hit .455 with 31 home runs, 100 RBI, 110 runs and 32 stolen bases this spring. He established an FSU record 34-game hit streak in which he batted .524 with 20 home runs and 62 RBI. He also set FSU season records in batting average, runs, slugging percentage (.961), walks (84) and grand slams (3). Drew was also named Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Player of the Week three times. His totals for homers, runs, slugging percentage and walks established ACC seasons records. Also, Drew's total bases tally (224) tied the ACC season record.

David Johnathen Drew is the son of David and Libby Drew. The 1994 graduate of Lowndes County High School in Hahira, GA, earned All-Area and All-Region honors as a junior and senior. After high school, hew was selected in the 20th round by the San Francisco Giants in 1994.

J.D. DREW 1997 AWARDS

ACC All-Tournament

1997 Golden Spikes Award Finalists
Matt Anderson, Rice, RHP, JR
Lance Berkman, Rice, 1B, JR
Pat Burrell, Miami, 3B, SO
J.D. Drew, Florida State, OF, JR
Troy Glaus, UCLA, 3B/SS, JR
Tim Hudson, Auburn, RHP/OF, SR
Adam Kennedy, Cal St.Northridge, SS, JR
Brandon Larson, LSU, SS, JR
Roberto Vaz, Alabama, LHP/OF, JR

Golden Spikes Award Winners
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-South
1989 Ben McDonald    Louisiana State
1988 Robin Ventura   Oklahoma State
1987 Jim Abbott      Michigan
1986 Mike Loynd      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

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