The Roger Clemens Award was an award that honored the top
NCAA
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
Division I
college baseball
College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional p ...
pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...
of the year. The award was created prior to the 2004 season and succeeded the
Rotary Smith Award
The Rotary Smith Award was created in 1988 to honor the most outstanding college baseball player of the year. The award was founded by the Greater Houston Sports Association. In 1996, the Rotary Club of Houston joined the award committee. Prior to ...
.
:''"Roger Clemens has become synonymous with excellence in pitching at the professional level, as evidenced by his six Cy Young Awards. In addition to being a fabulous baseball player at every level in which he has participated, his passion for excellence is unsurpassed. He is mindful of giving back to a sport and a community he loves. With his college and professional resume, his name is most worthy and deserving in recognition of the most outstanding college pitcher. The Roger Clemens Award most certainly will become the college equivalent of the Cy Young, therefore becoming one of the most coveted in college baseball." CBPY Board Member Ray Mitchell (February 14, 2004)''
Roger Clemens
William Roger Clemens (born August 4, 1962), nicknamed "Rocket", is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 24 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), primarily with the Boston Red Sox. Clemens was one of the most dominant pi ...
was an extremely successful college player with the
Texas Longhorns
The Texas Longhorns are the athletic teams representing the University of Texas at Austin. The teams are sometimes referred to as the Horns and take their name from Longhorn cattle that were an important part of the development of Texas, and a ...
before starting his scandal-riddled professional career.
The winner was determined by a vote of all Division I head coaches, selected members of the media, all past winners of the Roger Clemens Award, and all past winners of the Rotary Smith Award. The award was discontinued following the 2008 college baseball season.
Since 2009, the
National Pitcher of the Year Award
The National Pitcher of the Year Award is a college baseball award given to the best pitcher of the college baseball season by the College Baseball Foundation. The current holder of the award is Cooper Hjerpe of the Oregon State Beavers.
Win ...
, presented by the
College Baseball Foundation
The College Baseball Foundation was formed in 2004 in Lubbock, Texas as a non-profit organization, with the dual aims of awarding the Brooks Wallace Award, and creating the National College Baseball Hall of Fame. The organization also annually pres ...
, now honors the top NCAA Division I college baseball pitcher of the year.
Winners
See also
*
List of college baseball awards
There are a number of national college baseball awards given each year. Here are the most prominent:
Team championships
* College World Series championship (NCAA Division I)
*NCAA Division II championship
*NCAA Division III championship
* N ...
References
{{College baseball award navbox
College baseball trophies and awards in the United States
College baseball player of the year awards in the United States
Awards established in 2004
Awards disestablished in 2008