1991 College Baseball All-America Team

An All-American team is an honorary sports team composed of the best amateur players of a specific season for each position—who in turn are given the honorific "All-America" and typically referred to as "All-American athletes", or simply "All-Americans". Although the honorees generally do not compete as a unit, the term is used in U.S. team sports to refer to players who are selected by members of the national media. Walter Camp selected the first All-America team in the early days of American football in 1889.[1] In 1950, the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) selected its first All-American baseball team. It has since chosen All-American teams and a player of the year for each division (National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I, Division II, Division III, National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, junior college and high school).[2] In 1991, Collegiate Baseball began selecting college All-American, Freshman All-American, and High School All-American teams.[3] Baseball America has selected – since 1981 – pre-season and post-season All-American teams and College Player of the Year honorees.[4][5]

Mark Sweeney, the career pinch hit RBI recordholder, was named to the All-America Team in 1991 by both the American Baseball Coaches Association and Collegiate Baseball.

Various organizations selected All-American lists of the best players for the 1991 NCAA Division I college baseball season. The ABCA, the magazine Baseball America, and Collegiate Baseball were the NCAA-sanctioned selectors.[6] This list only includes players selected to the post-season All-American first team for each selector. However, many All-American selections choose second, third, etc. teams from the remaining eligible candidates.

Accomplishments

Bobby Jones was selected as player of the year by both American Baseball Coaches Association and Collegiate Baseball, while David McCarty was the Baseball America player of the year.[6] Brooks Kieschnick went on to be a repeat All-American selection on the 1992 and 1993 teams and be named a player of the year both years.[6] Mike Kelly, who had been 1990 Baseball America player of the year, returned from the 1990 team, along with Phillip Stidham.[6] Kelly won the 1990 Rotary Smith Award and Jones won the award in 1991.[7] Kelly also won the 1991 Golden Spikes Award.[8]

This class produced one Major League Baseball All-Star, one Olympic Games gold medalist and one Major League Baseball record holder. A total of five players were selected by all three NCAA-sanctioned selectors: pitchers Jones and Kennie Steenstra, first baseman David McCarty, shortstop Brent Gates and outfielder Kelly. Four school had two members of the team: Long Beach State, Pepperdine, Villanova and Wichita State

Jones led the National League in sacrifice hits allowed during the 1995 season. The following year, he was selected for the 1996 MLB All-Star Game.[9] However, in the 2001 Major League Baseball season, Jones led the National League in home runs allowed and losses.[9] During the 1995 season, Gates finished second in the American League in sacrifice flies and third in assists.[10] During the 1998 season, Kelly had a perfect fielding percentage with 137 putouts and 4 assists for a total of 141 chances.[11] Mike Neill, whose first-inning home run put the United States ahead to stay in the championship game,[12] earned a gold medal in baseball at the 2000 Summer Olympics.[13] During the 2004 season, Mark Sweeney had five pinch-hit home runs, two shy of the major league record.[14] During the 2007 Major League Baseball season, Sweeney, who ranks second in career pinch hits with 175 and first in career pinch-hit runs batted in with 102,[15] led the major leagues with 24 pinch hits.[16]

Key

ABCA	American Baseball Coaches Association[17]
BA	Baseball America[17]
CB	Collegiate Baseball[17]
	Awarded the Golden Spikes Award, Dick Howser Trophy or Rotary Smith Award as national Player of the Year[17]
Player (X)	Denotes the number of times the player had been named an All-American at that point[17]
♦	Inducted into the National College Baseball Hall of Fame[18]

Team lists

Below are the Division I players selected to the various NCAA-sanctioned lists.[19] The default list order is arranged by the position numbers used by official baseball scorekeepers (i.e., 1 – pitcher, 2 – catcher, etc.).

Position	Name	School	ABCA	BA	CB	Notes
Pitcher	Bobby Jones	Fresno State				1991 POY (ABCA, CB),[6] 18 complete games in a single season (1991) (2nd in Division I),[20] 1996 MLB All-Star[9]
Pitcher	Kennie Steenstra	Wichita State				25 consecutive wins (3rd in Division I)[20]
Pitcher	Keith Garagozzo	Delaware		—
Pitcher	Steve Montgomery	Pepperdine		—	—
Pitcher	Craig Clayton	Cal State	—		—
Pitcher	Steve Whitaker	Long Beach State	—		—
Pitcher	John Burke	Florida	—		—
Pitcher	Bill Blanchette	Hawaii	—	—
Pitcher	Tony Phillips	Southern Miss	—	—
Pitcher	Phil Stidham (2)	Arkansas	—	—
Catcher	Pedro Grifol	Florida State			—
Catcher	Michael Daniel	Oklahoma State	—	—
First baseman	David McCarty	Stanford				1991 POY (BA)[6]
Second baseman	Jimmy Crowley	Clemson		—	—
Second baseman	Steve Rodriguez	Pepperdine	—		—
Second baseman	Billy Hall	Wichita State	—	—
Third baseman	Scott Stahoviak	Creighton			—
Third baseman	Andy Bruce	Georgia Tech	—	—		8 consecutive games with a home run (Division I record)[20]
Shortstop	Brent Gates	Minnesota
Outfielder	Mike Kelly (2)	Arizona State
Outfielder	Mark Sweeney	Maine		—		Major League Baseball career pinch hit RBI record (102)[15]
Outfielder	Mark Smith	USC	—
Outfielder	Mike Neill	Villanova		—	—	Gold medal in the 2000 Olympics[13]
Outfielder	Tom Vantiger	Iowa State		—	—
Outfielder	Joe Vitiello	Alabama	—		—
Designated hitter	Gene Schall	Villanova		—	—	.426 career batting average (20th in Division I)[20]
Designated hitter	Michael Daniel	Oklahoma State	—		—
Designated hitter	Scott Talanoa	Long Beach State	—	—
Utility player	Brooks Kieschnick ♦	Texas		—	—
Utility player	Craig Clayton	Cal State	—	—

References

General

• "Baseball Award Winners" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. Retrieved May 11, 2010.

Inline citations

1. The Michigan alumnus. University of Michigan Library. 2010. p. 495. ASIN B0037HO8MY.
2. "This is the ABCA". American Baseball Coaches Association. September 20, 2007. Archived from the original on April 2, 2010. Retrieved May 20, 2010.
3. "All Americans: Collegiate Baseball Newspaper". Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Inc. Retrieved May 20, 2010.
4. "College: Awards: All-America Teams". Baseball America Inc. Archived from the original on April 23, 2010. Retrieved May 20, 2010.
5. "College: Awards: Player of the Year". Baseball America Inc. Archived from the original on April 23, 2010. Retrieved May 20, 2010.
6. "Baseball Award Winners" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. Retrieved May 11, 2010.
7. "Rotary Smith Award". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved September 14, 2010.
8. "Previous Golden Spikes Award Winners". USA Golden Spikes Award. Archived from the original on September 21, 2010. Retrieved September 14, 2010.
9. "Bobby Jones". Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on June 11, 2010. Retrieved May 12, 2010.
10. "Brent Gates". Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 17, 2010. Retrieved May 12, 2010.
11. "Mike Kelly". Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on May 29, 2010. Retrieved May 12, 2010.
12. "USA Baseball in the Olympic Games: A look back at Team USA in previous Olympic contests". USA Baseball.com. June 3, 2008. Archived from the original on September 10, 2010. Retrieved May 12, 2010.
13. "Mike Neill". Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 18, 2020. Retrieved May 12, 2010.
14. "Pinch Hitting Records". Baseball Almanac. Archived from the original on May 10, 2010. Retrieved May 12, 2010.
15. "21 Mark Sweeney, 1B". CBS Sports. Retrieved May 12, 2010.
16. Crasnick, Jerry (February 13, 2008). "Dodgers agree to deal with Mark Sweeney". ESPN. Retrieved May 12, 2010.
17. "NCAA Baseball Award Winners" (PDF). NCAA. Retrieved April 8, 2012.
18. "College Baseball Hall of Fame Inductees". College Baseball Hall of Fame. Retrieved April 12, 2012.
19. "Baseball Award Winners" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. Retrieved June 8, 2010.
20. "Division I Record Book" (PDF). NCAA. Retrieved April 14, 2012.