1994 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] Collegiate Baseball selects All-American, Freshman All-American, and High School All-American teams.[3] Baseball America magazine selects pre-season and post-season All-American teams and College Player of the Year honorees.[4][5]

The team includes Jason Varitek (left), who has caught a Major League Baseball record four no-hitters, and Nomar Garciaparra (right), who was an American League Rookie of the Year, two-time batting champion and six-time All-Star.

Various organizations selected All-American lists of the best players for the 1994 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

Cruz with the 2007 San Diego Padres

Payton with the 2008 Baltimore Orioles

The 1994 College Baseball All-America Team included the most highly regarded college baseball players as recognized by various national selectors and its members accumulated numerous collegiate awards. With Nomar Garciaparra, Jason Varitek, and Danny Graves, the team included three future Major League Baseball (MLB) All-Stars. The following is a summary of the collegiate and MLB accomplishments of the players from the team. However, as of 2016, R.A. Dickey remains an active MLB player.[7] Five players were selected by all three NCAA-sanctioned selectors: pitcher Danny Graves; catcher Varitek; first baseman Tommy Davis; shortstop Garciaparra; and outfielder Payton. Varitek and Todd Walker had both been selected unanimously to the 1993 College Baseball All-America Team, while Antone Williamson is a repeat All-American according to Baseball America. Veritek had also been a unanimous selection to the 1992 College Baseball All-America Team. José Cruz, Jr. would repeat as a selection to the 1995 College Baseball All-America Team by all selectors and Shane Monahan would repeat as a selection by Collegiate Baseball.[6] Walker won the 1993 College World Series Most Outstanding Player.[8] Varitek swept the Dick Howser Trophy, the Rotary Smith Award, and the Golden Spikes Awards in 1994.[9][10][11]

Garciaparra is a two-time American League (AL) batting champion, AL Rookie of the Year, six-time All-Star, who led the AL in at bats, hits, doubles, triples, and intentional walks. He led the AL in errors regardless of position in 2002 and in putouts as a shortstop in 1997.[12] Varitek is a three-time All-Star (2003, 2005 and 2008), Gold Glove-winner, Silver Slugger-winner, and two-time World Series champion (2004 and 2007).[13] He called the pitches for a major league record four no-hitters.[14] Danny Graves, who is a two-time All-Star (2000 and 2004) and won the 2002 Lou Gehrig Memorial Award, is the only Vietnamese-born player in MLB history.[15] Georgia Tech had three selections and Clemson had two.

Several other players made notable marks as professional players. Paul Wilson became the MLB number one overall draft pick in 1994.[16] Walker led the NL second basemen in fielding percentage and putouts during the 2002 season.[17] Cruz, who won a Gold Glove in 2003 in the NL, led the NL in putouts as a rightfielder (2003) and the AL in putouts as a centerfielder (2000) but also led the AL in errors committed as a rightfielder (2004). He accumulated over 1,100 hits and 200 home runs.[18] Payton led the AL outfielders in fielding percentage in both 2005 and 2008 with perfect ratings. He led the NL in putouts as a leftfielder in 2003 and in assists as a centerfielder in 2004, but he also led the NL in errors as a centerfielder in 2000.[19]

Key

ABCA	American Baseball Coaches Association[20]
BA	Baseball America[20]
CB	Collegiate Baseball[20]
*	Awarded the Golden Spikes Award, Dick Howser Trophy or Rotary Smith Award as national Player of the Year[20]
Player (X)	Denotes the number of times the player had been named an All-American at that point[20]
♦	Inducted into the National College Baseball Hall of Fame[21]

All-Americans

Below are the Division I players selected to the various NCAA-sanctioned lists.[22] 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	Shane Dennis	Wichita State		—
Pitcher	Gary Rath	Mississippi State			—
Pitcher	Scott Rivette	Long Beach State		—
Pitcher	Paul Wilson	Florida State			—	MLB number one overall draft pick (1994)[16]
Pitcher	Danny Graves	Miami				21 saves in a single season (1994) (T-4th in Division I),[23] 4.72 H/9 (11th in Division I),[23] 2x MLB All-Star (2000 and 2004) and 2002 Lou Gehrig Memorial Award winner[15]
Pitcher	Jason Bell	Oklahoma State	—		—
Pitcher	R. A. Dickey	Tennessee	—
Pitcher	Matt Beaumont	Ohio State	—	—
Pitcher	Brett Merrick	Washington	—	—		20 saves in a single season (T-6th in Division I)[23]
Catcher	Jason Varitek* (3)	Georgia Tech				3x MLB All-Star (2003, 2005 & 2008), Gold Glove, Silver Slugger, 2x World Series champion (2004 & 2007),[13] Caught 4 no-hitters[14]
First baseman	Tommy Davis	Southern Mississippi
Second baseman	Todd Walker (2) ♦	LSU			—	1993 College World Series Most Outstanding Player[8]
Third baseman	Kevin Young	Central Michigan		—	—
Third baseman	Antone Williamson (2)	Arizona State	—		—
Third baseman	Mike Hampton	Clemson	—	—
Shortstop	Nomar Garciaparra ♦	Georgia Tech				2× AL batting champion, AL Rookie of the Year, and 6x MLB All-Star (1997, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003 and 2006)[12]
Outfielder	José Cruz, Jr.	Rice			—	Gold Glove (2003)[18]
Outfielder	Mark Little	Memphis		—		.424 career batting average (24th in Division I),.[23] 771 career slugging percentage (24th in Division I)[23]
Outfielder	Shane Monahan	Clemson			—	137 hits in a single season (1994) (2nd in Division I)[23]
Outfielder	Jay Payton	Georgia Tech				129 hits (1994) (T-7th in Division I)[23]
Outfielder	Jeff Abbott	Kentucky	—	—
Designated hitter	Ryan Hall	BYU		—
Designated hitter	Brian Buchanan	Virginia	—		—
Utility player	Ryan Jackson	Duke	—	—		8 consecutive games with a home run (Division I record)[23]

See also

• U.S. college baseball awards

References

General

• "Baseball Award Winners" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. Retrieved June 8, 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. "R.A. Dickey". Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 8, 2010.
8. "Most Outstanding Player Award". CWS Omaha, Inc. Retrieved September 14, 2010.
9. "Rotary Smith Award". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved September 14, 2010.
10. "Previous Golden Spikes Award Winners". USA Golden Spikes Award. Archived from the original on September 21, 2010. Retrieved September 14, 2010.
11. "Dick Howser Trophy". National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. Retrieved September 14, 2010.
12. "Nomar Garciaparra". Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 8, 2010.
13. "Jason Varitek". Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on May 11, 2010. Retrieved May 13, 2010.
14. Kaplan, Thomas (May 21, 2008). "Red Sox' No-Hitter Puts Varitek in Record Books". The New York Times. Retrieved May 13, 2010.
15. "Danny Graves". Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 8, 2010.
16. "1st Picks Overall in the MLB June Amateur Draft". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 30, 2010.
17. "Todd Walker". Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved June 8, 2010.
18. "Jose Cruz". Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 8, 2010.
19. "Jay Payton". Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 8, 2010.
20. "NCAA Baseball Award Winners" (PDF). NCAA. Retrieved April 8, 2012.
21. "College Baseball Hall of Fame Inductees". College Baseball Hall of Fame. Retrieved April 12, 2012.
22. "Baseball Award Winners" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. Retrieved June 8, 2010.
23. "Division I Record Book" (PDF). NCAA. Retrieved April 14, 2012.