Florida
junior catcher Mike Zunino (Cape Coral, Fla.) is the 26th recipient of
the Dick Howser Trophy, presented by Easton Foundations, as College Baseball's
Player of the Year. The presentation was made on Friday morning as part of a news
conference at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha with several other 2012 national honors
being named.
Zunino
became the first University of Florida player to win the Dick Howser Trophy in
a group represented by 20 different schools and 13 conferences since its
inception in 1987 with Miami (Fla.) standout Mike Fiore.
Zunino
will also be honored during the College Baseball Foundation's Night of
Champions, along with 2012 College Baseball Hall of Fame inductees and other
Division I honorees June 30 in Lubbock, Texas.
The
consensus All-American and 2012 honoree from Cape Coral, Fla., via Mariner High
School, led the Gators to a school-record-tying runner-up finish to South
Carolina in the 2011 NCAA College World Series and paced UF into a rematch with
the two-time defending champion Gamecocks on Saturday in Omaha (live at 9 p.m.
ET on ESPN).
Zunino
helped the Gators to a two-game sweep of NC State in the NCAA Gainesville Super
Regional last weekend with 4-for-8 hitting, a .500 average, three RBI, two runs
scored and his SEC-leading 19th homer of the 2012 season.
He
arrived in Omaha as both a 2011 and '12 All-American, as well as the 2011 SEC
Player of the Year and the league's first-team catcher both years, with top-10
totals nationally in almost every individual statistical category.
Zunino
has started 64 games for head coach Kevin O'Sullivan's Gators, has a
team-leading 28 doubles, 19 homers, 64 RBI, and 10 sacrifice flies, posted a
.678 slugging percentage, has 162 total bases, fielded at a torrid .994 clip
(three errors in 493 total chances), and led Florida into the 2012 CWS with a
47-18 overall record.
On
June 4, he became the highest draft choice in school history as the No. 3
selection in the first round to the Seattle Mariners. That also capped a
third-consecutive season on the All-Tournament Team of the NCAA Gainesville
Regional and back-to-back Super Regional crowns over Mississippi State and the
Wolfpack. Zunino was the first UF standout to be drafted in the first round
since Matt LaPorta in 2007.
"Mike
Zunino epitomizes the true qualities of Dick Howser - ability, leadership,
character, and courage," said Howser Trophy chair David Feaster of
the St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce. "He has taken Florida to new
heights in the past two years as well as being a tremendous team leader and
go-to student-athlete in all areas."
After
passing on a 30th-round Draft selection by the Oakland A's when he was a senior
at Mariner H.S. in 2009, Zunino has excelled with the bat and catcher's mitt
while maturing into one of the top players in UF's illustrious baseball
history.
As
a sophomore, he became the second Gator in history to be chosen as SEC Player
of the Year, along with LaPorta in 2005 and '07. It also marked the first of
his two-consecutive times being a finalist for the Johnny Bench Award as
National Division I Catcher of the Year. He also was a semifinalist for both
the Dick Howser Trophy and Golden Spikes Award.
In
2010 as a freshman, Zunino was both a Freshman All-America and SEC All-Freshman
squad member. He was both Florida's starting catcher and designated hitter and
earned the first of his three All-Tournament accolades in the NCAA Gainesville
Regional by batting .364 with a 4-for-11 showing.
His
selection and NCBWA voting in 2012 was some of the closest in years, as Zunino
edged two other standout finalists in senior first baseman Goose Kallunki of
Utah Valley State and junior outfielder Raph Rhymes of LSU.
The
Dick Howser Trophy, given in memory of the former Florida State University
All-America shortstop and Major League player and manager who died of brain
cancer in 1987, is regarded by many as college baseball's most prestigious
award. Criteria for consideration for the trophy include performance on the
field, leadership, moral character, and courage, qualities which were
exemplified by Dick Howser's life.
A
Florida native, Howser was twice an All-American shortstop at Florida State
(1957-58), then head coach of the Seminoles in 1979 after a career as a Major
League player and coach. After one year in the college ranks, he returned to
the majors to manage the New York Yankees and Kansas City Royals and won the
World Series with the Royals in 1985. The baseball stadium on the Florida State
campus is named for Howser.
NCBWA
membership includes writers, broadcasters and publicists. Designed to promote
and publicize college baseball, it is the sport's only college media-related
organization, founded in 1962.
The
College Baseball Foundation was established in 2004 and has inducted 71 greats
into the College Baseball Hall of Fame in Lubbock. The group promotes the
highest ideals and recognition of greatness on college baseball diamonds in the
150-plus years since the first intercollegiate contest in 1859 between Amherst
and Williams.
The
Howser Trophy was created in 1987, shortly after Howser's death. Previous
winners of the Howser Trophy are Mike Fiore, Miami, 1987; Robin Ventura,
Oklahoma State, 1988; Scott Bryant, Texas, 1989; Alex Fernandez, Miami-Dade
Community College South, 1990; Frank Rodriguez, Howard College (Texas), 1991;
Brooks Kieschnick, Texas, 1992 and 1993; Jason Varitek, Georgia Tech, 1994;
Todd Helton, Tennessee, 1995; Kris Benson, Clemson, 1996; J. D. Drew, Florida
State, 1997; Eddy Furniss, LSU, 1998; Jason Jennings, Baylor, 1999; Mark
Teixeira, Georgia Tech, 2000; Mark Prior, P, USC, 2001, Khalil Greene, SS,
Clemson, 2002; Rickey Weeks, 2B, Southern U., 2003; Jered Weaver, P, Long Beach
State, 2004; Alex Gordon, 3B, Nebraska, 2005; Brad Lincoln, P/DH, Houston,
2006; David Price, P, Vanderbilt, 2007; Buster Posey, C, Florida State, 2008;
Stephen Strasburg, P, San Diego State, 2009; Anthony Rendon, 3B, Rice, 2010;
and Taylor Jungmann, P, Texas, 2011.
