Degerman Named A Clemens Award Finalist
6/8/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
June 8, 2006
Official Roger Clemens Award website
HOUSTON --- Senior Eddie Degerman has been named as one of four finalists for the 2006 Roger Clemens Award as the best pitcher in college baseball, the award's organizers announced on Thursday. The winner of "Cy Young Award college baseball" will be announced on July 12 at the Marriott Westchase Hotel in Houston.
Degerman is joined by fellow finalists Tim Lincecum of Washington, Brad Lincoln of Houston and Andrew Miller of North Carolina. Normally, there are only three finalists announced for the Clemens Award each year, but this year's voting resulted in a tie between candidates.
"2006 has been a very deep year for college pitching as evidenced in the most recent MLB draft as well as the very tight voting for our award," Ray Mitchell, Co-Chairman of the Roger Clemens Award said. "The voting was so balanced resulting in a dead heat at the end between two candidates. A tie breaker system is in place but it was our decision not to deny anyone the honor of being a finalist for the most prestigious Roger Clemens Award. Therefore, we are excited to honor all four of these great talents as they look forward joining Roger at the award's presentation dinner in Houston on July 12th."
The ace of the top-ranked Owls, Degerman is among the nation's leaders in wins (12), ERA (1.67) and strikeouts (150). He was named the Most Outstanding Player in Rice's NCAA Regional last weekend after fanning a season-high 14 in a 7-2 win over Baylor. The standout from Granada Hills, Calif., was taken by the St. Louis Cardinals in the fourth round of the major league draft earlier this week. Degerman and former Owl star Wade Townsend (2004) make Rice the first school to produce two finalists for the Clemens Award. Rice hosts Oklahoma in an NCAA Super Regional Saturday at Reckling Park at 6 pm.
The national leader with 199 strikeouts, the hard-throwing Lincecum was named the Pac-10 Pitcher of the Year for the second time in three seasons. He set school season marks for strikeouts and wins (12) and set career marks for wins (30), innings (342) and strikeouts (491). His career strikeout total also set a new Pac-10 mark. He became the highest drafted player in UW history when the San Francisco Giants took him with the 10th overall selection on Tuesday.
Lincoln earned Pitcher of the Year honors from Conference USA, posting a 12-2 record with a 1.69 ERA and 152 strikeouts, which ranked third in the nation. His season strikeout mark was third -best in Cougar history, as was his career total (293). He won 11 straight games before dropping a 2-1 decision to Oklahoma in NCAA regional play to end his season. He became the highest drafted UH baseball player in school history when he was taken with the fourth overall selection by the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The only lefthander in the group, Miller was the ACC Pitcher of the Year and became the first Tar Heel to top 300 career strikeouts and leads the team with 12 wins heading into a Super Regional start at Alabama on Friday night. Miller was taken with the sixth overall selection in the recent MLB draft by the Detroit Tigers.
The finalists for the 2006 Roger Clemens Award were selected after a second round of voting by all Division 1 head baseball coaches, a selection of national media who cover collegiate baseball, the 16 winners of the R. E. "Bob" Smith Award, which was presented to the top player in the country here in Houston from 1988-2003, and the six previous finalists for the Clemens Award. Jered Weaver of Long Beach State (2004) and Luke Hochevar of Tennessee (2005) were the first two winners of the Clemens Award.
The Roger Clemens Award was named after future Hall of Famer Roger Clemens. As a major leaguer, Clemens has won 341 games (9th best in history), fanned 4,502 hitters and won and seven Cy Young Awards, emblematic as the top pitcher in his league. The Roger Clemens Award is the only award of its kind, honoring the finest pitchers in college baseball.
The event is administered by the Greater Houston Baseball Association, who has donated over $200,000 to the charities from the net proceeds from the first two dinners. The GHBA is a non-profit 501.3 (C) organization dedicated to the growth of amateur baseball in the Houston area.
For additional information on tables and tickets, please call the Greater Houston Baseball Association at (713) 739-0505 or write to The Roger Clemens Award, 2550 S. Sam Houston Parkway West, Houston, TX 77047.