Bryce Harper wins 2010 Golden Spikes Award

Nationals number one overall selection Bryce Harper has won the 2010 Golden Spikes Award, which honors the nation's top amateur baseball player. The announcement was made by USA Baseball during a presentation at All-Star FanFest today in Anaheim, California. The catcher/outfielder beat out semifinalists Chris Duffy, Yasmani Grandal, Drew Pomeranz and Chris Sale to win the honor and to match Nationals starting pitcher Stephen Strasburg, who took home the award in 2009. Harper slammed 31 homers and 98 RBI and a .443 batting average in leading the College of Southern Nevada to an appearance in the JUCO World Series, and was picked number one by the Washington Nationals in this June's First-Year Player Draft. Harper is only the second JUCO player earn the Golden Spikes, joining Alex Fernandez from Miami Dade CC who took home the honor in 1990. Fernandez, Michael Tucker (1992), Alex Rodriguez (1993) and Harper are the only non-Division I players selected as GSA finalists in the last 20 years. Besides Strasburg, past winners include Terry Francona (1980), Will Clark (1985), Robin Ventura (1988), Jason Varitek (1994), J.D. Drew (1997), Mark Prior (2001), Jered Weaver (2004), Tim Lincecum (2006), David Price (2007) and Buster Posey (2008).