1988 College Baseball All-America Team

1988 All-Americans included National College Baseball Hall of Fame inductee Robin Ventura (left) and two-time MLB All-Star Andy Benes (right).

An All-American team is an honorary sports team composed of the best amateur players of a specific season for each team 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 together 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]

The NCAA recognizes two different All-America selectors for the 1988 college baseball season: the American Baseball Coaches Association (since 1947) and Baseball America (since 1981).^[2]

Key

ABCA	American Baseball Coaches Association[2]
BA	Baseball America[2]
	Awarded the Golden Spikes Award, Dick Howser Trophy or Rotary Smith Award as national Player of the Year[2]
Player (X)	Denotes the number of times the player had been named an All-American at that point[2]
♦	Inducted into the National College Baseball Hall of Fame[3]

All-Americans

Position	Name	School	ABCA	BA	Notes
Pitcher	Andy Benes	Evansville			BA Pitcher of the Year[2] 2x MLB All-Star (1993, 1996),[4] First overall pick in 1988 Major League Baseball Draft,[4] Gold Medal at 1988 Summer Olympics[5]
Pitcher	Gregg Olson (2)	Auburn
Pitcher	John Salles	Fresno State		—
Pitcher	Ben McDonald ♦	LSU	—		44 consecutive scoreless innings pitched (3rd in Division 1),[6] 202 strikeouts in a single season (T-14th in Division I),[6] 1st overall pick in MLB Draft,[7] Gold Medal at 1988 Summer Olympics[5]
Pitcher	Kirk Dressendorfer ♦	Texas	—
Catcher	Bert Hefferman	Clemson		—
Catcher	Jim Campanis, Jr.	Clemson	—
First baseman	Lance Shebelut	Fresno State			32 home runs in a single season (1988) (T-13th in Division I)[6]
Second baseman	Mark Standiford	Wichita State		—	313 career runs (4th in Division I),[6] 94 career doubles (2nd in Division I),[6] 652 career total bases (6th in Division I),[6] 301 career RBI (8th in Division I), 258 career BB (3rd in Division I)[6]
Second baseman	Kevin Higgins	Arizona State	—
Third baseman	Robin Ventura (2)	Oklahoma State			NCAA record 58-game hit streak,[8] 302 career RBI (7th in Division I),[6] 107 runs in a single season (1986) (T-9th in Division I),.[6] 792 career slugging percentage (T-14th in Division I),.[6] 428 career batting average (T-17th in Division I),[6] 2x MLB All-Star,[9] 6x Gold Glove Award winner,[9] Gold Medal at 1988 Summer Olympics[5]
Shortstop	Dave Silvestri (2)	Missouri		—	Gold Medal at 1988 Summer Olympics[5]
Shortstop	Monty Fariss	Oklahoma State	—		92 BB in a single season (1987) (6th in Division I),[6]
Outfielder	Mike Fiore	Miami			Gold Medal at 1988 Summer Olympics[5]
Outfielder	Tom Goodwin	Fresno State			164 career SB (9th in Division I),[6] Gold Medal at 1988 Summer Olympics[5]
Outfielder	Billy Masse	Wake Forest	—		Gold Medal at 1988 Summer Olympics[5]
Designated hitter	Mike Willes (2)	BYU		—
Utility player	John Olerud ♦	Washington State			Made BA team as DH and P;[2] BA POY,.[2] 434 career batting average (12th in Division I),.[6] 824 career slugging percentage (9th in Division I), 2x MLB All-Star,[10] 3x Gold Glove Award winner[10]

See also

• Baseball awards#U.S. college baseball

References

1. The Michigan alumnus. University of Michigan Library. 2010. p. 495. ASIN B0037HO8MY.
2. "NCAA Baseball Award Winners" (PDF). NCAA. Retrieved 9 April 2012.
3. "College Baseball Hall of Fame Inductees". College Baseball Hall of Fame. Retrieved 12 April 2012.
4. "Andy Benes". Baseball Reference. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
5. "1988 United States Olympic Team Roster". USA Baseball. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
6. "Division I Record Book" (PDF). NCAA. Retrieved 14 April 2012.
7. "Ben McDonald". Baseball Reference. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
8. AP (June 2, 2010). "Ventura, Wittels talk about streak". ESPN. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
9. "Robin Ventura". Baseball Reference. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
10. "John Olerud". Baseball Reference. Retrieved 10 April 2012.