1996 College Baseball All-America Team

1996 All-Americans included two-time World Series champion Pat Burrell (left) and Unanimous 1996 & 1997 All-American Mark Kotsay (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 three different All-America selectors for the 1996 college baseball season: the American Baseball Coaches Association (since 1947), Baseball America (since 1981), and Collegiate Baseball (since 1991).^[2]

Key

ABCA	American Baseball Coaches Association[2]
BA	Baseball America[2]
CB	Collegiate Baseball[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	CB	Notes
Pitcher	Kris Benson	Clemson				ABCA, Baseball America & Collegiate Baseball POY,[2] 204 strikeouts in a single season (1996) (T-11th in Division I),[4] 1st overall pick in 1996 MLB Draft[5]
Pitcher	Seth Greisinger	Virginia
Pitcher	Braden Looper	Wichita State
Pitcher	Evan Thomas (2)	FIU				220 strikeouts in a single season (1996) (4th in Division I)[4]
Pitcher	Eddie Yarnall	LSU			—
Pitcher	R.A. Dickey (2)	Tennessee	—	—
Pitcher	Robbie Morrison	Miami	—	—
Catcher	Robert Fick	Cal State Northridge	—
Catcher	A.J. Hinch	Stanford		—	—
First baseman	Eddy Furniss ♦	LSU				Made BA team as designated hitter,[2] 80 career home runs (4th in Division I),[4] 689 total bases (3rd in Division I),[4] 308 career RBI (6th in Division I)[4]
First baseman	Travis Lee	San Diego State			—
Second baseman	Josh Kliner	Kansas			—
Second baseman	Travis Young	New Mexico	—	—
Third baseman	Pat Burrell	Miami				Made ABCA team as DH,[2] BA Freshman of the Year,[2] 1996 CWS Most Outstanding Player,.[6] 886 career slugging percentage (3rd in Division I),.[4] 442 career batting average (8th in Division I),[4] 1st overall pick in 1998 MLB Draft,[5] 2008 World Series Champion,[7] 2010 World Series Champion[7]
Third baseman	Clint Bryant (2)	Texas Tech		—	—
Shortstop	Josh Klimek	Illinois
Outfielder	J.D. Drew	Florida State				Only Division I player with at least 30 HR and 30 SB in a single season (1997),[4] 110 runs in a single season (1997) (T-4th in Division I),[4] 31 HR in a single season (T-16th in Division I),[4] 2008 MLB All-Star,[8] 2007 World Series Champion[8]
Outfielder	Mark Kotsay (2)	Cal State Fullerton
Outfielder	Chad Green	Kentucky			—
Outfielder	Jeff Guiel	Oklahoma State		—	—
Designated hitter	Jason Grabowski	Connecticut	—	—
Utility player	Travis Wyckoff	Wichita State	—	—

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 8 April 2012.
3. "College Baseball Hall of Fame Inductees". College Baseball Hall of Fame. Retrieved 12 April 2012.
4. "Division I Record Book" (PDF). NCAA. Retrieved 14 April 2012.
5. "Pat Burrell". Baseball Reference. Retrieved 9 April 2012.
6. "Most Outstanding Player Award in College World Series". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved 9 April 2012.
7. "Pat Burrell". Baseball Reference. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
8. "J.D. Drew". Baseball Reference. Retrieved 9 April 2012.