Rotary Smith Award Winners on Baseball Almanac

Rotary Smith Award

The Rotary Smith Award honors College Baseball's Player of the Year, as voted on by college baseball publicists, former winners and the coaches of those former winners.

The special award is given annually by the Rotary Club of Houston, pays tribute to R.E. "Bob" Smith - the force behind the Houston Colt .45s / Astros and still finds time to help several charities.

"Bob (Smith) was never very excitable at a game. I made up for it. I was always jumping out of my seat, screaming at the umpires. Once, in the last innings of a close game, I reached down for his hand and it was all wet. I said, 'What's this?' He smiled and said, 'That's baseball.'" - Vivian Smith (wife)

Rotary Smith Award College Baseball's Player of the Year
Year	Name [Click For Stats]	Position	College
1988	Andy Benes	RHP	Evansville University
1989	Ben McDonald	RHP	Louisiana State University
1990	Mike Kelly	OF	Arizona State University
1991	Bobby Jones	RHP	California State University, Fresno
1992	Mike Alex Smith	IF	Indiana University
1993	Darren Dreifort	RHP	Wichita State
1994	Jason Varitek	C	Georgia Tech
1995	Mark Kotsay	OF	Cal State Fullerton
1996	Kris Benson	RHP	Clemson University
1997	Tim Hudson	RHP/OF	Auburn University
1998	Brad Wilkerson	LHP/OF	University of Florida
1999	Jason Jennings	RHP/DH	Baylor University
2000	Kip Bouknight	RHP	University of South Carolina
2001	Mark Prior	RHP	University of Southern California
2002	Khalil Greene	SS	Clemson University
2003	Rickie Weeks	2B	Southern University
2004	Award Discontinued	--	--
Year	Name [Click For Stats]	Position	College
Rotary Smith Award Recipients

The winners of the Rotary Smith Award whose names do not link to year-by-year Major League statistics have not (yet) made it to "the show."

The official Rotary Smith Award website had some fascinating accounts of each award-winning recipient. Here is one of them:

"The first winner of the R. E. 'Bob' Smith Award, Andy Benes went on to become the first overall selection in the draft when the San Diego Padres tabbed him. After picking up the Smith hardware, he went on to lead the U.S. Olympic team in the Seoul Olympics and the followng year, he was pitching for the Padres. 2002 marked his 14th season in the majors and his final strikeout of the season gave him an even 2,000 in his career to go along with 155 wins.

Benes justified his status as the top college pitcher by winning 16 games (including 13 complete games) for the Purple Aces, while fanning 188 in just 146 innings. He remains the Aces season and career leader in strikeouts and ERA."

The Rotary Smith Award pays tribute to Houston, Texas' original baseball ambassador, R.E. 'Bob' Smith and his wife Vivian. It rewards the winner's character and leadership as well as his talent on the field of play. The Award also benefits the Rotary Charities, Texas Children's Hospital and the Karl Young League.

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