University of North Carolina Athletics
Bard, Miller Named to Clemens Award Watch List
February 11, 2005 | Baseball
Feb. 11, 2005
HOUSTON - North Carolina sophomore preseason All-Americas Daniel Bard and Andrew Miller were each named to the 2005 Roger Clemens Award Watch List, which was released Friday. The winner of the second annual honor, designating the top pitcher in college baseball, will be announced on July 14 in Houston, Texas.
The list is comprised of all Division I pitchers who were named as preseason All-Americas by either Baseball America or Collegiate Baseball, in addition to those pitchers who have been honored so far this season as National Pitchers of the Week by the National College Baseball Writers Association. Weekly winners of the writer's award will be added to the list until the start of the first round of voting at the end of April. Additional nominees will be added to the ballot based on notable performances and rankings in the NCAA statistical rankings.
Bard and Miller, who both had outstanding seasons as freshmen a year ago, have received several preseason accolades. Bard, who was 8-4 with a 3.88 earned run average in a team-high 95 innings in 2004, has been named a preseason All-America by Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball and the NCBWA. Bard was the Atlantic Coast Conference Freshman of the Year, earned first-team all-conference honors a year ago and played with Team USA this summer.
Miller, who was 6-3, led the Tar Heel starters with a 2.93 ERA and fanned a team-best 88 batters last season, received preseason All-America honors from Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball. He also claimed second-team All-ACC honors in 2004 and was named the No. 1 prospect in the Cape Cod League by Baseball America.
The Roger Clemens Award was named after future Hall of Famer Roger Clemens, who began his march to stardom while leading the University of Texas to the College World Series title in 1983. As a professional, Clemens has won over 328 games, fanned over 4,000 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 second Clemens Award will be presented to the nation's top college pitcher at the conclusion of a gala dinner in Houston on July 14. All Division I head baseball coaches will take part in the voting for the honor, in addition to a selected panel of national media and all past winners of the Rotary Smith Award, which was retired after the 2003 dinner by the committee that is sponsoring the Clemens Award.
The event is administered by the Greater Houston Baseball Association, who donated $80,000 to the designated beneficiaries (The Roger Clemens Foundation, The Karl Young Summer College Baseball League and Baseball USA) from the net proceeds from the first annual dinner. The GHBA is a non-profit 501.3 (C) organization dedicated to the growth of amateur baseball in the Houston area.
Carolina was one of six schools to have two pitchers on the 42-man watch list. Joining the Tar Heels with a pair of honorees were Arizona State, Long Beach State, Miami, Texas A&M and Tulane.
The Tar Heels open the 2005 season at home against Appalachian State next Wednesday, February 16.
