Charlie Condon Wins 2024 Golden Spikes Award, Among Other Accolades
After posting a .433 batting average with 37 home runs, 78 runs batted in, 20 doubles, and 100 hits in 231 at-bats in his redshirt sophomore campaign, Georgia baseball’s Charlie Condon was awarded the 2024 Golden Spikes Award.
The Golden Spikes Award is given to “the player who best exhibits exceptional on-field ability and exemplary sportsmanship,” (per USA Baseball).
The award was presented to Condon on Saturday night in Omaha, Nebraska — just minutes before the start of game one of the Men’s College World Series Championship Series. Condon won the award over two others finalists: Oregon State’s Travis Bazzana and Arkansas’ Hagen Smith.
“It means everything. I mean, you know, to get to be a part of this organization and USA Baseball, just the weekend they’ve put together for us here, and getting to spend time with Hagen (Smith) and Travis (Bazzana) has been so much fun. There’s been so much good, competitive college baseball around the season this year, and to be named this award, it’s amazing,” stated Condon after being asked by ESPN what winning the Golden Spikes Award means to him.
The Georgia superstar, who started his career as a preferred walk-on with no major offers coming out of high school, went on to credit the University of Georgia’s baseball program and his hard work for getting him to where he is today.
“It’s something that I worked really hard for, obviously. That’s far from credit to just myself. It’s about the program and the people who trusted my process, you know. It’s one thing to be able to buy into your own process, but to have a group of people that were willing to go in on it with you, and just the people that lifted me up throughout that year, and then moving into a starting role last year, and then into what went down this year. It’s an individual award, but it’s far from an individual effort. Just to be able to have that support staff, and have this award represents more than just me, just the process that everybody helped me with.”
Outside of winning the Golden Spikes Award, the projected No. 1 overall MLB Draft pick also received many other accolades: Baseball America and Perfect Game USA College Baseball Player of the Year awards, the Dick Howser Trophy (National Player of the Year award), the Bobby Bragan National Collegiate Slugger Award (based on performance at the plate, academics, and personal integrity), and many more honors that were accumulated throughout the 2024 college baseball season.
