Though the 2020 College World Series was canceled in March because of the coronavirus pandemic, ESPN still wanted to celebrate the baseball postseason that would have been.
So, if you took the best player at every position in college baseball history, who would make the all-time team? We’re here to find out.
Starting Monday, June 15, you can vote for the top players. Voting will be available for each position for three days, and when it’s over, we’ll have a final lineup reveal.
First up is catcher, followed by shortstop, second base, first base, third base, relief pitcher, left field, right field, center field, two-way player, left-handed pitcher and right-handed pitcher.
Catcher
You can watch past games below on ESPNU and the ESPN App. All times are Eastern.
- 2008 NCAA baseball super regional, Game 3: Florida State vs. Wichita State, 6 p.m. (featuring Buster Posey)
- 2018 College World Series finals Game 3: Arkansas vs. Oregon State, 9 p.m. (featuring Adley Rutschman)
Players with an asterisk (*) are members of the College Baseball Hall of Fame.
A.J. Hinch (Stanford)
Hinch was a two-time Pac-10 South Player of the Year winner, helping lead Stanford to the College World Series in his junior season, when he was a consensus first team All-American. He was inducted into the Stanford Athletics Hall of Fame in 2014 and still ranks in the top 10 in Cardinal history in eight categories, including hits (305, fourth), runs (219, sixth) and RBIs (191, tied for seventh).
Buster Posey (Florida State)
Posey swept the national award circuit in 2008 after leading Division I in all three slash-line stats (.463/.566/.879) and RBIs (93), while leading Florida State to its first CWS appearance since 2000. One of those awards was the Johnny Bench Award for top collegiate catcher … which was renamed the Buster Posey Award in 2019.
Adley Rutschman (Oregon State)
Rutschman is the only player in Oregon State history to hit over .400 in multiple seasons. He set the school record with 102 hits and 83 RBIs in 2018, and followed that up by winning the Golden Spikes Award the next season. Rutschman was named Most Outstanding Player of the 2018 College World Series after recording a CWS-record 17 hits and driving in 13 runs, tied for second most in CWS history.
*B.J. Surhoff (North Carolina)
Surhoff was a two-time All-American and the 1985 ACC Male Athlete of the Year a year after playing for the U.S. Olympic baseball team in 1984. His .392 career average is second best in program history and among the 10 best in ACC history. Despite his time behind the plate, he still ranks fifth among Tar Heels with 84 career stolen bases.
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Kurt Suzuki (CSU Fullerton)
Suzuki was a consensus first team All-American after helping lead Cal State Fullerton to the 2004 national championship. He finished one home run shy of the Big West triple crown in 2004, leading the conference with a .413 average and 87 RBIs while hitting 16 homers on his way to claiming the Brooks Wallace and Johnny Bench Awards.
Jason Varitek (Georgia Tech)
Varitek was a three-time first team All-American at Georgia Tech and won the Golden Spikes Award in 1994 while leading the Yellow Jackets to the College World Series championship game. He was the ACC Player of the Year in 1993 after leading the conference with a .404 average and 22 home runs. He still holds the Georgia Tech record in seven offensive categories, including home runs (57) and RBIs (251), and is the only Yellow Jackets player to have his number retired.
Matt Wieters (Georgia Tech)
Wieters was a two-time first team All-American — one of only three Yellow Jackets to earn the honor multiple times — and a three-time All-ACC honoree, including conference rookie of the year in 2005. He ranks in the school’s top 20 as both a batter — four categories, including career batting average (.359, 14th) and RBIs (198, ninth) — and also on the mound (16 saves, seventh).
Mike Zunino (Florida)
Zunino was a two-time first-team All-American after leading the SEC in home runs in 2011 and 2012 and finishing with 47 career homers, fifth most in school history. He followed his SEC Player of the Year campaign in 2011 by winning the Golden Spikes Award and Johnny Bench Award in 2012. The Gators finished all three of his seasons at the College World Series — including a trip to the 2011 CWS Finals.
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