Harvey Headlines Smith Award Finalists

Houston, Texas - A trio of record-breaking collegiate baseball standouts, Ken Harvey of Nebraska, Jason Jennings of Baylor and Mario Ramos of Rice, have been named finalists for the 1999 Rotary R.E. "Bob" Smith Award. Now in its 12th year, the Rotary Smith Award is awarded each summer to the nation's top college baseball player.

Harvey, a 6-2, 250-pound junior first-baseman from Los Angeles, CA (Beverly Hills HS), has led the NCAA in batting for the entire 1999 season. He finished the season with a .478 batting average, 23 home runs and 86 RBI, setting new school records in both batting and homers. A fifth-round draft choice of the Kansas City Royals, he has a .426 career batting average in 133 games. He helped lead the Huskers to a 42-18 record, the Big 12 post-season title and just the school's fourth-ever NCAA Regional appearance.

Jennings, 6-2, 243, is considered the nation's most versatile player, excelling both on the mound and as Baylor's DH. On the mound, he is 13-1 with a 2.27 ERA to rank ninth in the country in ERA and tied for fifth in wins. He has set a new Baylor season record with 170 strikeouts in 142.2 innings pitched. At the plate, the Mesquite, TX native is hitting .382 with 16 homers and 63 RBI. A first-round draft choice of the Colorado Rockies as a pitcher (16th pick overall), the junior is also an outstanding student who was selected to the GTE/CoSIDA Academic All-America First-Team.

Ramos, 6-0, 165, is the number-one pitcher for a Rice team which has been ranked number one in the nation for much of the season. He is 13-1 with a 2.15 ERA which places him in a tie for fifth nationally in wins and fifth all by himself in the latter category. He has set Rice single-season records in both innings pitched (142.1) and strikeouts (135). A 3rd-team Academic All-American, the Pflugerville, TX native has a 34-6 career record in three seasons for the Owls. The junior was selected in the sixth round of the MLB draft by the Oakland A's.

The Smith Award, a national project of the Rotary Club of Houston, raises money for Rotary national charities, Texas Children's Hospital and the Karl Young League. Six previous winners of the award are currently playing major league baseball - 1988 winner Andy Benes of Evansville (Arizona Diamondbacks), 1991 winner Bobby Jones of Fresno State (New York Mets), 1993 winner Darren Dreifort of Wichita State (Los Angeles Dodgers), 1994 winner Jason Varitek of Georgia Tech (Boston Red Sox), 1995 winner Mark Kotsay of Cal.-State Fullerton (Florida Marlins) and 1996 winner Kris Benson of Clemson (Pittsburgh).

The winner will be named at a dinner at the Doubletree-Post Oak Hotel in Houston the evening of Monday, June 28. For ticket information, please call the Rotary Club of Houston at (713) 973-9936.