An All-American team is an honorary sports team composed of the best amateur players of a specific season for each team position—who in turn are given the honorific "All-America" and typically referred to as "All-American athletes", or simply "All-Americans". Although the honorees generally do not compete together as a unit, the term is used in U.S. team sports to refer to players who are selected by members of the national media. Walter Camp selected the first All-America team in the early days of American football in 1889.[1]
The NCAA recognizes three different All-America selectors for the 1996 college baseball season: the American Baseball Coaches Association (since 1947), Baseball America (since 1981), and Collegiate Baseball (since 1991).[2]
| ABCA | American Baseball Coaches Association | |
| BA | Baseball America | |
| CB | Collegiate Baseball | |
| Awarded the Golden Spikes Award, Dick Howser Trophy or Rotary Smith Award as national Player of the Year | ||
| Player (X) | Denotes the number of times the player had been named an All-American at that point | |
| ♦ | Inducted into the National College Baseball Hall of Fame[3] |
| width=10% | Position | width=15% | Name | width=15% | School | width=5% | ABCA | width=5% | BA | width=5% | CB | width=30% class="unsortable" | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pitcher | Kris Benson | Clemson | ABCA, Baseball America & Collegiate Baseball POY, 204 strikeouts in a single season (1996) (T-11th in Division I),[4] 1st overall pick in 1996 MLB Draft[5] | ||||||||||
| Pitcher | Seth Greisinger | Virginia | |||||||||||
| Pitcher | Braden Looper | Wichita State | |||||||||||
| Pitcher | Evan Thomas (2) | FIU | 220 strikeouts in a single season (1996) (4th in Division I) | ||||||||||
| Pitcher | Eddie Yarnall | LSU | |||||||||||
| Pitcher | R. A. Dickey (2) | Tennessee | |||||||||||
| Pitcher | Robbie Morrison | Miami | |||||||||||
| Catcher | Robert Fick | Cal State Northridge | |||||||||||
| Catcher | A. J. Hinch | Stanford | |||||||||||
| First baseman | Eddy Furniss ♦ | LSU | Made BA team as designated hitter, 80 career home runs (4th in Division I), 689 total bases (3rd in Division I), 308 career RBI (6th in Division I) | ||||||||||
| First baseman | Travis Lee | San Diego State | |||||||||||
| Second baseman | Josh Kliner | Kansas | |||||||||||
| Second baseman | Travis Young | New Mexico | |||||||||||
| Third baseman | Pat Burrell | Miami | Made ABCA team as DH, BA Freshman of the Year, 1996 CWS Most Outstanding Player,.[6] 886 career slugging percentage (3rd in Division I),. 442 career batting average (8th in Division I), 1st overall pick in 1998 MLB Draft, 2008 World Series Champion,[7] 2010 World Series Champion | ||||||||||
| Third baseman | Clint Bryant (2) | Texas Tech | |||||||||||
| Shortstop | Josh Klimek | Illinois | |||||||||||
| Outfielder | J. D. Drew | Florida State | Only Division I player with at least 30 HR and 30 SB in a single season (1997), 110 runs in a single season (1997) (T-4th in Division I), 31 HR in a single season (T-16th in Division I), 2008 MLB All-Star,[8] 2007 World Series Champion | ||||||||||
| Outfielder | Mark Kotsay (2) | Cal State Fullerton | |||||||||||
| Outfielder | Chad Green | Kentucky | |||||||||||
| Outfielder | Jeff Guiel | Oklahoma State | |||||||||||
| Designated hitter | Jason Grabowski | Connecticut | |||||||||||
| Utility player | Travis Wyckoff | Wichita State |