Feb. 17, 2016
For Immediate Release
Contact: Bo Carter
214-418-6132
.pdf version
Longtime Howser Trophy Committee chair honored
FEASTER WINS WILBUR SNYPP AWARD

GREENVILLE, N.C. (NCBWA)David Feaster, who has been chair of the Dick Howser Trophy committee for more than 25 years, has been named as the 41st winner of the Wilbur Snypp Award, presented annually by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association for outstanding contributions to college baseball.

Feaster

Feaster, who has been indefatigable in his support and enthusiasm for college baseball since his days as an undergraduate at the University of Florida, helped originate the Dick Howser Trophy, along with the late Bill Bunker and the St. Petersburg (Florida) Area Chamber of Commerce in 1987, shortly after the passing of the popular Howser, who starred at shortstop at Florida State and managed the Kansas City Royals to the 1985 World Series title.

In 1998, he was instrumental in keeping the Dick Howser Trophy as one of the most representative selection processes in the country with the addition of the NCBWA as the voting body for the Heisman Trophy of college baseball.

With the St. Petersburg Area Chamber and the Howser Trophy committee, he has been able to secure sponsorships with USA Today, Xanthus Corp. and the Eastons Foundation to assist with logistics and presentations of the national award annually at Omaha, Nebraska, in conjunction with the NCAA Division I Baseball World Series.

Coaches, administrators and news media consider him to be of the biggest national boosters of college baseball, while he also works countless hours as president of Cornerstone Bank based in St. Petersburg.

He has worked with the Governor's Dinner to salute baseball and Major League Baseball spring training in Florida and was on the original St. Petersburg/Clearwater Sports Commission, which helped bring the Big East/Big Ten Conference Baseball Challenge to that area in 2009.

Feaster, who grew up in the St. Petersburg area and was born at Vanderbilt Medical Center near famed Charles Hawkins Field – the home of Vanderbilt Commodores baseball in Nashville, Tennessee, has devoted countless hours and travel to support the Howser Trophy and college baseball. Besides the announcement of the winner at Omaha, he has gone to the winner's campus and presented the trophy before thousands of fans at fall college football games and other gatherings. His travels in this capacity have taken him to Long Beach, California, to Clemson, South Carolina, to Waco, Texas, to Stillwater, Oklahoma, and points beyond.

"I am honored and appreciative to receive the 2015 Wilbur Snypp Award," Feaster said. "It has been a pleasure to work for many years with members of the NCBWA, and I have had the chance to meet and great some of the greatest student-athletes and players of great character in college baseball. Working with the Dick Howser Trophy committee has been a labor of love for many years."

"David Feaster is the epitome of what college baseball means to millions of people," said NCBWA executive director Bo Carter. "He has been a great partner with the NCBWA and has spent hundreds of his personal time and finances to support the great college game. He truly is a class act and has been a wonderful ambassador for baseball on all levels."

Feaster joins a sterling group of past Wilbur Snypp Award winners, national journalists and college administrators as the 2015 recipient. The plaque memorializes longtime Ohio State sports information director and NCBWA founder, the late Wilbur (Bill) Snypp. Snypp was a noted contributor to the writers' organization, which was initiated in 1962, as well as an officer in the group. The NCBWA/Wilbur Snypp Award yearly honors a professional for contributions to the sport of college baseball. Voting is conducted by a panel of previous winners, who include past NCAA College World Series directors, College Sports Information Directors of America Hall of Fame members, decorated media members, and others.

ALL-TIME WILBUR SNYPP AWARD WINNERS
1975 Wilbur Snypp, Ohio State
1976 Bill Esposito, St. John's
1977 Phil Langan, Cornell
1978 John Geis, Southern Conference
1979 Hank Schomber, Georgia Southern
1980 Bob Culp, Western Michigan
1981 Lou Pavlovich Sr., Collegiate Baseball
1982 Tom Price, South Carolina
1983 Bob Bradley, Clemson
1984 Robert Williams, Omaha World-Herald
1985 Jerry Miles, NCAA
1986 Larry Keefe, Seton Hall
1987 Tom Rowen, San Jose Mercury-News
1988 Fred Gerardi, KESY Radio, Omaha
1989 Jim Wright, NCAA
1990 Steve Weller, SIU-Edwardsville
1991 Bill Little, Texas
1992 Kirk Bohls, Austin American-Statesman
1993 Bo Carter, Southwest Conference
1994 Lou Pavlovich Jr., Collegiate Baseball
1995 Steve Pivovar, Omaha World-Herald
1996 Gary Johnson, NCAA
1997 Dave Wohlhueter, Cornell
1998 Allen Simpson, Baseball America
1999 Alan Cannon, Texas A&M
2000 Jim Callis, Baseball America
2001 Dick Case, USA Baseball
2002 Russ Anderson, Conference USA
2003 John Manuel, Baseball America
2004 Dana Heiss Grodin, USA Today Sports Weekly
2005 Dennis Poppe, NCAA
2006 Mike Montoro, Southern Miss
2007 Barry Allen, Alabama
2008 Mike Patrick, ESPN
2009 Al Chase, Honolulu Star-Bulletin
2010 Lou Spry, NCAA
2011 Jeremy Mills, ESPN/D1Baseball.com
2012 Eric Olson, Omaha World Herald
2013 J.D. Hamilton, NCAA
2014 John Sullivan, Rice
2015 David Feaster, Dick Howser Trophy
2016 Ralph Zobell, BYU
2017 Aaron Fitt, D1Baseball.com