To call someone ‘one of the best do it’ is an accolade in itself.
Now, Charlie Condon will be forever enshrined as one of the best Diamond Dawgs to don the red and black after being named the 46th winner of the Golden Spikes Award, college baseball’s version of the Heisman Trophy, on Saturday.
Condon was the fifth finalist in Georgia program history and the first to win the award.
“It’s a tribute to the organization as a whole and everybody that’s involved with UGA” said Condon, who could become just the third player in NCAA history to lead the nation in batting average and home runs in the same season. “I share this with everybody that was part of this historic season. It’s a start of something new for Georgia Baseball. I’m real excited to bring this back to Athens for the first time.”
Sure, Georgia has had special players to call themselves Dawgs and Lady Dawgs across multiple sports: Trippi, Sinkwich, Herschel along with those such as tennis’ John Isner and women’s basketball’s Teresa Edwards and men’s basketball’s Anthony Edwards.
Most of those helped lead Georgia to the top of the national scene, and Condon, who helped the Diamond Dawgs to their best season since 2008 in a season where he was also named SEC Player of the Year. did just that. He currently ranks number one in the NCAA in multiple categories including batting (.433), home runs (a BBCOR-era record 37), slugging percentage (1.009), total bases (233) and OPS (1.565).
“It’s hard to put into words, what a great person Charlie is, he’s got great parents, and he’s a tremendously hard worker,” said Georgia head baseball coach Wes Johnson. “What he did for our program this year, he elevated our program and elevated the game that he plays. He moved around positions in the fall and that ultimately helped him as a baseball player. And now to see the result, it’s impressive. For him to win the Golden Spikes Award, he will have that for the rest of his life, and it’s something for Georgia that we can talk about and recruit with that no other team can this year. It’s like winning the national title. There’s only one national champion, there’s only one Golden Spikes winner, and I’m proud it’s Charlie Condon.”
As much as Condon impacted Georgia’s baseball fortunes this year, he bigger imprint may be yet to come. Sure, it’s fair to not expect him to not be back in the Classic City next year. But based on the transfer portal buzz within days of the end of the season, this past season has elevated Georgia baseball, and Condon was a large reason for that.
Go Dawgs!