The Golden Spikes Award is awarded annually to the best amateur baseball player. It is awarded by USA Baseball and sponsored by the Major League Baseball Players Association. Though the award can be presented to any amateur player, it has always been given to a college baseball player.

Colin 'Collie' Moran was born on the 6 June 1980 was an inter county Dublin Gaelic footballer. He was captain of the Leinster Championship-winning Dublin teams in 2006 and 2007.

Colin made his senior inter county debut in October 1998. He plays his club football for Ballyboden St. Enda's. Moran broke his arm in a 2004 challenge match against Limerick in between two championship games. Moran was on the winning side for Leinster against Ulster in the 2005 Railway Cup and repeated the feat, as captain, against Connacht in 2006 in Canton, Boston. He also represented Ireland in the International Rules Series against Australia.

OPEL Ireland recruited Dublin star Colin Moran as a brand ambassador for the company. An integral part of Moran's role to promote the car giant's support of GAA players in Ireland. He began his role as Opel ambassador with his participation in the GPA-endorsed Gaelic Performance Summer Camp in Gormanston in the summer of 2006.

He has appeared on TV3’s Ireland AM offering sports commentary and reviews, and is also a regular contributor to RTÉ Radio 1’s Drivetime Sport show, hosted by Des Cahill.

Carlos Antonio Rodon (born December 10, 1992) is a college baseball pitcher for the NC State Wolfpack. As a freshman in 2012, Rodon was a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award.

Rodon was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 16th round of the 2011 Major League Baseball Draft out of Holly Springs High School in Holly Springs, North Carolina. However, he decided not to sign and instead attended North Carolina State University.

As a freshman in 2012, Rodon went 9-0 with a 1.57 ERA with 135 strikeouts in 117 innings pitched. He was the NCBWA Freshman Pitcher of the Year and an All-American. He was also a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award.

Raoul Martial "Rod" Dedeaux (February 17, 1914 – January 5, 2006) was an American college baseball coach who compiled what is arguably the greatest record of any coach in the sport's amateur history.

Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, Dedeaux attended the University of Southern California, and after playing professional baseball briefly – he appeared in two games as a shortstop for the 1935 Brooklyn Dodgers – he turned to playing and coaching in the semi-pro and amateur ranks.

Meanwhile, in 1936 he and his father invested $500 to start a trucking firm, Dart (Dedeaux Automotive Repair and Transit) Enterprises, which he successfully built into a thriving regional business. When his college coach, Sam Barry, entered the United States Navy during World War II, he recommended Dedeaux to take over the team in 1942 for the war's duration. Upon Barry's return in 1946, they served as co-coaches, with Dedeaux running the team each year until Barry finished the basketball season. The arrangement was so successful that USC won the College World Series in 1948.