DALLAS (NCBWA) – Kyle Peterson, one of the most recognizable personalities among college baseball media through his work with ESPN, has been named as the 44th recipient of the prestigious Wilbur Snypp Award, presented annually by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association for outstanding contributions to college baseball.
"Kyle Peterson epitomizes all the great things about college baseball," said NCBWA executive director Bo Carter. "He has been a scholar student-athlete at Stanford and Creighton Prep, standout collegiate pitcher on the field, Major League player and a wonderful proponent of college baseball and the game on every level. His accomplishments make him very deserving of this national honor from NCBWA."
Peterson, the leading figure in the re-launch of popular collegiate website D1Baseball.com in 2015, has been active in college diamond circles throughout the country since signing with Stanford as a top-flight pitching prospect in 1995 out of Omaha (Neb.) Creighton Prep.
He later was a first round draft selection of the Milwaukee Brewers and was Pacific-10 Conference Pitcher of the Year in 1997. The right-hander made his Major League debut in 1999 with the Brewers. Arm challenges forced the Elkhorn, Nebraska, native and former Omaha high school standout out of baseball in 2003.
That might have been a fateful career move for the personable Peterson as he joined the ESPN broadcast team in '03 and became a face personifying college baseball telecasts. His award-winning work has included the NCAA World Series, hundreds of regular-season MLB and college games, the MLB Playoffs (youngest analyst for these in ESPN history), and one of his favorite assignments the annual Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
Also along that path he has served on the Nebraska Make a Wish Foundation, the CWS of Omaha Organizing Committee and the Omaha Sports Commission. He has played an active role in the College Baseball Hall of Fame, as well as the NCAA World Series Hall of Fame.
"College baseball means the world to me," he said, "and I am honored to receive the Wilbur Snypp Award. The game of college baseball has given me so much over the course of my life. It's exciting to see its continued growth, and I look forward to witnessing that growth moving forward."
One of the most astute business people in the Midwest along with his baseball roles, he joined Colliers International in 2005 in the advisory services group and became President/CEO of the Nebraska office in 2013. He been involved in $500 million-plus of investment sales and leasing transactions with special emphasis on sales and leasing of commercial office and investment properties.
Peterson reflected on his decades of baseball experience and coverage this week after being informed that he was the 2018 Snypp Award recipient.
The 2006 Colliers International Rookie of the Year also received the 2009 Colliers Broker of the Year and was named to the 2009 Midlands Business Journal's 40 under 40 group.
Peterson is the latest to join the ranks of Wilbur Snypp Award winners, national journalists and college administrators as the 2018 winner. The honor 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 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.