At the start of 2026, few outside of Tempe knew the name Landon Hairston.
After a historic season, the hometown kid from Queen Creek has become a national name. Raised in a family with deep baseball roots, the Sun Devil outfielder's meteoric rise from local standout to Golden Spikes finalist transformed him into one of college baseball's biggest stars.
"This game means the world to our family," said Landon's father and former MLB player, Scott Hairston, on MLB Network. "Landon has done a great job staying within himself and handling the pressure really well. I'm really proud to see that and happy that he's having success at this level."
Hairston capped off 2026 as a Golden Spikes finalist alongside UCLA's Roch Cholowsky, a potential No. 1 overall draft pick, and Georgia's Daniel Jackson, who ultimately won the award for the top amateur baseball player in the nation, becoming the 48th recipient of the Golden Spikes Award.
The incoming junior for the 2027 season fell just short of being the Sun Devils' fourth Golden Spikes winner, joining Bob Horner (the inaugural winner in 1978), Oddibe McDowell (1984) and Mike Kelly (1991). He was the program's 10th finalist for the award.
Despite not earning the Golden Spikes Award, Hairston picked up a slew of postseason honors as he earned Big 12 Player of the Year, Baseball America's National Player of the Year, a first-team All-American by Baseball America, the National Collegiate Baseball Writers of America, Perfect Game and the American Baseball Coaches Association. This makes him a consensus All-American for the 2026 season.
A staple atop the prolific ASU batting lineup, Hairston hit .400 with a nation-leading .860 slugging percentage and broke the ASU single-season home run record with 28.
READ MORE: BREAKING: Landon Hairston breaks ASU's single-season home run record
Hairston lived up to his billing of a "hometown hero" a couple of weeks ago when he announced that he would forego entering the transfer portal and return to ASU for what will likely be his final season in 2027 before entering the MLB draft.
"Arizona State is home for me," Hairston said on MLB Network. "My home (Queen Creek) is 30 minutes away from Tempe. So my parents get to come see every game, my brother gets to come see every game that he can and my extended family, whenever they want to come, they can see me. It's truly a blessing having my circle around me."
Edited by Senna James, Alan Deutschendorf and Natalia Jarrett.
Reach the reporter at eapache3@asu.edu and follow @EricPachecoasu on X.
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Eric Pacheco is a junior studying sports journalism. This is his second semester with The State Press. He previously served as Editor-in-Chief of the Riverside City College student newspaper Viewpoints.Â
