Category: May

June 6 – A shot in the dark?

DSCN2130*1983 • NEW YORK CITY – Tim Belcher was the #1 pick of the amateur draft on this date in 1983, but he turned down the Minnesota Twins’ signing bonus. He wanted to wait until the supplemental draft in January of 1984. He was selected first in that one too, this time by the New York Yankees.

How good a pick was Tim Belcher? He had a decent career, but he was no superstar. On the other hand, there are some number 1 picks that totally bombed.

Next time you have a bad day, say to yourself, ‘Well, at least I’m not responsible for drafting Shawn Abner.” Who? Exactly. Abner was the first pick in the 1984 draft.

Or, ‘At least I didn’t pass on Albert Pujols 12 times. Pujols was picked in the 13th round in 1999. Or, John Smoltz 21 times. Smoltz was chosen in the 22nd round in 1985. Or, Mark Buehrle 37 times. Buehrle was chosen in the 38th round in 1998!

A lot of scouts, general managers and player personnel directors go out on a limb around this time of year trying to figure out who the next Alex Rodriguez will be. Sometimes they’re very close, sometimes their way off.

Here are the 1st picks for every draft since 1980:

1980 Darrly Strawberry-Mets – Some great years. Lots of baggage
1981 Mike Moore-Mariners – 14 year career, 161-176, no superstar
1982 Shawon Dunston-Cubs – Solid, no superstar
1983 Tim Belcher-Twins – Some good years, some mediocre
1984 Shawn Abner-Mets – Total bust
1985 J. Surhoff Brewers – Solid, no superstar
1986 Jeff King Pittsburgh – Solid, no superstar
1987 Ken Griffey Jr. Seattle – Superstar when healthy
1988 Andy Benes-San Diego – Won 155 games in 12 seasons.
1989 Ben McDonald-Baltimore – Won 78 games in 6 seasons
1990 Chipper Jones-Atlanta – Superstar, Hall of Famer
1991 Brien Taylor-New York (AL) – Total bust
1992 Phil Nevin-Houston – Some good years, no superstar
1993 Alex Rodriguez-Seattle – Superstar, took steroids
1994 Paul Wilson-New York (NL) – 40-58 in 7-year career
1995 Darin Erstad-California – Solid, no superstar
1996 Kris Benson-Pittsburgh – 70-75 in 9-year MLB career
1997 Matt Anderson-Detroit – Starter, 15-7 in 7-year career
1998 Pat Burrell-Philadelphia – 292Hr, 976RBI over 12-years
1999 Josh Hamilton-Tampa Bay – Good numbers, a lot of baggage
2000 Adrian Gonzalez-Florida – Possible HOF. Still active
2001 Joe Mauer-Minnesota – Solid career. Still active
2002 Bryan Bullington-Pittsburgh – 1-9 over 5-years
2003 Delmon Young-Tampa Bay – .283 BA over 10 years
2004 Matthew Bush-San Diego – Drafted as SS. Today Texas’ closer
2005 Justin Upton-Arizona – >200 HRs, >700 RBI. Still active
2006 Luke Hochevar-Kansas City – Middle reliever in 9-year career
2007 David Price-Tampa Bay – #1 starter. Still active
2008 Tim Beckham-Tampa Bay – Up and down. Still young
2009 Stephen Strasburg-Washington, #1 starter/injury prone
2010 Bryce Harper-Washington, budding superstar
2011      Garrit Cole-Pittsburgh-Brilliant & mediocre. Still young
2012      Carlos Correa-Houston-Potential Hall of Fame SS
2013      Mark Appel-Houston-25 years old. Hasn’t played in majors
2014      Brady Aiken-Houston-20 years old. Hasn’t played in majors
2015      Dansby Swanson, Arizona-Braves starting SS
2016      Mickey Moniak, Philadelphia-20 years old. Hasn’t played in majors

CONTRIBUTING SOURCES:
First overall picks
Baseball Draft Research Application
http://www.baseball-almanac.com/

 

May 31-Legends meet in Milwaukee

1975 | MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN – Baseball generations were bridged in dramatic fashion at Milwaukee County Stadium on this date in 1975. The Brewers were hosting the Kansas City Royals. Hank Aaron, in a Brewer uniform, was in his 22 major league baseball season, as was Harmon Killebrew, in a Royals uniform.

Also in Royals blue was pitcher Lindy McDaniel, in his 21st season. Playing shortstop for the Brewers was a tall slender, curly haired 19-year old named Robin Yount. Aaron, Killebrew and McDaniel all started playing major league baseball before Yount was born.

Aaron and Killebrew were at the ends of Hall of Fame careers. Yount was at the beginning of one. He would end up in Cooperstown twenty-four years later.

Yount would be American League MVP as a shortstop in 1982, the year the Brewers went to the World Series. He would be MVP a second time in 1989, as a centerfielder. One of only three players in baseball history to win the MVP at two positions. The others were Stan Musial and Hank Greenberg.

The ever modest Yount was probably in awe being on the same field with those legends back in 1975, but he went on to prove he belonged.

CONTRIBUTING SOURCE:
Koppett’s Concise History of Major League Baseball, by Leonard Koppett, 2004

 

MAY 27 – Size matters

*1960 | NEW YORK, NEW YORK –  It’s been said, ‘catching a knuckle-ball is like trying to catch a butterfly with a fly swatter.’  It’s one of the biggest challenges a catcher faces. The Baltimore Orioles tried to do something about it on this date in 1960.

One of their starters was premier knuckler Hoyt Wilhelm. Oriole catchers had an especially difficult time catching him. The Orioles set a record in 1959 for the most passed ball with 49, 38 while Wilhelm was on the mound.

On this date in 1960, Baltimore manager Paul Richards. had an idea. He came up with an oversized catcher’s mitt for catcher Clint Courtney.

It worked. Courtney had no passed balls on this date – there had been 11 in Wilhelm’s previous 28 innings – and Wilhelm pitched his first complete game of the season beating the New York Yankees 3-2.

The oversized mitt led to a rule change a few years later. Beginning with the 1965 season catcher’s mitts were limited to 38 inches in circumference and 15 ½ inches from top to bottom.

CONTRIBUTING SOURCES:
The Official Rules of Baseball Illustrated, David Nemec,  2006
The knuckle-ball

MAY 26 – The greatest pitching performance

*1959 | MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN – What a shame! Harvey Haddix of the Pittsburgh Pirates took a perfect game against the Milwaukee Braves into the 13th inning on this date in 1959 – no runs, no hits, no walks, no hit-by-pitch, no nothin’.

Up until the 13th, Haddix retired every single batter, but before the inning was over he would lose the game, the perfect game and the no-hitter, 1-0.

Talk about records that may never be broken, Haddix pitched a perfect game for 12 innings! No one had ever done more than 9.

The Pirates had 12 hits that night, including one by Haddix himself, but they couldn’t muster a single run for the guy on the mound.

Haddix lost the perfect game when his 3rd baseman Don Hoak committed an error. He lost the no-hitter when Braves’ first baseman Joe Adcock doubled. He lost the game when Felix Mantilla scored from second on Adcock’s double, and the run wasn’t even earned. The game went 13 innings, but only took 2 hours and 54 minutes. Of course, there wasn’t much scoring and no pitching changes.

Did you know that the Pirates had 12 hits that night, including one by Haddix himself, but they couldn’t muster a single run for the guy on the mound?

There was another interesting thing that happened that night, Braves slugger Eddie Matthews laid down a sacrifice bunt in the 13th inning to get Mantilla to second. When’s the last time you saw a slugger (he hit over 500 home runs) lay down a sacrifice bunt – successfully at that!

CONTRIBUTING SOURCES:
May 26, 1959 Box score
The Milwaukee Journal, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, May 27, 1959

MAY 25 – 9 home runs in a week

cropped-nigiht-game-5.jpg*2002 | PHOENIX, ARIZONA – The Los Angles Dodgers‘ Shawn Green hit his 8th and 9th home run in a week on this date in 2002 – at the time, a new National League record.

Green hit 4 home runs two days earlier (May 23rd).

Two days before that he hit a pair of home runs.

He hit one on May 24th.

The two he hit against the Arizona Diamondbacks on this date added up to nine for the week.

Shawn Green was born in Des Plaines, Illinois on November 10, 1972. His family later moved to California where he attended Tustin High School in Tustin, California. He received a scholarship to Stanford University in 1991, but was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays the same year.

He broke into the major leagues with Toronto in 1993 at age 20. At the end of the 2007 season Green had 328 career home runs.

CONTRIBUTING SOURCES:
May 25, 2002 box score/stats
The Associated Press, Phoenix, AZ, May 26, 2002
Shawn Green background