Baseball’s amateur draft, born in 1965, is one of the toughest drafts to predict each year. Players drafted in any round could turn out to be a franchise player or one of the biggest busts in the history of the game; there is just no way of knowing prior to calling that player’s name on draft day. This is our second installment in a series of articles analyzing the top two picks in each year’s draft. Today we are taking a look at the 1966 draft, which featured the New York Mets picking number one overall and the Kansas City Athletics picking second overall.
The Mets went with catcher Steve Chilcott from Lancaster, California and the Athletics went with outfielder Reggie Jackson from Arizona State. With the first pick in the 1966 draft, the Mets had the opportunity to take a promising outfielder from the collegiate ranks but instead chose a catcher out of high school. Jackson would wind up playing in New York but not for the Mets.
Chilcott was drafted out of Antelope Valley High School in Lancaster, California. Chilcott signed for a $75,000 bonus. Chilcott is one of two players taken number one overall in the history of the draft to retire from the sport before ever playing a game at the Major League level. The other was Brien Taylor, taken number one overall by the New York Yankees in the 1991 draft. The 2004 top pick, Matt Bush, was taken by the San Diego Padres as a shortstop and has yet to make his Major League debut. He currently is on the restricted list for the Tampa Bay Rays for problems off the field and could become the third player in that dubious group.
Chilcott lasted only seven seasons in the Minor Leagues before calling it a career due to an injury. He appeared in 331 games and finished with the following unofficial statistics: batting average of .248, 39 homeruns, 65 RBIs and a .429 slugging percentage.
As you can see, there is not much to analyze when it comes to Chilcott’s career, so now we move onto the illustrious career of Reggie Jackson-Mr. October.
Jackson was taken number two overall by the Kansas City Athletics in the 1966 draft behind Chilcott. He played for four different franchises, the Athletics twice, over a span of 21 seasons. Jackson made his Major League debut on June 9, 1967 for the Athletics, roughly one year from the time he was drafted. His final appearance in the big leagues was on October 4, 1987 for the Oakland Athletics. Jackson finished his career with a .262 batting average, 563 homeruns, 2,584 hits and 1,702 RBIs.
Jackson was named to the All-Star team 14 times in his career, won five World Series titles between the Athletics and the Yankees, was the American League MVP in 1973, was the World Series MVP in 1973 and 1977, was a Silver Slugger Award winner twice and won the Babe Ruth Award in 1977. His number 9 was retired by the Athletics and his number 44 was retired by the Yankees.
While at Arizona State University, Jackson replaced Rick Monday in centerfield during his sophomore season, breaking the team record for most homeruns hit in a single season.
Jackson hit his 500th career homerun on September 17, 1984, which is the 17th anniversary of him hitting his first homerun. The blast came off of Kansas City Royals pitcher Bud Black, the current manager of the San Diego Padres. Jackson won six American League pennants in his career, losing only one World Series, which was to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1981 by a count of four games to two as a member of the Yankees.
Other notable players taken in the 1966 draft after Chilcott include the following:
- Pick 3: Wayne Twitchell, Houston Astros
- Pick 4: Ken Brett, Boston Red Sox
- Pick 38: Johnny Oates, White Sox-did not sign
- Pick 159: Charlie Hough, Dodgers
- Pick 361: Ron Cey, Mets-did not sign
- Pick 595: Bill Stoneman, Cubs
The next installment of this draft series will analyze the number one and number two picks in the 1967 draft. Taken first overall was Ron Blomberg by the New York Yankees. Taken second overall was Terry Hughes by the Chicago Cubs.
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Jim is the creator and editor of At the Dish, Cinn City Sports, Life with Tony and Enzo and owner of JAVFreelancing. He coached baseball for five years, three at his former high school (Holy Cross in Delran, NJ) and two at prominent Division III program Rowan University in Glassboro, NJ as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator. He has worked for the Courier-Post in Cherry Hill, NJ; Metro Networks in Bala Cynwyd, PA; and was the play-by-play announcer for the Camden Riversharks of the Independent Atlantic League of Professional Baseball for two seasons (2007-2008) on Rowan Radio 89.7 WGLS-FM, the student-run radio station at Rowan University. Jim earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications and minor in Journalism from Rowan University in 2008. While in school he was the Assistant Sports Director at WGLS for two years and the Sports Director for one year. He also covered the football, baseball, softball and both basketball teams for the school newspaper 'The Whit.' Jim lives in New Jersey with his wife Nicole, sons Tony and Enzo and dog Phoebe. He can be reached at jimvassallo@mlbdrafts.com.
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