In the third installment of our draft history series we take a look at the 1967 Amateur Baseball June Draft, the third held in the history of the league. The first 19 picks of the first round were high school players. The lone college player, Don Denbow from Southern Methodist, was taken with the 20th and final pick of the first round by the Los Angeles Dodgers. He never played in the Majors. Seven of the 20 picks in the first round were natives of California.
The number one overall pick was Ron Blomberg, who was selected by the New York Yankees. The number two overall pick was Terry Hughes, who was selected by the Chicago Cubs. Blomberg has the distinction of becoming the first-ever Designated Hitter in history.
Blomberg was drafted out of Druid Hills High School and hails from Atlanta, Georgia. Hughes was drafted out of Dorman High School and hails from Spartanburg, South Carolina. Since we are simply comparing the careers of the number one and number two overall picks in each draft in history, we can safely say that the Yankees got the most out of their pick in 1967 compared to the Cubs by choosing Blomberg.
With the number one overall pick in the 1967 draft, the New York Yankees selected Ron Blomberg, a first baseman who went on to play in the majors from 1969 to 1978 for the Yankees and the Chicago White Sox. Blomberg appeared in the majors in the outfield, at first base and at designated hitter.
Blomberg played in just 461 games during his Major League career, belting 52 homeruns and recording 224 RBIs. The biggest distinction of his career is that he became the first-ever player to appear in a Major League game at the designated hitter positions. He finished his career with a batting average of .293 and in 2004 was inducted into the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.
Moving onto the second overall pick in the 1967 amateur draft, Terry Hughes did not pan out like the Cubs had hoped. Hughes played in just 54 Major League games after making his debut in 1970. The kicker here is that Hughes played just two games in the Majors for the team that drafted him. He spent the final two years of his career with the St. Louis Cardinals and the Boston Red Sox. After debuting in 1970, Hughes did not return to the Majors until 1973, playing in 11 games. In 1974 with Boston, Hughes played in 41 games. He finished with a career batting average of .209, one homerun and seven RBIs.
An interesting side note is that Hughes was eventually traded for the player who was selected after him in the first round of the 1967 draft, RHP Mike Garman. Hughes was sent by the Cardinals to the Red Sox for Garman. Garman appeared in 303 career games, finishing with a 22-27 record and an ERA of 3.63 for five different teams over a span of nine seasons.
The first round of the 1967 draft was not a total bust when it comes to talent. If the Yankees were looking for power, which they always are, they could have taken John Mayberry at number one. He had a much better career than Blomberg, belting 255 homeruns with Houston, Kansas City, Toronto and eventually the Yankees.
Other notable first round picks included:
- Ted Simmons: drafted number 10 overall by the St. Louis Cardinals
- Steve Brye: drafted number 17 overall by the Minnesota Twins
- Dave Rader: drafted number 18 overall by the San Francisco Giants
- Bobby Grich: drafted number 19 overall by the Baltimore Orioles
The next installment in our amateur draft series will feature the 1968 draft. The 1968 draft saw Tim Foli (SS) go number one overall to the New York Mets and Pete Broberg (RHP) go number two overall to the Oakland Athletics. Broberg did not sign, leading him to be drafted again in 1971, and number three overall pick, Martin Cott (C), of the Houston Astros, did not play in the Major Leagues. So, we will have to move to pick number four, Thurman Munson (C), of the New York Yankees to compare the top draft picks in 1968.
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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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[…] drafted out of college in the first round of this draft compared to just one from college in the 1967 draft. For the second straight year, the state of California dominated the first round, with six of its […]