1972 Number One Pick Dave Roberts. Credit: Topps.
Since their inception in 1969, the San Diego Padres held the number one or number two pick in the first round of the Major League Baseball First Year Player Draft in 1970, 1971 and now 1972.
In 1970, the Padres held the number one overall pick. In 1971, the Padres held the number two overall pick. In 1972, the draft featured in this article, the Padres held the number one overall pick.
With the pick, the Padres selected University of Oregon catcher Dave Roberts. Roberts was drafted out of college as a catcher, but came up to the Majors as an infielder.
He eventually caught some games in the Majors, but he also appeared in the outfield and as a Designated Hitter. Roberts spent parts of 10 seasons in the big leagues.
The second pick in the draft was held by the Cleveland Indians, who selected short stop Rick Manning. Manning debuted in the Majors in 1975 and had a decent career, which totaled 13 seasons.
There were 24 picks made in the first round of the June draft in 1972, and 10 of those picks never played in a single Major League game. Those 10 players were catcher Barry Goodman (fifth pick by the Montreal Expos), right handed pitcher Larry Payne (seventh pick by the Cincinnati Reds), outfielder Steve Englishbey (ninth pick by the Houston Astros), outfielder Mike Ondina (twelfth pick by the Chicago White Sox), catcher Richard Bengston (thirteenth pick by the New York Mets), left handed pitcher Brian Vernoy (fifteenth pick by the Chicago Cubs), short stop Joel Bishop (sixteenth pick by the Boston Red Sox), short stop John Harbin (seventeenth pick by the Los Angeles Dodgers), short stop Dwayne Peltier (twenty-third pick by the Pittsburgh Pirates), and catcher Ken Thomas (twenty-fourth pick by the Baltimore Orioles).
Of the 24 first-round picks, 19 came from the high school level, with the final seven picks of the first round coming from the prep level. Four of the first five picks in the draft were from the prep ranks.
Roberts was drafted in June and made his Major League debut on June 7 of the same season, playing in 100 games with the Padres. He did not play in a Minor League game until the 1973 season. In his rookie season, Roberts hit .244 with five homeruns, 33 RBIs, and 17 doubles. For his career, Roberts hit .239 with 49 homeruns, 208 RBIs, on just 483 hits.
The most games Roberts appeared in during a season was 127 in 1973, which was the best season of his career average-wise. He hit .286 with 21 homeruns and 64 RBIs. He only reached 100 games played in four of his seasons, three with the Padres. He also played for the Texas Rangers, the Houston Astros, and the Philadelphia Phillies.
1972 Number two pick Rick Manning.
Manning spent 13 seasons in the Majors, nine with the Indians and the final four with the Milwaukee Brewers. He was traded by Cleveland to Milwaukee in June of the 1983 season.
For his career, Manning hit .257 with 56 homeruns, 458 RBIs, and 1,349 hits in 1,555 games played. He debuted in the Majors in 1975 and never looked back. He won a Gold Glove in 1976, just his second in the league. The most games he appeared in during one season came in 1983 when he made 158 appearances between Cleveland and Milwaukee.
During his time in Cleveland, the team that drafted him, Manning played in 1,063 games, compiling a .263 average, with 36 of his homeruns and 336 of his RBIs.
Other notable players selected in the first round of the 1972 draft include the following:
- Larry Christenson: drafted third overall by the Philadelphia Phillies.
- Dick Ruthven: drafted eighth overall by the Minnesota Twins.
- Scott McGregor: drafted fourteenth overall by the New York Yankees.
- Jamie Quirk: drafted eighteenth overall by the Kansas City Royals.
- Jerry Manuel: drafted twentieth overall by the Detroit Tigers.
- Chet Lemon: drafted twenty-second overall by the Oakland Athletics.
The 1973 draft will be the ninth installment of our draft history series. The first overall pick was left handed pitcher David Clyde, who went to the Texas Rangers. The second overall pick went to the Philadelphia Phillies, who chose catcher John Stearns.
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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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