Credit: tradingcarddb.com
With the first pick in the 1976 Draft, the Houston Astros selected left-handed pitcher Floyd Bannister out of Arizona State University.
The Detroit Tigers had the second pick in the draft and they took another left-handed pitcher, Pat Underwood, from Kokomo High School in Indiana.
Bannister and Underwood were two of six left-handed pitchers chosen in the first round, which had 24 picks overall. Exactly half of those picks were pitchers.
The 1976 Draft was the first time the Houston Astros picked number one overall, but they wouldn’t pick in the one spot again until 1992 (Phil Nevin).
Bannister pitched in 431 games, 363 of them starts, in the Majors across 15 seasons with six different teams. He made his Major League debut for the Astros on April 19, 1977. He pitched 1.1 against the Giants, allowing two earned runs on two hits in a loss.
Bannister was named to the All-Star team in 1982 as a member of the Seattle Mariners. He went 12-13 in 35 starts with an ERA of 3.43. He recorded five complete games and threw three shutouts. His final game came on August 10, 1992 for the Texas Rangers.
Bannister’s career ERA stands at 4.06 and he has a record of 134-143. He pitched more than 2,380 innings in his career with 62 complete games and 16 shutouts. His 247 innings pitched in 1982 were a career high.
Bannister is the father of Major Leaguer Brian Bannister, also a pitcher.
Underwood made his Major League debut on May 31, 1979 for the Tigers, the only team he played with in the Majors over parts of four seasons. In his debut, Underwood picked up a win against Toronto by pitching 8.1 innings, allowing no earned runs on three hits and four strikeouts.
Underwood appeared in only 113 games, with 34 of them starts. His career record is 13-18 with an ERA of 4.43. He threw three complete games in his career, no shutouts and recorded eight saves. Underwood also played for the Cincinnati Reds, the Texas Rangers and the Baltimore Orioles in their organizations as a Minor Leaguer.
He is the brother of Tom Underwood, who was drafted by the Phillies in the second round of the 1972 draft and played parts of 11 seasons in the Majors.
Credit: tradingcarddb.com
Now for some first round stats from the 1976 Draft:
- Of the 24 players taken, three were from college.
- Two players came from the same college as Bannister and Ken Landreaux (Angels-6) were drafted out of Arizona State.
- 9 players drafted never made it to the Majors.
Here are some notable players drafted in the first round in 1976 outside of Bannister and Underwood:
- Landreaux at six by the Angels. He played more than 1,200 games in the Majors.
- Leon Durham at 15 by the Cardinals. Durham played in more than 1,000 games in the Majors.
- Pat Tabler at 16 by the Yankees. Tabler played in more than 1,200 games in the Majors.
- Mike Scioscia at 19 by the Dodgers. Scioscia played in more than 1,400 games in the Majors and has made a name for himself after his playing days as a World Series winning manager of the Angels.
- Bruce Hurst at 22 by the Red Sox. Hurst pitched in almost 400 games (380) during his Major League career.
The next installment of our draft series takes a look at the 1977 Draft, which saw Harold Baines go number one to the Chicago White Sox and Bill Gullickson go number two to the Montreal Expos. This was the first draft that saw 26 picks occur in the first round with the addition of the Toronto Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners to the league due to expansion.
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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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