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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. [Read more…]
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With the first pick in the 1975 First-Year Player Draft, the California Angels chose catcher Danny Goodwin out of Southern University.
After picking number one overall in 1974, the San Diego Padres picked left-handed pitcher Mike Lentz second overall in 1975 out of Juanita High School in Kirkland, Washington. [Read more…]
San Diego Padres Bill Almon. Credit: Topps.
Once again, the San Diego Padres pick number one in the amateur baseball draft, this time in 1974.
Since their inception, the Padres picked number one overall three times including this draft.
They chose second overall once up to this draft in history.
In the same breath, the Texas Rangers have had quite a few picks in the top five since their inception.
Texas has chosen number one overall once as the Washington Senators and once as the Rangers.
This pick at number two is the first in franchise history.
Almon was drafted as an infielder out of Brown University. He was one of six players drafted out of the collegiate levels in the 1974 draft. He spent parts of 15 seasons in the majors with the Padres, the Montreal Expos, the New York Mets, the Chicago White Sox, the Oakland Athletics, the Pittsburgh Pirates, and the Philadelphia Phillies. He had two stints with the Mets.
Almon debuted in the Majors with San Diego in September of 1974, playing in 16 games, posting a .316 batting average. He was not able to become a full-time player until 1977, in which he played 155 games for San Diego.
Almon posted a career .254 average with 36 homeruns, 296 RBIs, and 846 hits in 1,236 games. He played the most games of his career with San Diego, totaling 429 appearances with an average of .255, four homeruns, and 81 RBIs. He also recorded 337 of his career hits while with the Padres.
The best year of his career came with the Padres in 1977. He played in a career-high 155 games with a .261 batting average, two homeruns, 43 RBIs, and a career-high 160 hits. Almon posted a career-high seven homeruns twice, once in Oakland and once in Pittsburgh. Those years were 1984 and 1986. He had a career-high 63 RBIs with Oakland in 1983.
Almon never played on a team that made it to the playoffs during his career, but all things considered, Almon had a decent career after being drafted number one overall.
Texas Rangers Tommy Boggs.
The second overall pick in the draft, Tommy Boggs, was taken by the Texas Rangers. Boggs was drafted by the Rangers as a pitcher out of Lanier High School in Austin, Texas.
Boggs was a bit of a draft bust, appearing in only 114 career games with the Rangers and the Atlanta Braves. He spent two stints with the Rangers during his career.
He did not debut in the majors until 1976, in which he posted a 1-7 record with an ERA of 3.49. He strictly was a starter in his rookie season. For his career, Boggs posted a record of 20-44 with an ERA of 4.22. He started 94 games in his career. He started just six games in 1977 for the Rangers and was traded in the off-season to the Atlanta Braves.
He returned to the Rangers in 1985, in which he pitched in just four games, all of them out of the bullpen. For his career with Texas, Boggs posted a record of 1-10 with an ERA of 4.48 in 23 games, 19 of them starts.
His best season came with the Braves in 1980. He posted a record of 12-9 with an ERA of 3.42 in 32 games, 26 of them starts, both career-highs. He threw four complete games, with three of them shutouts. Boggs also never appeared in the playoffs during his career.
Some notable players in the 1974 draft taken after the first two picks include the following:
The next installment of our draft history series will detail the 1975 draft. The number one overall pick was Danny Goodwin, chosen by the California Angels. Mike Lentz was chosen second overall by the San Diego Padres.
Texas Rangers David Clyde. Credit: Louis Requena/MLB Photos/Getty Images.
With the first pick in the 1973 MLB draft, the Texas Rangers selected left-handed pitcher David Clyde. The second pick was made by the Philadelphia Phillies, who chose catcher John Stearns.
Neither player had particularly stellar careers, but Stearns edged out Clyde in the stats category even though they played different positions.
Eight of the players chosen in the first round never appeared in a Major League game during their careers. Of the 24 picks in the first round, only seven players were drafted out of the collegiate levels.
Only one player chosen from the college ranks never played in the majors. That person was third baseman Charles Bates, who was chosen 19th overall by the Detroit Tigers.
Seven first round picks were taken from schools in the state of California. As you will see later in this article, the first round was littered with future stars after the first and second picks were made.
This was the first time that the Rangers franchise owned the number one overall pick in the history of the draft since moving to Texas after being known as the Washington Senators. Clyde made an impact at the big league level, but not enough to label this pick a success. He played parts of five seasons for Texas and the Cleveland Indians, amassing a record of 18-33 with a 4.63 ERA in 84 games, 73 of them starts.
Clyde posted a career-high in wins with 8 in in 1978 with the Indians. That same year he lost a career-high 11 games. He started a career-high 25 games and posted an ERA of 4.28. Clyde debuted in the majors the same year he was drafted. He did not appear in a Minor League game until 1975.
New York Mets John Stearns. Credit: Jeff Zelevansky.
Stearns, the second pick in the draft, was taken by the Phillies. He debuted in September of 1974 with the Phillies.
He played in just me game before he was traded to the New York Mets on December 3, 1974 with Mac Scarce and Del Unser for Don Hahn, Tug McGraw, and Dave Schneck. We all know what McGraw did in his career, but Stearns also had some good seasons with the Mets.
In his entire career, Stearns hit .260 with 46 home runs, 312 RBIs, and 696 hits in 810 games. All but one of his career hits came with the Mets. He picked up his first big league hit as a member of the Phillies in 1974 in his debut.
In his career, Stearns played third base, first base, catcher, and left field. He tallied 91 stolen bases and was caught 51 times.
He made four All-Star teams; 1977, 1979, 1980, and 1982. In 1977 and 1978 he hit 12 and 15 home runs respectively. He also recorded a career-high 73 RBIs in 1978.
Stearns was originally drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the 13th round of the 1969 draft, but he failed to sign. He never appeared in the playoffs during his career, but McGraw went on to win a World Series with Philadelphia as the team’s closer in 1980.
Clyde and Stearns can be considered relative busts compared to some of the other players chosen later in the first round of the 1973 draft. Those notable players include the following:
The next installment of our draft history series features the first and second picks in the 1974 draft. The Padres selected shortstop Bill Almon and the Texas Rangers selected right-handed pitcher Tommy Boggs.
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:
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.