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June 1973. Richard Nixon is president. Secretariat is about to become the first horse to win the Triple Crown in a quarter century. Paul McCartney and Wings' "My Love" tops the Billboard charts. Gas costs 39 cents a gallon (give or take).
On June 5, Major League Baseball's draft took place. With the first pick, the Texas Rangers selected lefthanded pitcher David Clyde. The sad story of Clyde, who was rushed to the big leagues at age 18, just weeks after graduating from high school, is well documented and deserves coverage of its own, but what about the rest of the class?
Draft in a box
Players selected: 747
Signed players who earned at least one win share: 57
Total win shares earned by signed players: 3,880
Unsigned players who earned at least one win share: 27
Total win shares earned by unsigned players: 1,112
First drafted and signed player with at least one win share: David Clyde, P, Rangers, first round (first overall), 11 win shares
Last drafted and signed player with at least one win share: Eric Rasmussen, P, Cardinals, 32nd (676th), 43
"Peak season" for signed players: 1979, when 37 players accounted for 412 win shares
Most win shares in one season: Robin Yount, SS, Brewers, 1982, 39
Best by round (career win shares)
Two future Hall of Famers in the first round? Another in the third? Heck, Jack Clark in the 13th and Dwayne Murphy in the 15th aren't too shabby...
Round
Player
Pos
Team
Overall Pick
Win Shares
Comments
1
Robin Yount
SS
Brewers
3
423
NY-Penn All-Star, '73; HOF, '99; "Did not do anything with the bat but his bat mechanics are fairly sound. Should be a line drive type hitter with +4 power." (from high school scouting report filed April 24, 1973—Scouting Reports, p. 143)
HOF, '01; "Among the outfielders of history, I find it difficult to get a sense of where he belongs. There are two players, maybe three, who have to be rated ahead of him in right field. I speak of Ruth and Aaron, and maybe Frank Robinson. Anybody else, and you can make an argument either way." (Baseball Abstract 1985, p. 261)
Appalachian League All-Star, '73; Florida State League All-Star, '74; Southern League All-Star, '76; HOF, '03; "His best year was every year. He never won an MVP Award—but he was an MVP candidate every year." (New Bill James Historical Abstract, p. 434)
"...my idea of an ideal No. 2 hitter. He gets on base a lot to set up the inning, he takes a lot of pitches, which allows the running game to take place naturally, and despite his speed he very rarely grounds into a double play." (Baseball Abstract 1983, p. 170)
10-12
n/a
13
Jack Clark
P
Giants
294
316
California League All-Star, '74 (at 3B); Texas League All-Star, '75 (at 3B); "Perhaps the best hitter in baseball in the early eighties, other than Pedro Guerrero, although, as was true with Pedro, something was always standing between Clark and an MVP season." (New Bill James Historical Abstract, p. 805)
14
n/a
15
Dwayne Murphy
OF
A's
359
173
"Reminds me some of Jimmy Wynn; he’s bigger and has a better arm, hasn’t been as consistent with that bat, but the same basic abilities." (Baseball Abstract 1984, p. 218)
Coulda, shoulda, woulda... Hindsight is 20/20, of course, so take this with huge buckets of salt. It's interesting to ponder the paths not taken, though, and here's how the first round might have played out with a priori knowledge of future events. The below includes unsigned picks.
Mitchell Page, OF, A's, 3rd (72nd)—Great rookie season in '77, decent follow-up in '78, then fell off cliff
Bobby Clark, SS, Astros, 14th (332nd)—Posted 29/0 K/BB ratio over 93 plate appearances for Angels in '82
Danny Boone, P, Angels, 15th (343rd)—Didn't sign; first of five times he was drafted (three times by Angels, who finally signed him in June '76)
Ronald Reagan, 3B, Reds, 20th (477th)—Out of Southeastern Oklahoma State University; no clue if he's related to the former president, but it's somewhat amusing that a guy with that name would be drafted by a team called the Reds
Tim Ireland, 2B, Expos, 25th (563rd)—Only big-league hit came on May 11, 1982, while playing for Kansas City; in the sixth inning he singled off the Brewers' Jamie Easterly; Ireland later became a minor-league manager
Dick Jauron, SS, Cardinals, 25th (567th)—Drafted by NFL's Detroit Lions in fourth round; played safety for the Lions and Cincinnati Bengals from 1973 to 1980, currently head coach of the Buffalo Bills
Rudy Jaramillo, OF, Rangers, 29th (631st)—Hit .365 for Sarasota (GCL) in first pro season but never reached the big leagues; hitting coach for Texas Rangers since 1994
If you've made it this far, I thank you for your indulgence and hope that you enjoyed this look back at what turned out to be a fruitful draft. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got an Adam 12 marathon to watch.
References and Resources
Lots of help on this one. In no particular order: Baseball-Reference.com, Win Shares and several Baseball Abstracts including the New Historical Abstract (Bill James), Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (Johnson & Wolff), Scouting Reports (Stan Hart), Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits (Joel Whitburn).
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