2005 #1 Draft Pick – Justin Upton
In 2005 the Diamondbacks made history in a couple of ways. They had their first overall selection in the Major League draft. With that pick they took Justin Upton straight out of high school. In 2002 the Devil Rays took B.J. Upton with the second pick making the Uptons the highest brothers ever drafted. When I started out to make these #1 pick cards I only really thought about Harold and Upton. I did not realize all of the players that I had seen that were #1 picks. (more…)
2004 #1 Draft Pick – Matt Bush
Matt Bush is the type of player that you do not want to end up with when you select #1. He toiled in the minors as a shortstop before getting to the point where you could see he was going nowhere. He then switched to pitcher where he could utilize his arm. He is currently trying to get to the majors from the mound. (more…)
2003 #1 Draft Pick – Delmon Young
Delmon started his career off badly in the minors getting a bad reputation for altercations with two umpires. He has since proven himself to be a solid ballplayer who currently plays alongside the 2001 #1 pick Joe Mauer. He is the younger brother of former MLB player Dmitri Young. (more…)
2001 #1 Draft Pick – Joe Mauer
We all know about Joe Mauer. He is one of the best players in baseball right now. In 2001 the choice for the #1 draft pick really boiled down to two players. One of them was Mauer, and the other was Mark Prior. By 2003 it looked like the Cubs had gotten the better end of the deal with Prior leading his team to within one out of the 2003 World Series. We all know how that story turned out, and how Mauer has since changed things. He is one of the best hitters in baseball. A pure hitter with a beautiful swing. Mauer is the reigning MVP, and Prior is out of baseball. The Twins definitely made the right pick that day. (more…)
2000 #1 Draft Pick – Adrian Gonzalez
This is the type of player that I would expect to see listed as a #1 overall pick. Gonzalez has been a force in the majors over the last few years. He is one of those superstars that fans come out to see, even if he does play late at night in California. He will be a free agent this off season so it will be interesting to see where he ends up playing. (more…)
1998 #1 Draft Pick – Pat Burrell
Once again I was surprised to see that Burrell was a #1 draft pick. I knew that he was a good prospect, but I guess I never pay attention to the draft enough to have known that he was the #1 pick. I was just starting to get back into baseball at the time so I was not nearly as into it as I am now. I was getting my feet wet again going to a couple games a year. Luckily for this set one of them happened to be against Philly. As I said yesterday in my Darin Erstad post, Pat was selected in the 43rd round of the 1995 draft, but elected to go to the University of Miami (FL). (more…)
1995 #1 Draft Pick – Darin Erstad
In 1995 we have a very grindy pick. Darin Erstad was one that surprised me. This draft actually featured two number one picks. Pat Burrell was taken in the 43rd round, but did not sign. He would become the 1st pick in the 1998 draft. Darin would go on to play in the Majors and be successful, but I would guess that he did not play up to the #1 pick expectations. His year in Chicago was one to forget. (more…)
1993 #1 Draft Pick – Alex Rodriguez
We jump from 1987 to 1993, but stay with the same team. Alex Rodriguez was taken #1 overall by the Mariners in the 1993 Major League Draft. We all know what has happened since then. ARod has gone on to change baseball with both his bat, and his agent. (more…)
1987 #1 Draft Pick – Ken Griffey Jr.
Here is the second card in the countdown to the 2010 MLB draft. What team wouldn’t love to get a player like Griffey this year? I guess that I never really paid attention to the fact that he was a number one overall pick. I do remember two years later though when his cards hit the market. His 1989 Fleer and Upper Deck cards were the ones to have. I can’t remember it now, but there was a trick to pulling a Griffey in the cello packs. For that reason I have many 1989 Fleer Griffey’s in my collection. (more…)
1977 #1 Draft Pick – Harold Baines
Since the 2010 Major League Baseball Draft is coming up soon I thought that I would do a countdown to the draft. What better way to do it than to use #1 draft cards similar to the ones used in the 1985 set? I only thought that I had seen a couple of guys who were picked overall #1 in person. When I pulled up a list I realized that I had seen a lot of the guys picked number one. Today we start the countdown with the earliest pick. In 1977 the White Sox picked Harold Baines #1, and picked a franchise player in the process. (more…)
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