Chuck Biscuits - Cobb Times Herald
Over the next few weeks the Times Herald will be taking a look back at past draft classes to see how they turned out. The first installment takes a look at the season one draft, back in the wild days of the first few seasons when scouting budgets were slim, prospect budgets even slimmer, and teams had no control over who they picked. The season one draft was marked by the highest number of unsigned picks the league has ever seen, and one can only imagine the wasted talent. Still, some of the picks did sign, and turn into future stars. Unfortunately for some teams however, their signed picks turned into busts of the highest order.
Season One DraftTop Pick: Elvis Christman - Tacoma Boogity Boogity Boogity - Christman has had an uneven career, with his tremendous talent being overshadowed by his injury prone body, leaving him to have solid career averages, but instead of an awards list, there is a DL history with 9 separate occurences. Good when he pitches, Christman is neither a stud or a dud, somewhere solid inbetween.
Biggest Steal: C.J. Bones, #58 - Anaheim Sharks - Bones is a 4 time all star and 3 time Fireman of the Year. In this draft, that was a tremendous accomplishment.
Studs: Alan Peterson, Ernest McConnell, Shane Parrish, Kenny Blair, and Milt Serafini have all had their share of awards at the ML level.
Duds: Maximo Atchley has to be considered the biggest bust of the draft, picked at #14 by the now Honolulu (then Sacramento) franchise, Atchley had a 20-30 ML record with a high ERA and WHIP before becoming an unsigned FA in season 13.
Unsigned Picks: The list is huge, with picks 2-4 unsigned, and 13 of the first 32 picks unsigned, including All Stars Hades Booker and Benji Eckenstahler, and some serious talent that never made it to the field. Booker and Eckenstahler were among the unsigned players that made it into the FA pool the next season, setting up The Fargo Fug Nut Great 3am raid that changed the course of their franchise for the next 10 seasons.
Prime Studs of the Draft: It's a close call, but the Times Herald thinks that Kenny Blair just edges out Hades Booker and Ernest McConnell as the best position player to come out of the draft. As for pitchers Shane Parrish has been the most consistent and effective pitcher, although if Christman had stayed healthy it might be a different story.
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