64/60 Special Report: "With The Number One Pick......

With the debut of last seasons number one selection Stephen Strasburg and the 2010 MLB draft occuring this week, we here in the 64/60 research department took it upon ourselves to take a look back at the history of the number one overall pick. We wanted to see what kind of careers these players had. How many later became All Stars? How many won league MVP's? How many had Hall of Fame worthy careers? How many went on to accomplish very little? These are among the handful of questions that we have found the answers for. So sit back, relax and let the 64/60 sum up the history of the MLB draft in another fact filled post.

Overall Numbers: There have been 45 players selected as the number one pick in 46 drafts. Catcher Danny Goodwin was selected as the number one overall pick out of High School in 1971 but did not sign. Goodwin went to Southern University and was selected with the top pick once again in 1975. Of the 45 players 1 was drafted from the Independent League(Luke Hochevar), 22 were College players and 22 were selected out of High School. 14 Pitchers were selected tops overall(11 college, 2 High School, 1 Independent). 10 SS (3 College,7 High School) 5 C (3 HS, 3 C), 9 OF (7HS,2C), 4 3B (4C) and 3 1B all from High School. 19 players have appeared in a All Star game. 5 players have won a MVP title and two have taken home Rookie of the Year honors. Thus far no number one pick has been enshrined in Cooperstown but Griffey Jr., Chipper Jones and Alex Rodriguez all appear to be locks. While players like Joe Mauer, Adrian Gonzalez and Justin Upton have a good start on their resumes. Only two players who are no longer active failed to reach the Majors. Of the 28 players who have finished their careers and made the majors 21 played 10 plus seasons in the bigs 7 had careers lasting less than 10 seasons. Four of the seven were pitchers.

Players Career Breakdown

1965-Rick Monday OF/ASU 19 year career, 2 All Stars. Noted more for saving a US Flag but Monday was primarily a starter throughout his career.

1966- Steve Chilcott C/HS. Never made it to the majors. Spent 7 ineffective seasons in the minors and never totaled more than 300 AB in a season.

1967 Ron Bloomberg 1B/HS. Played 8 years in the majors was a platoon player but did hit over .300 3 times in that role.

1968 Tim Foli SS/HS. Played 16 seasons and was a full time player throughout most of them. Typical good glove no hit SS that populated baseball throughout the 70's and 80's.

1969 Jeff Burroughs OF/HS. Another 16yr vet. Burroughs was a 2 time All Star and one a MVP award. Good power/ run producer with the Rangers/Braves from 73-78.

1970 Mike Ivie C/HS. Played 11 seasons and was converted to a First baseman. Nothing much to speak of other than a good 1979 season.

1971 Danny Goodwin C/HS. Did not sign and went to college.

1972 Dave Roberts 3B/Oregon. A 10 year vet who had only 3 seasons with over 300 AB. Converted to C to salvage his career. Other than 1973 his career was rather forgetable.

1973 David Clyde P/HS. The Stephen Strasburg before Stephen Strasburg. Quickly brought to the majors because ownership couldn't resist the hype. Had a short 5 year career and posted a 18-33 career mark with a 4.63 ERA and a 1.53WHIP.

1974 Bill Almon SS/Brown. 15 year career spent as a reserve. Almon had only 3 seasons with over 400 AB.

1975 Danny Goodwin C/Southern. Once again selected with the top overall pick Goodwin wasn't worth the wait. Used as a DH in the pro's Goodwin had a 7 year career he never reached over 200 AB in a season.

1976 Floyd Bannister P/ASU. A very serviceable starter throughout his career which spanned 15 seasons. He appeared in one All Star game and also lead the league in K's in 1982.

1977 Harold Baines 1B/HS. A very good player for 22 seasons. Baines was converted to a OF to begin his pro career. Baines was a lifetime .289 hitter with 384 career HR's. Baines appeared in 6 All Star games.

1978 Bob Horner 3B/ASU. Josh Gilbert's favorite player had a very brief 10 year career. However Horner wasn't out of the game because of poor play but injuries cut Horner's career short. Horner won Rookie of the Year honors and appeared in a All-Star game. Horner was a legit 30-40 HR threat and a 100 RBI threat.

1979 Al Chambers OF/HS. Short 3 year career a never reached more than 100 AB in a season.

1980 Daryl Strawberry OF/HS. The first true Superstar player who was selected 1 overall. Strawberry was one of the 5 best players of the 80's. He won Rookie of the Year honors and appeared in 8 All Star games. Injuries and recreational drug use shortened his prime. Only reached 200 AB twice after 1991.

1981 Mike Moore P/Oral Roberts. 14 year career featured 1 All Star game. Moore was primarily a innings eating pitcher. Moore logged over 200 innings 9 times in his career. Moore was a Cy Young contender in 1989 when he posted a 19 Win season with a 2.61 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP.

1982 Shawon Dunston SS/HS. One of my favorite players growing up. Dunston was a flashy fielder who was marginal with the bat. Dunston had a 18 year career which featured two All Star seasons. Dunston reached 500 PA only 7 times in his careers as various injuries plagued him throughout his career.

1983 Tim Belcher P/Mount Vernon. Belcher was a fixture in the Dodgers rotation during their 1988 World Series run. Belcher was a innings eater who compiled over 200 IP 7 times in his 14 year career. Posted a lifetime record of 146-140 with a 4.16 ERA.

1984 Shawn Abner OF/HS. A 6 year career featuring only two seasons with over 200 PA.

1985 BJ Surhoff SS/North Carolina. Converted to a Catcher to begin his career. Surhoff played 19 seasons and appeared in 1 All Star game. Surhoff was always a good AVG. hitter posting a career .282 mark. Never displayed much power untill the end of his career which coincided with the steroid era.

1986 Jeff King SS/Arkansas. Converted to 3B as a pro. King's claim to fame was being the Pirates elite player after the Barry Bonds era. A 11 year player who had a good 3 year run from 96-98 when he averaged 27 HR and 105 RBI.

1987 Ken Griffey Jr OF/HS. Argueablly the best top selection overall. Griffey had a historical 22 year run which included 13 All Star games and 1 MVP. Griffey was easily the best player of the 90's and a no doubt first ballot Hall Of Famer.

1988 Andy Benes P/Evansville. A 14 year vet who's career went unnoticed at least to me. I had no idea how effective Benes was throughout his career. Benes appeared in one All Star Game and had 10 season with a ERA below 4.00, 5 season with over 200IP and lead the league in K's in 1989. Benes had a career mark of 155-139.

1989 Ben McDonald P/LSU. Quickly brought up to the majors, McDonald had some struggles initially. Never became the ace that was expected but career marks of 78-70 3.91ERA and a 6.2K/9 rate are respectable.

1990 Chipper Jones SS/HS. Converted to 3B in the minors. Chipper Jones has been the face of the Braves for well over a decade. Jones has been plagued by injuries his entire career but has still built a Hall Of Fame resume. 6 All Star selections and a league MVP. Has a career .306 AVG and a .942 OPS.

1991 Brien Taylor P/HS. Known for the huge signing bonus he signed. Taylor started his career of strong posting a 2.57 ERA with a 1.15WHIP and 10.4 K/9 in one season of single A. After a solid 2nd season Taylor got into a fight in the off season and injured his shoulder. He would finish his career with a Minor League career of 22-30 with a 5.12 ERA and a 1.63 WHIP. He never reached the Majors.

1992 Phil Nevin 3B/Cal-State Fullerton. A 12 year career featured one All-Star appearence. Nevin is another top overall selection who had a career filled with various injuries. A 30 HR threat and big time Run producer from 1999-2001 with Padres.

1993 Alex Rodriguez SS/HS. 12 All Star selections and 3 MVP awards and still going strong. Rodriguez could end his career with the All TIme HR record. Though a failed drug test has hurt his reputation a Hall Of Fame enshrinement is in his future.

1994 Paul Wilson P/FSU. A forgetable 7 year career. Finished with a 40-58 mark with a 4.86 ERA and a 1.45 WHIP.

1995 Darin Erstad OF/Nebraska. A 14 year career featured 2 All Star selections and a World Series title. Erstad had a career year in 200 posting a .355 AVG with 25HR and 28SB to go with 240 Hits.

1996 Kris Benson P/Clemson. He is still hanging on by whatever is left of his arm. Benson has only two seasons with over 200 IP in his career and only 1 season with a ERA below 4.00. On the bright side Benson has a extremely hot wife.

1997 Matt Anderson P/Rice. A short 7 year career and was converted to a MR role. In 257 appearences he posted a 5.19 ERA with a 1.58 WHIP.

1998 Pat Burrell 3B/Miami. Converted to a OF as a Pro. Burrell's 11 year career featured 6 25+ HR seasons and 7 seasons with over 80 RBI. Was released by the Rays this season he has yet to resurface anywhere. Should Burrell not return his career will resemble that of Bob Horner just not as dynamic.

1999 Josh Hamilton OF/HS. Took the reverse career approach of Daryl Strawberry. Hamilton decided to sniff his youth up his nose and hopes to spend his golden years punishing baseballs. In just 3 season Hamilton has already appeared in 2 All Star games and is having a fine season this year.

2000 Adrian Gonzalez 1B/HS. One of the premier power hitting lefties in the game. Gonzalez has appeared in two All Star games and is a 40 HR threat despite playing 81 games in Petco.

2001 Joe Mauer C/HS. The premier Catcher in the game. Already has 3 All Star appearences to go with one MVP and 3 Batting Titles.

2002 Bryan Bullington P/Ball St. Has yet to have any success at the Minor League level and has been converted to a MR role. Bullington has 42 career IP in the Pro's and has posted a 5.57 ERA with a 1.73 WHIP.

2003 Delmon Young OF/HS. Character issues slowed down his development but has seemed to mature over the last three seasons. Young has been a good hitter but has yet to develop the power that many expected. A career .289 hitter has had a very solid season this year and is beginning to take over as a full time player option in Minnesota.

2004 Matt Bush SS/HS. Was out of baseball after 4 terrible seasons. Has reemerged this year and has been converted to a MRP. Eary returns have been good but he has only pitched 5 innings thus far.

2005 Justin Upton SS/HS. Spent very little time in the minors and was in the Majors by 19. Upton already has one All Star under his belt and all signs point toward many more to come.

2006 Luke Hochevar P/Independent. Has been bad more often than not. In 61 career starts he has posted a 5.68 ERA with a 1.45 WHIP and a 18-30 record.

2007 David Price P/Vanderbilt. A very promising beginning to his career. Price has appeared in 40 career games(36 Start) and has a 3.47ERA with a 1.25 WHIP and a 19-9 record.

2008 Tim Beckham SS/HS. Has struggled over his first two minor league seasons but is still regarded by most companies as a Top 50 Overall Prospect.

2009 Stephen Strasburg P/San Diego St.

2010- Bryce Harper C/Junior College.

As you can tell by the list of names the success rate of the overall pick isn't very good. In theory this list should be loaded with All Star Selections and future Hall of Famers. In reality it is a indicator of how difficult it can be to predict the future of 18 year old High School Kids and the transition for the 21 year old College Superstar.