1977 Major League Baseball Draft

=First round selections=

The following are the first round picks in the 1977 Major League Baseball draft. [cite web |url=http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/alltime/draft?year=1977 |title=MLB First Round Draft Picks - 1977 |accessdate=2008-04-02 ]

Background

The White Sox raised some brows when they passed on right-handed pitcher Bill Gullickson, a native of nearby Orland Park, IL, and selected outfielder Harold Baines as the number one pick in the country.

White Sox owner Bill Veeck had seen Baines play little league baseball in Maryland and had followed his progress through the years. After spending three seasons in the minors, Baines was a fixture in the White Sox lineup for 10 seasons. Montreal had perhaps the best draft, choosing Gullickson second, pitcher Scott Sanderson in the third round and outfielder Tim Raines in the fifth. Other picks of interest included infielder Paul Molitor (Milwaukee), pitcher Richard Dotson (California), and catcher Terry Kennedy (St. Louis).

Shortstop Tom Goffena from Sidney, Ohio became the Toronto Blue Jays' first draft pick as he was chosen 25th in the first round. The Seattle Mariners picked 26th and took outfielder Dave Henderson from Dos Palos, CA as their first draft pick. The Blue Jays also picked Danny Ainge out of Brigham Young University in the 15th round. Ainge, who was also drafted by the NBA's Boston Celtics, later quit baseball for a career in basketball as a player and coach. [cite web |url=http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/history/draft/index.jsp?feature=decade1970s|title=Background on the 1977 MLB Draft|accessdate=2008-04-02 ]

Other notable players

*Terry Francona, 2nd round, 38th overall
*Mookie Wilson, 2nd round, 42nd overall
*Brian Harper, 4th round, 85th overall
*Ozzie Smith, 4th round, 86th overall
*Tim Raines, 5th round, 106th overall
*Jesse Barfield 9th round, 233rd overall
*Chili Davis, 11th round, 270th overall
*Danny Ainge, 15th round, 389th overall
*Tony Phillips, 16th round, 416th overall

External links

[http://www.thebaseballcube.com/draft/1977/Round-1-1.shtml Complete draft list from "The Baseball Cube" database]

References