Baseball Time Machine: The 1966 MLB draft
Welcome to free Thursday. Every Tuesday and Thursday, everything is paywall-free.
The other day, I was thinking of one of my favorite trivia questions, which made me realize that the 1966 draft would be a good Baseball Time Machine.
Reggie Jackson was the #2 overall selection in the 1966 draft. Who was the only other Hall of Famer taken in that entire draft? Answer is at the end.
This was just the second year of the draft. In 1965, the A’s made Rick Monday the first pick in the history of the draft.
The Mets made catcher Stee Chilcott the first pick in the draft. He would become one of three #1 overall picks who never played the majors (Brien Taylor, 1991; Brady Aiken, 2014). Chilcott would only play 96 games in his career above A ball.
Reggie Jackson was selected by the Kansas City A’s with the #2 pick.
In his latest memoirs, Reggie wrote about the draft:
But then, a day or two before the draft, Bobby Winkles sat me down and told me, “You’re probably not gonna be the number one pick.” He said, “You’re dating a Mexican girl, and the Mets think you will be a problem. They think you’ll be a social problem because you are dating out of your race.”
“Wow, really?” I said.
I didn’t know what he was talking about. I said, “Well, she’s Mexican, and I’m part Latino, so what’s that?” My father’s mother was from a little town outside San Juan, Puerto Rico. I mean, my middle name is Martinez. And he said, “No, you’re colored, and they don’t want that. It may hurt your draft.” I told him, “Everyone says that I’m the best.” And he said, “Yes, but the Mets think you’re gonna maybe cause a problem, socially.” I said, “But I think we’re gonna get married.” Her name was Juanita Campos.
But that didn’t matter. It turned out Bobby Winkles was right. I heard it was Bob Scheffing, who was the Mets’ director of player development then—the same guy who traded Nolan Ryan a few years later, after Scheffing became general manager. He saw to it they drafted a guy named Steve Chilcott, a high school catcher who would become one of only two first picks in history to retire without ever playing a single game in the majors.
Scheffing denied it later, said there was nothing racial about it. Then he tried to blame it on Casey Stengel, who was about seventy-five years old at the time and doing some scouting for the team. Can you believe that? I couldn’t. I know I never saw Casey Stengel when I was being scouted—and how could you be in a ballpark and not know if Casey Stengel was there?
Ten years later, when I was a free agent, the Mets still didn’t even try to sign me. After the free-agent draft, Bob Scheffing told a reporter from the St. Petersburg Evening Independent,
“Jackson wasn’t the best ballplayer available, Joe Rudi was. Jackson was the best press-agent around.” He said I was “a pleasure to talk to” but that I was “not an outstanding offensive ballplayer.”
This was the sort of thing that put that chip on my shoulder, when I was a young man. It had a lot to do with what went on with the Yankees, when I finally did get to New York.
There weren’t many notable players taken in this draft. The other first round picks who made All-Star teams were Wayne Twitchell (drafted by Astros), Ken Brett (Red Sox), Gary Nolan (Reds), Carlos May (White Sox). Other notable selections were Dave Cash (Pirates, 5th round), Charlie Hough (Dodgers, 8th round), Bill Russell (Dodgers, 9th round), Ted Sizemore (Dodgers, 15th round).
Both Steve Garvey and Ron Cey were drafted, but didn’t sign. Garvey was taken I the 3rd round by the Mets and Cey was taken in the 19th round by the Mets.
As to the trivia question, in the 10th round, the Yankees selected a left handed pitcher from the University of Alabama. He went on to lead John Madden’s Raiders to victory in Super Bowl XI and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2016.
His name is Ken Stabler.
I never said the answer was in Cooperstown.
But, I do have to take this opportunity to attack the Football Hall of Fame. Stabler’s daughter confirmed that, since he was inducted posthumously, the family did not receive a gold jacket or ring. According to his daughter, "Our family actually asked [Hall of Fame executive director] Mr. Baker if we could buy them. Answer was: NO! Excuse: Doesn't want families selling/fighting."
The Football Hall of Fame issued a statement:
Ken Stabler is my favorite NFL player of all time. I had never heard of the Football HOF's policy concerning the ring and jacket for posthumously enshrined members. What an awful position to take.