**From now until the Royals eventual World Series Championship comes to fruition I'll be posting Random Royals from my collection.**
The Royals drafted their best player in franchise history in the 1971 amateur draft. But you might be surprised to learn that he wasn't the Royals' first pick the draft. No, Brett was drafted in the 2nd round. The Royals first round pick was for a pitcher named Roy Branch. He would never pitch for the Royals in the majors and was eventually shipped over to the Mariners where he was able to pitch two games in the pros.
I love thinking about the different possibilities of the draft and the picks that could have been. The Royals drafted Branch in front of perennial All-Stars Frank Tanana and Jim Rice. Additionally, the Royals could have picked another Hall of Famer instead of Brett that might have helped the team even more: Mike Schmidt was the very next pick in the draft made by the Phillies.
The Royals drafted their best player in franchise history in the 1971 amateur draft. But you might be surprised to learn that he wasn't the Royals' first pick the draft. No, Brett was drafted in the 2nd round. The Royals first round pick was for a pitcher named Roy Branch. He would never pitch for the Royals in the majors and was eventually shipped over to the Mariners where he was able to pitch two games in the pros.
I love thinking about the different possibilities of the draft and the picks that could have been. The Royals drafted Branch in front of perennial All-Stars Frank Tanana and Jim Rice. Additionally, the Royals could have picked another Hall of Famer instead of Brett that might have helped the team even more: Mike Schmidt was the very next pick in the draft made by the Phillies.
1983 Donruss #338 George Brett |
Comments