Strawberry Redux

[Edgy MD]

Howie Rose and other outlets telling Darryl Strawbery's story recall that Straw was the obvious and widespread consensus as the Mets' (and any other team's, had they been as fortunate) only possible selection with the #1 overall pick.

That may be true, but I remember at the time that there was some drama over which direction the Mets were going to go. While Strawberry was the favorite and obviously the most exciting to write about, the Mets were juggling several names, including Billy Beane, who the team later selected with the 23rd overall pick.

Either:
a) I'm misremembering;
b) Whatever drama there was, it was fake newspaper filler, and I was young and naïve enough to buy it;
c) Howie (who is generally as sharp as anybody remembering these tales) overstated things.

It would really speak to how much more divergence of scouting opinion existed at the time if it was true that Beane was on the Mets' short list for pick #1, and he was still around for pick #23.


Darryl Strawberry, Terry Blocker, Billy Beane (rear) with Some Guy on the Internet (front)

[Benjamin Grimm]

I did read something about that in the last week or so, about how the Mets were going back and forth over whether to draft Beane or Strawberry. And I thought the same thing you did, that apparently nobody else saw Beane as a number 1 pick, so I was wondering why the Mets did.

Future major leaguers drafted that year between Strawberry and Beane were Ken Dayley, Darnell Coles, Jessie Reid, Cecil Espy, Ross Jones, Kelly Gruber, Don Schulze, Jeff Reed, Frank Wills, Dennis Rasmussen, Glenn Wilson, Ron Robinson, Rich Renteria, Jim Acker, and Terry Francona.

Dayley was the third overall pick, by the Braves. The second pick (Toronto) was someone named Garry Harris, who never played in the big leagues. Strawberry was clearly the best choice.

[Edgy MD]

I guess there is also (d) the Mets saw him as the obvious best player available but were shy about his signability.

This is supported by a Star-Ledger article from 1980 which has Jay Horwitz saying, "We knew he had other options. We met for 18 hours a day the past six days and finally decided to draft him first and then worry about options."

Multiple contemporary sources have Philly scout Hugh Alexander calling Straw "the best prospect I've seen in 30 years."

I found other sources saying the Blue Jays (who picked after the Mets, and as noted above, would select an infielder who peaked at AA) were not certain they would go for Strawberry if the Mets somehow passed, but that may be I-didn't-wanna-anyway reasoning by the team who were going to have to make do without having that option.

[Edgy MD]

Hi, I'm Mike Pendleton, the Emily Litella of the Rome (GA) News-Tribune, and back in 1980, they paid me to write this.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I found this about Garry Harris, the second player selected in the June draft in 1980. It's an Associated Press article from an Ontario newspaper:

Toronto Blue Jays selected shortstop Garry Harris from San Diego and announced his signing just before the start of the second round.

"I'm still in shock," Harris said after signing.

He declined to describe the contract except to say "it was substantial — it made me feel worth while."

The Blue Jays said Harris will report to the club's Medicine Hat, Alta., farm team later this month.

Harris hit .426 with two home runs and 28 RBI while stealing 16 bases in 16 attempts at Hoover High School. He was voted all-league this season after making a switch to shortstop from the outfield.

I don't see anything saying, "Hey, wow! Garry Harris is going to be a Blue Jay." There really does appear to be quite a dropoff after Strawberry. The Mets were fortunate to have the first pick that year. If they had drafted Beane first, his name would be right there with Steve Chilcott.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I see there were other prominent players drafted in subsequent rounds in 1980:

Tim Teufel went in the second round. Danny Tartabull in the third. Matt Williams and Doug Drabek in the fourth. Eric Davis and Al Nipper in the eighth. Dave Magadan in the 12th (by the Red Sox). Oil Can Boyd in the 16th. Calvin Schiraldi (by the White Sox) in the 17th. Darren Daulton in the 25th. Chris Sabo in the 30th. Walt Terrell in the 33rd. And Rick Aguilera in the 37th (Cardinals).

[Edgy MD]

Bluebird Banter quotes Toronto GM Pat Gillick (from a contemporary Toronto Globe and Mail article) as saying of Harris and Jays second-rounder (who would also peak at AA) Ken Kinnard “We got the two kids we really wanted. I think they’re the two best athletes in the entire draft. Both of them can run. They may not turn out to be the two best ballplayers but we think both have a chance to be that as well.”

Getting a little mealy-mouthed toward the end there, perhaps.

Harris' former high-school coach is quoted as saying “I’d bet my wife and children that he’ll make it to Toronto,” so I hope Harris at least got to visit the city for a press conference, just to be on the safe side.

Of Strawberry, Gillick is quoted as saying “assumed the Mets would take him, but our people were not as high on him as others.” Again, that may well be big talking coming from the guy whose team had a worse record than the Mets, but didn't get to pick first because the tradition back then was to alternate which league got to choose first. The leagues were two separate corporate entities, so the draft was organized (as I understand it) with concern that no one league would have an advantage in pursuit of talent.

[G-Fafif]

I did read something about that in the last week or so, about how the Mets were going back and forth over whether to draft Beane or Strawberry. And I thought the same thing you did, that apparently nobody else saw Beane as a number 1 pick, so I was wondering why the Mets did.

Anthony DiComo piece I’m guessing you’re referencing:

Heading into the 1980 MLB Draft, the consensus No. 1 overall pick was Darryl Strawberry. The only prospect with a reasonable chance to unseat him was Billy Beane.

“Thank goodness they made the right choice,” Beane said last week, laughing.

Looking back, the decision might seem obvious. Strawberry, who will have his number retired in a ceremony Saturday at Citi Field, is the Mets’ all-time home run king, a prodigious slugger who hit 252 balls over the fence in eight seasons in Flushing, won the 1983 National League Rookie of the Year Award and the 1986 World Series, and made seven All-Star teams with the franchise. Beane, despite going on to have a decorated career as a front-office executive and minority owner of the A’s, never became a standout player himself.

Back in June 1980, however, things were not so clear. Strawberry, of course, was the popular choice to go No. 1 overall based on his generational career at Crenshaw High School in inner city Los Angeles, as well as an April Sports Illustrated article that referred to him as “a black Ted Williams.” (Fun fact: The cover story of that edition was on a young Cardinals star named Keith Hernandez.)

https://www.mlb.com/news/darryl-strawbe ... 1980-draft

[Benjamin Grimm]

Yes, that's it!

[Edgy MD]

I'm glad I'm not mis-remembering that. I always thought of 13-year-old me as a sharp kid!



Garry Harris passed in 2022 at only 60, but he seemed to have had a good life as a family man. Three years later the Mets would take Eddie Williams with the #4 overall pick out of the same high school.

[kcmets]

[MFS62]

Great find for that scouting report, Kase.
While I remember a lot was written about the Reggie Jackson / Steve Chilcott decision, I had never heard of the Strawberry/ Beane decision.
Thanks all.
Later

[Edgy MD]

Hugh Alexander: "Best prospect I've seen in 30 years. ... can do it all ... no faults ... hard to visualize how much he will become."

Mike Pendleton: "Who is this Darryl Strawberry? ... Strawberry's credentials aren't much better than mine."

[MFS62]

Mike Pendleton: "Who is this Darryl Strawberry? ... Strawberry's credentials aren't much better than mine."

If that is true, he would have been a much better ballplayer than he was a writer.

Later

[Frayed Knot]

My recollections:

Fans in general, and probably the baseball media as well, were a lot less informed on prospects in those days and even less so on those hoping
to one day become prospects.
Strawberry was different. In large part for us it was because the Mets had the top pick that year. Another was the headline ready name, but a big
chunk was that he was simply more highly touted than an amateur usually merits. I remember one team with a high pick saying that if they had
picks 2 thru 5 they'd trade them all for that year's #1 and that's virtually never the case in baseball drafts. The statement was probably hyperbole
but it made the point about what most of the baseball world thought of him. I don't think he ever wasn't going to be the top choice.

I don't remember hearing a thing about Billy Beane. I tend to think that the story about the Mets going with him instead has gained legs over the
years and what might have been a discussion at some point in the months leading up to the draft has grown into a kind of 'It almost happened!"
horror story plot in recent years.