THE ORIOLES' AMATEUR DRAFT HISTORY:  THE 1970's (1972-79)

When we last left you (1965-71), we'd dissected the Orioles' draft history through the first seven years of selections, and found it, well, relatively non-descript.  As a reminder, we concluded with the following tabular assessment:

(Note:  for an explanation of the ranking categories, see the draft introduction article.)

The Birds hadn't generated a whole heck of a lot through the first seven drafts, but they hadn't needed to, based on a stockpile of pre-draft signees and some successful trades.  (For a closer look, see the Draft History Sidebar: Where the Dynasty Came From.)  But the players that made up the Orioles glory years were aging, declining...in some cases, traded away.  They needed to be replaced, so the Orioles presumably needed to rely on the draft more than had been the case in past.  Would they be successful in doing so?

In 1972 the Orioles had an undeniably weak draft.  Three players chosen that year made the big leagues, and none particularly distinguished themselves.  The "jewel" of that draft was Bobby Brown, a switch-hitting outfielder-third baseman.  Brown played parts of seven big league seasons, but only one as a full-timer and didn't show much when he did play.  His main claim to fame was platooning in the outfield for the 1984 Padres team that reached the World Series.  Two years later, his career was over.  Journeyman.  Lefty hurler Mike Willis managed five mostly mediocre seasons for the Blue Jays before they were any good (1977-81), appearing in a total of 144 games, all but six in relief.  Another journeyman.  Willie Royster, a catcher, was the third member of this group, and he eked out a cup of coffee with the Orioles in 1981.

The Orioles fared much, much better in 1973.  First, five selectees reached the big leagues, but the main point is the identity of two of those individuals:  Eddie Murray and Mike Flanagan.  Murray, a soon-to-be first ballot Hall of Famer, falls plainly into the star category.  The evaluation has to be more equivocal for Flanagan, but for a span of about eight seasons (1977-84), Flanagan has to be considered a star pitcher...though he clearly wasn't one afterward.  Still, eight years is a long time...so we'll give Flanny the benefit of the doubt and put him in the star category as well.  The other three big leaguers from this draft were considerably less noteworthy:  John Flinn (pitcher, parts of four seasons, 42 games...cup of coffee); Gil Rondon (pitcher, two seasons, 23 games, cup of coffee); Mike Parrott (pitcher, parts of five seasons, including a solid one as a starter for the Mariners in 1979...journeyman).

The Birds snagged another player of note in the 1974 draft--second baseman Rich Dauer.  Dauer's career spanned parts of ten seasons, most of them as a starter (1140 games, 4218 plate appearances) and while he was certainly no star, he would have to fall into the "starting position player" category; Dauer filled a hole at second base created by Bobby Grich's free agent signing with the Angels, and when Dauer's career ended, 2B remained a problem area for the O's until the arrival of Roberto Alomar in 1996.  The other three players drafted by the Orioles in '74 who made the big leagues were varying degrees of irrelevant:  pitcher Mike Darr (cup of coffee with the Jays in '77); pitcher Randy Miller (a total of six games over two seasons--cup of coffee); and outfielder Tom Chism, who had a cup of coffee with the Birds in '79.

The O's didn't get much out of the 1975 draft.  The best of the bunch was right-handed swingman Dave Ford, who squeezed out parts of a couple of decent seasons during the span of a four-year career.  We'll generously give him the journeyman tag.  Steve Lake, a backup catcher for parts of 11 seasons, only played a total of 476 games, 1197 plate appearances, had a great glove but couldn't hit a lick, and never appeared in as many as 80 games in a single season.  His glove kept him around for awhile, though, and he gets a journeyman label as well.  The rest was decidedly cup of coffee:  catcher Darry Cias, lefty pitcher Jeff Rineer and catcher Chris Smith.  

1976 wasn't any better for the O's than 1975 had been.  Four players selected made the bigs, but none were impact players.  The best of the bunch was Wayne Krenchicki, who held down a utility infielder role for four clubs spanning parts of eight seasons.  Krenchicki, who appeared in 550 games (1195 plate appearances) gets a journeyman tag. The rest should be so lucky.  Outfielder Dallas Williams was a number one draft pick out of Lincoln High School in Brooklyn...and managed two very brief cups of coffee in the bigs.  (He is, however, a heckuva nice guy...I've gotten to know him at fantasy camp. <g>)  Outfielder Mark Corey was another highly touted pick who appeared in a total of 79 games over parts of three seasons...cup of coffee.  Shortstop Jim Smith appeared briefly for the Pirates in 1982...cup of coffee. 

Only three 1977 Orioles draftees reached the majors, but one of them was outfielder John Shelby.  Shelby's career, much of it as a starter, spanned parts of 11 seasons.  An outstanding defensive ballplayer, T-Bone's offense left a fair amount to be desired much of the time, but as was the case with Rich Dauer, he's placed in the starting position player category.  Drungo Hazewood was yet another highly touted, high-ranking Oriole draft pick that didn't amount to anything (cup of coffee).  Mark Smith (not the outfielder who played for the O's in the 1990's...this one had a cup of coffee with the A's in 1983), a pitcher, was the third big leaguer in this group.

1978 represented a decided step up for the Orioles, draft-wise.  First, it was the year in which Cal Ripken, unquestionably a star player, was chosen.  Second, the Orioles also selected Mike Boddicker, who had a career that spanned parts of 14 seasons.  Unlike Flanagan, Boddicker will be relegated to the "contributing pitchers" category, because he just didn't sustain star level play quite as long.  Flanagan slips into the star category; Boddicker narrowly misses.  It's probably a fair tradeoff.  Additionally, the O's chose Larry Sheets in 1978; Sheets had one very good year (1987) and one or two decent ones, but that's about it.  I can't quite bring myself to put him in the "starting position player" category, so he gets the journeyman tag.  Utilityman Bob Bonner (cup of coffee) and RHP Don Welchel (cup of coffee) round out the class.  

In their final draft of the 1970's, the Orioles picked up another "contributing pitcher":  right-hander Storm Davis.  Davis' career spanned parts of 13 seasons and 442 games.  After a very promising start, Davis (mostly) slipped back, denying himself a chance at a "star" career, but he still managed to generally contribute, and did so for more than a decade.  Two other pitchers--both journeymen--were also drafted that year and reached the majors--both in the "cup of coffee" category--Allan Ramirez and Bill Swaggerty.

The above table shows what the Orioles did from 1972-79.  Note that it's not a whole lot different than the first chart (1965-71)--it's a generally equivocal record, though the presence of two future Hall of Famers (Murray and Ripken) in the group must be noted.  

Here's the overall 15 year record:

That's somewhere in the vast expanse between excellent and horrible...probably pretty much average, though we'll do some comparatives with other clubs down the road.

Next:  1980-86:  In a Word...Awful!

Previous Segments:  THE ORIOLES' AMATEUR DRAFT HISTORY:  AN INTRODUCTION
                                   THE ORIOLES' AMATEUR DRAFT HISTORY:  THE EARLY YEARS (1965-71)
                                   ORIOLES DRAFT HISTORY SIDEBAR:  WHERE THE DYNASTY CAME FROM