Quote:
Originally Posted by rico43
Catcher Johnny Jones, a lefty hitting catcher from Florence, Ala., and Middle Tennessee State University, was the fifth overall pick in the 1967 draft, between Jon Matlack and John Mayberry. The Washington Senators the team pulling the trigger.
He spent two seasons in the low minors of the Senators' chain before the Astros traded for him before the 1969 season (shown here). But he failed to move past the Florida State League in two seasons before calling it quits. He hit exactly one home run in 157 career games with a career average of .150. In his final season, he had 24 passed balls in 58 games.
A Lexibell file photo.
Attachment 447551 |
People who claim the Mets drafting Steve Chilcott ahead of Reggie Jackson was racially motivated never factor in how in-demand lefty hitting catchers were. If you go back over the history of the draft, you'll see tons of lefty hitting catchers drafted very high who either never made the major leagues at all or did so only as a mediocre second stringer. If you had two players who were roughly equivalent in scouting evaluations--one an outfielder and one a lefty hitting catcher--you'd take the catcher 99.9 times out of a hundred. Scouts were divided on Chilcott and Jackson. But outfielders are common (the Mets had a ton of them at the time) and lefty hitting catchers aren't.
That the choice was racially motivated is one of those lies about the Mets that has always bothered me.