[Westheim]

Portland Raccoons and their wicked history of taking first basemen in the first round

For the purposes of this exercise, we will consider the supplemental round in addition to the first round, partially because the draft history tab shows it as first round, keeps no order between picks of what it considers the same round, and I’ll be too tired too soon of writing up 50 words on some toss-off only to then realize that, oooh, he was a number twenty-SEVEN pick…!

Also, we will include players that played other positions alongside first base, especially the corner outfield. Three- or four-base infielders (so players capable of playing up the middle) will not be considered, nor will primary-position catchers that made only token appearances (if any) at first base.

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1982 – Pick #2: OF/1B Alejandro Lopez (my draft post from back then does not list first base as position, but I was not very thorough in many aspects at the time)
Was named a #18 prospect before being traded to the Blue Sox in a trade for chiefly outfielder Raúl Herrera in the winter of 1983-84. Peaked as #7 prospect. Did decently good for some years with the Sox with a pair of rings in 1986-87 before being brought back to Portland as *minor league* free agent in 1993, where he landed himself a third ring before his career trundled out with the Elks in 1995 at just 31 years of age.
1,215 games of hitting .258/.305/.408 with 1,069 hits, 106 homers, 564 RBI, and 71 SB.
3x World Series
Yes it will absolutely get worse.

1985 – Pick #10: 1B/3B Joe Jackson
Corner infielder that peaked as #35 prospect and appeared in only 29 games for the 1988 Raccoons before being traded to the Falcons, where he spent the rest of his career. Won two Gold Gloves at first base, but never hit for much of anything, and consequently was a backup infielder for much of his career, hanging on until 2001.
1,234 games of hitting .244/.315/.355 with 1,033 hits, 51 homers, 485 RBI, and 78 SB.
2x Gold Glove

1985 – Pick #33: 1B Gabriel Ramirez
First one already to never make the majors despite going as high as #11 in the prospect rankings. Was traded to the Cyclones for Glenn Johnston, who lost us the 1989 World Series in ’86, and then spent the rest of his days in AAA Glendale.

1996 – Pick #61: INF/LF Carlos Gómes
Suffered a career-ending tear to his labrum just 15 months after being drafted and so I’ll ascribe that one to rotten fate.

1999 – Pick #11: LF/RF/1B Darwin Tyler
Never played first base in the majors and roamed the corner outfield instead, but was definitely considered also a first baseman at the draft. He also never played a lot at all in the majors, making it into 45 games with the rotten 2004 Raccoons, hitting nothing, and then surfaced for a brief stint with the Buffos a few years later, but his last big-league game came at age 27.
105 games of hitting .197/.259/.277 with 42 hits, 4 homers, 19 RBI, and 1 SB

1999 – Pick #33: 1B Matt Love
Local boy that briefly surfaced with the 2003-04 Raccoons, hit nothing, and then was quickly forgotten and never signed with another organization.
32 games of hitting .235/.286/.255 with 12 hits and 2 RBI

2000 – Pick #5: 1B/3B Daniel Sharp
Famously made his ABL debut just a month after being drafted and thus never featured on a prospect list. He soon enough became the cornerstone at third base for the decade, and played first base only occasionally; other teams would use him up the middle later in his career. Left as free agent after 2007, signed with the Miners, was claimed back off waivers by the Coons, traded to the Indians at the deadline in 2008, along with another top 5 pick, Jimmy Eichelkraut, to get hold of Ron Alston, signed with the Buffos the following winter, got claimed off waivers by the Coons AGAIN, but then was let go for the third straight season. He then remained a frequent flyer for the rest of his career, playing another seven stints with six teams before retiring in 2015. Never a power threat or a defensive asset, but he hit reliably for a long time before tailing off in his mid-30s. Only about 20% of his career at-bats came at first base, though.
1,875 games of hitting .276/.355/.376 with 1,801 hits, 76 homers, 635 RBI, and 2 SB
1x World Series

2001 – Pick #2: LF/RF/1B Chris Beairsto
Played most of his time in leftfield, but was advertised as first-sacker to begin with. Peaked as #62 prospect and made his debut in 2002 for a team that had few things going for it and lots of opportunities for cheap youngsters. Didn’t hit outside of a very good half-season in 2003 (well, .241 with 17 homers, which gave the Decade of Darkness Coons an unreasonable amount of hopium), and soon washed out and was traded to the Bayhawks, and later got claimed off waivers by the Buffos, who also didn’t get anything outta him. Retired in 2012 after five years in the minors.
406 games of hitting .237/.303/.398 with 308 hits, 49 homers, 171 RBI, and 18 SB

2007 – Pick #32: 1B C.J. Vanderwall
Never ranked, and only played 12 games at the AAA level before washing out altogether, retiring from baseball at the ripe old age of 26.

2009 – Pick #43: 1B Jonathan Marsh
Never ranked, and got released by the Raccoons after three years in the low minors, but got picked up by the Warriors, who then traded him to the Scorpions in 2013. He had a bit of a career as a quad-A first baseman with them until 2020, and then spent another EIGHT years in the minors before retiring. Somehow owns a World Series ring from his final year with Sacramento, despite batting .205 as pinch-hitter and never starting a game that year.
283 games of hitting .263/.296/.448 with 186 hits, 24 homers, 112 RBI, and 15 SB
1x World Series

2011 – Pick #45: RF/LF/1B Daniel Price
Never a ranked prospect and never appeared in the majors, bouncing around the minors for 11 years. The Raccoons traded him for outfielder Luis Reya in 2015, which at least netted us one season of somebody hitting or league average…

2011 – Pick #48: LF/RF/1B Matt Fox
Another one that never ranked as prospect and never appeared in the majors. Obtained minor league free agency in 2017, then bounced through three more organizations before retiring.

2015 – Pick #22: 1B/LF/RF Brian Perakis
Never a ranked prospect, but actually *did* appear in the majors after SEVEN years in he minors, appearing for a cup of coffee with the directionless 2022 Raccoons. Got released in ’24 and never signed another contract of any kind.
19 games of hitting .171/.205/.293 with 7 hits, 1 homer, 6 RBI

2015 – Pick #31: 1B Michael Wilkerson
Quelle surprise, another one that never ranked. He was included in a trade for SP Bobby Guerrero and had a brief and uninspiring career as backup / quad-A reserve with the Falcons, but last appeared in a major league game at 26 and retired before hitting 30.
192 games of hitting .245/.291/.384 with 56 hits, 4 homers, 36 RBI, and 4 SB

2017 – Pick #15: 1B Ruben Santiago
Listen, we don’t draft first base prospects here that end up ranking, okay? Santiago had a good career, though, although for somebody else. He was part of a 6-player trade that sent him with Tadasu Abe and others to the Blue Sox in 2021, bringing in Billy Brotman and especially Tim Stalker, who would have a long Coons career in turn. Santiago made his ABL debut with Nashville the following year and then was their starting first baseman for five-and-a-half seasons before becoming a backup at age 30. Also had stints with the Buffos and Indians at the end and in the end had a 13-year career in the majors, but never won anything or led the league in anything.
1,282 games of hitting .278/.337/.419 with 1,023 hits, 111 homers, 500 RBI, and 3 SB

2027 – Pick #22: 1B Eric Clarke
Never ranked as prospect or appeared in the majors, obtaining minor league free agency at the first opportunity and bouncing through another three organizations on his way to an accounting job.

2029 – Pick #37: 1B Ryan St. Pierre
Never ranked, never suited up in the majors. The Raccoons traded him to Tijuana for outfielder Juan Camps in ’33, and he obtained minor league free agency and retired after 2035. Camps played only 40 games with the Raccoons, but then was then spun off in a package for SP Gilberto Rendon, who had a couple nice seasons as the Raccoons reached their unringed, but notable mid-30s peak.

2031 – Pick #15: 1B/LF/RF Will Luna
Actually ranked as #58 prospect the year after being drafted, and then quickly turned bust from there. He did amount to a cup of coffee for the 2036 Coons, playing mostly first base, and a few years later was released and then retired without joining another outfit.
12 games of hitting .182/.229/.273 with 6 hits and 3 RBI

2046 – Pick #21: OF/1B Adam Samples
Never ranked as prospect and would spend 16 years as a professional ballplayer, and yet last appeared in the majors at age 24 in 2052. Couple of cups of coffee with Portland, and ever wore a major league uniform thereafter.
68 games of hitting .199/.260/.253 with 33 hits, 1 homer, 17 RBI

2054 – Pick #22: 1B Forbes Tomlin
Appeared at #41 in the prospect rankings in the year after he was drafted, but lingered in the minors for a long time before seven games with Portland in 2059, and some longer stints in 2061-62. He actually hit modestly well in 2061, but didn’t repeat that feat, and eventually was traded to Sacramento for Tom Delaney. Only hung around the Stingers for a year and a half, and then had a wild single-game showing with the Warriors in 2067. Disappeared for good then and retired last year.
242 games of hitting .267/.300/.406 with 119 hits, 10 homers, 65 RBI

2056 – Pick #24: 1B Joe Agee
Never ranked as prospect and had two cups of coffee with the Raccoons before being traded in a bigger deal that brought in Jim White from the Gold Sox in ’62. Made only 22 pinch-hitter appearances for Denver and then disappeared. Retired in ’65.
37 games of hitting .167/.222/.333 with 11 hits, 2 homers, 8 RBI

2059 – Pick #13: 1B Jon Herbert
Herbert was actually highly ranked at first, appearing at #26 in the first prospect rankings after he was selected, but stalled between AA and AAA and was taken by the Thunder in the Rule 5 draft in 2064, but returned when the season began, then obtained minor league free agency. Spent time in the Condors system before landing a gig with L.A. for some cups of coffee from 2067-69. Still active and with the Pacifics’ AAA team in Loganville.
70 games of hitting .282/.312/.324 with 20 hits and 14 RBI

2060 – Pick #19: LF/RF/1B John Bentley
Never ranked and had all sorts of injuries, including breaking his kneecap at the end of a fairly impressive half-season he played as a 25-year-old rookie with the Coons in ’65. Scarcely appeared the year after, then was traded to Indy with Malcolm Spicer to bring in Gabriel Rios (still here) and Justin Dowsey. The Indians used him semi-regularly in ’67, but he didn’t hit (at all), and some more the year after (still nope). He has since obtained minor league free agency several times and is currently in the Scorpions organization.
195 games of hitting .263/.308/.412 with 104 hits, 11 homers, 55 RBI

2068 – Pick #21: 1B Oscar Gaitan
Ranked as the #20 prospect in his first spring and has gradually slipped back. Has yet to appear above AA, but that’s not our problem anymore since he was wrapped up in a bundle to the Wolves to obtain John Katzman. Jury is still out here, but it doesn’t look like he’ll turn the corner.

2069 – Pick #36: 1B Justin DiMartino
Not ranked, and has hit for power in the minors, but at the expense of a batting average. Currently with the Panthers in AA, batting .191 with six homers.

No reason to slide Kyle Piel a week after he’s been drafted. Boy’s got feelings, too.

This is a total of 25 players, although if you exclude the recent picks that have not had a chance to wash out completely yet, it’s 23 players. Depending on what your definition for a solid first-round or supplemental-roudn pick is, the Raccoons have probably failed 80% to 90% of the time here. Besides Alejandro Lopez (1982), Joe Jackson (1985), Daniel Sharp (2000), and Ruben Santiago (2017), we have not selected players that appeared for at least 1,000 games in the majors, and the fifth-most-appearing player in the group is actually Chris Beairsto (2001), and those that lived to see the Decade of Darkness were not impressed by his act. Sharp and Lopez are probably the only ones you can give a B+ to the team for picking them where we did. And only if you’re charitable.

It gets only WORSE when you only look at “true” first basemen with no other positions. Of those, we drafted 13 (15 including Gaitan and DiMartino, but let’s not for now), and Santiago’s 1,282 career games account for the vast majority of their output. Six of the others never played in the majors, and the other six combined for 868 games in the majors. Santiago hit 111 homers, the other six combined for a snorty forty.

Of the 10 players that also played other positions, all reached the majors except for Carlos Gómes, who suffered the career-ending injury in the low minors.

What a crass display of a century of failure.

Additional tidbit: found out our longest-ago first-rounder still active is INF Dave Blackshire, who is hanging on in the Indians minor league system at age *43*. Blackshire was drafted in 2048, four months and four days before AAA 1B Danny Huckaby, who played in 19 games with the Critters last year and will in all likelihood play for them again in the future, was even born. Huckaby was a second-rounder, by the way.