Help needed

[George H Ruth]

I need a little help, can you guys name me players that got drafted really high out of high school and didn't play in the minors and has success in the Majors.

The more players the better.

[Captain Cold Nose]

I need a little help, can you guys name me players that got drafted really high out of high school and didn't play in the minors and has success in the Majors.

The more players the better.

I'm going to assume you're not looking for players like Al Kaline who preceded the draft.

[PVNICK]

I don't know about drafted but Kaline and Yount (I'm not 100% on him) are two that srping to mind. Also most of the bonus babies of the 50s were HS players and by rule had to stay in MLB Koufax was one, Brooks Robinson and Killebrew may have been others.

[KHenry14]

Catfish Hunter is another.

[George H Ruth]

I'm going to assume you're not looking for players like Al Kaline who preceded the draft.


No I'm not, I am looking for players that got drafted pretty early in the first round, and didn't play in the minors because they were successful in the big leagues right away.

[PVNICK]

I think Pete Incaviglia never played in the minors and perhaps Bob Horner as well. The draft began @ 1967 so that's your starting point and I would find it hard to believe a low round pick went straight to MLB.

[sturg1dj]

I think Pete Incaviglia never played in the minors and perhaps Bob Horner as well. The draft began @ 1967 so that's your starting point and I would find it hard to believe a low round pick went straight to MLB.

both went to college

[sturg1dj]

I would say I think Robin Yount is the only successful player to do it.


here is a list of non-Negro league players who never played in the minors that made the HOF


Sandy Koufax,
Bob Feller,
Catfish Hunter,
Walter Johnson,
Ted Lyons,
Chief Bender,
Eppa Rixey
Eddie Plank.
Frankie Frisch
George Sisler
Mel Ott
Dave Winfield - went to college
Al Kaline

[PVNICK]

both went to college
and a big duh on my part, I knew that, but forgot the HS component of the original question. I could say David Clyde but then I'd be ignoring the successful part of the question. Yount I looked up and he played a year. I know Gooden did. Mike Morgan did. Sheffield did. I can't come up with many other possibilities off the top of my head.

[sturg1dj]

here is another place that shows all of the players who spent at least 10 years in MLB without playing in the minors. One note is Ernie Banks is on this list, but not on the other because he started in the Negro Leagues.

link (http://research.sabr.org/brj/index.php/they-never-played-in-the-minors)

[sturg1dj]

ahh, so Yount had one season in low A before his rookie season. So it looks as though there is no precedent in the draft era for successful HS draft picks who skipped the minors and went straight to the show.

[EdTarbusz]

I don't know about drafted but Kaline and Yount (I'm not 100% on him) are two that srping to mind. Also most of the bonus babies of the 50s were HS players and by rule had to stay in MLB Koufax was one, Brooks Robinson and Killebrew may have been others.

Al Kaline was also a Bonus Baby.

[PVNICK]

ahh, so Yount had one season in low A before his rookie season. So it looks as though there is no precedent in the draft era for successful HS draft picks who skipped the minors and went straight to the show. I was surprised when I looked that up. I remember he was a big deal his first year and in the mists of time have "misremembered" it so that I thought he came up from HS.

[Honus Wagner Rules]

Here is a list of all drafted players that debuted in the majors. High school players are bolded. There have been just four drafted high school players to debut in the majors.


Year Player School Team Debut Date
1967 Mike Adamson, P University of Southern Cal Orioles July 1, 1967
1969 Steve Dunning, P Stanford University Indians June 14, 1970
1971 Burt Hooton,P University of Texas Cubs June 17, 1971
1971 Rob Ellis, IF Michigan State University Brewers June 18, 1971
1971 Pete Broberg, P Dartmouth College Senators June 20, 1971
1972 Dave Roberts, IF University of Oregon Padres June 7, 1972
1973 Dick Ruthven,P Fresno State University Phillies April 17, 1973
1973 Dave Winfield,OF University of Minnesota Padres June 19, 1973
1973 David Clyde, P Westchester High School Rangers June 27, 1973
1973 Eddie Bane,P Arizona State University Twins July 4, 1973
1978 Mike Morgan,P Valley High School A's June 11, 1978
1978 Bob Horner, IF Arizona State University Braves June 16, 1978
1978 Tim Conroy, P Gateway High School A's June 23, 1978
1978 Brian Milner, C Southwest High School Blue Jays June 23, 1978
1985 Pete Incaviglia, OF Oklahoma State University Expos April 8, 1986
1988 Jim Abbott,P University of Michigan Angels April 8, 1989
1989 John Olerud,IF Washington State Blue Jays Sept. 3, 1989
1993 Darren Dreifort, P Wichita State University Dodgers April 7, 1994
1995 Ariel Prieto, P Fajardo University (Cuba) A's July 2, 1995
2000 Xavier Nady, IF University of California Padres Sept. 3, 2000

[deadball-era-rules]

Derek Jeter came pretty close. He had only one semester of college and went in the 6th round. I'd say he's worth mentioning in this thread.

[Rich the Giants fan]

Here is a list of all drafted players that debuted in the majors. High school players are bolded. There have been just four drafted high school players to debut in the majors.


Year Player School Team Debut Date
1967 Mike Adamson, P University of Southern Cal Orioles July 1, 1967
1969 Steve Dunning, P Stanford University Indians June 14, 1970
1971 Burt Hooton,P University of Texas Cubs June 17, 1971
1971 Rob Ellis, IF Michigan State University Brewers June 18, 1971
1971 Pete Broberg, P Dartmouth College Senators June 20, 1971
1972 Dave Roberts, IF University of Oregon Padres June 7, 1972
1973 Dick Ruthven,P Fresno State University Phillies April 17, 1973
1973 Dave Winfield,OF University of Minnesota Padres June 19, 1973
1973 David Clyde, P Westchester High School Rangers June 27, 1973
1973 Eddie Bane,P Arizona State University Twins July 4, 1973
1978 Mike Morgan,P Valley High School A's June 11, 1978
1978 Bob Horner, IF Arizona State University Braves June 16, 1978
1978 Tim Conroy, P Gateway High School A's June 23, 1978
1978 Brian Milner, C Southwest High School Blue Jays June 23, 1978
1985 Pete Incaviglia, OF Oklahoma State University Expos April 8, 1986
1988 Jim Abbott,P University of Michigan Angels April 8, 1989
1989 John Olerud,IF Washington State Blue Jays Sept. 3, 1989
1993 Darren Dreifort, P Wichita State University Dodgers April 7, 1994
1995 Ariel Prieto, P Fajardo University (Cuba) A's July 2, 1995
2000 Xavier Nady, IF University of California Padres Sept. 3, 2000


Note that three were in the same year, two of them with the (at the time) lowly A's.

[Rich the Giants fan]

Derek Jeter came pretty close. He had only one semester of college and went in the 6th round. I'd say he's worth mentioning in this thread.

Jeter played several years in the minors.

[RubeBaker]

This might help some:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_baseball_players_who_went_directly_to_the_ major_leagues