No more "bonus babies"

HOUSTON, TEXAS - This date in baseball history was trumpeted as the end of the "bonus baby" era - the throwing of tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands, of dollars (a lot of money in those days) at wide-eyed kids expected to become the next Mickey Mantle or Sandy Koufax. More often than not they didn't pan out.

Major League Baseball owners meeting in Houston on this date in 1964 decided to put an end to the chasing of unproven kids by hordes of scouts with wads of cash and approved an amateur draft. The first one was held in 1965.

There still is chasing after kids and some significant bonuses because the team that drafts the player retains the rights to signing him until the next year's draft. If a propsect is not signed he can re-enter a future draft and be chosen by any team but the one which selected him the previous year, unless the player consents.

Those eligible to be drafted are:

• Residents of the United States or Canada who have never signed a major or minor league contract
• High school graduates who have not yet attended college or junior college
• College players from four-year colleges who have completed their junior year
• Junior college players regardless of how many years of school they have completed
• Players 21-years of age and older

The first ten #1 picks of the amateur draft:
1965 Rick Monday, Kansas City A's
1966 Steve Chilcott, New York Mets
1967 Ron Blomberg, New York Yankees
1968 Tim Foli, New York Mets
1969 Jeff Burroughs, Washington Senators
1970 Mike Ivie, San Diego Padres
1971 Danny Goodwin, Chicago White Sox
1972 Dave Roberts, San Diego Padres
1973 David Clyde, Texas Rangers
1974 Bill Almon, San Diego Padres

Sources/more information:
Complete draft information 1965 to today
Amateur draft rules
United Press International, Houston, Texas, December 5, 1964Jj.

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