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Jeff Picknell was the first ever GLB draft pick, as Jacksonville took him with the 1st overall pick in the 1920 Inaugural Draft. Picknell would take home the MVP Award, which has since been renamed to the Ed Day Award, hitting .388 with a .484 OBP, stealing 39 bases and striking out only 12 times. While 1920 was everything Jacksonville expected from him and more, his 1921 season is the most iconic in GLB history. He hit .434 and got on base at a .542 clip, stealing 39 bases and striking out 16 times. His .434 BA and .542 OBP still stand as unbeaten records.

Picknell would sign with San Diego after the 1921 season, taking home 2 more MVPs in 1922 and 1923 before signing with Houston and winning one more in 1926. This is when injuries really got the best of him, and he failed to play over 100 games in a season from 1928 to 1934, the year he retired at 39 years old. Still, even through his injury ridden years, the lowest he hit was .316. Jeff Picknell quietly retired to his farm in Iowa, where he still lives today as a 75 year old. He helped make baseball what it is today, and is one of the reasons the GLB has been successful as it’s been. In 1940, Jeff was elected into the GLB Hall of Fame, and the GLB Championship was named after him.



Ed Day grew up watching the legendary Picknell smash records and win MVPs. Little did he know, he would put up a record shattering season of his own in his 2nd year in the league, just as Picknell had. The Dallas Sheriffs, who had then played in Phoenix, picked him #1 overall in the 1934 draft. He would debut a year later, hitting .319 and winning the CL Rookie of the Year Award, but as you know, his 2nd year was his greatest. 10 years after Picknell won his final MVP, Ed Day won his first. He hit .358, smashed 21 HRs, hit 29 triples and drove in a record setting 152 runs, which still stands today as the best single season mark in GLB history.

Ed Day would put together 12 more magical seasons for Phoenix, winning 4 more MVPs and making 12 more All Star Games. At age 37, he decided to sign with San Francisco, and 2 years later, he signed with Baltimore. He retired at age 41 in 1953, completing his 19 year career in which he broke the all time hits (3184), at bats (10030), total bases (4980), singles (2161), doubles (511), triples (251) and RBI (1574) records, which all still stand today. He was elected unanimously into the GLB Hall of Fame in 1959, when CL and VL MVP Awards were named after him.



While Ed Day and Jeff Picknell are two of the GLB’s greatest hitters ever, neither were as dominant as John Hurrelbrink. Hurrelbrink wasn’t a super highly regarded prospect coming up, as he was picked 18th overall by the Washington Senators in 1936 out of high school. He would make his debut in 1940, putting in decent innings out of the bullpen. Washington promoted him to the rotation a year later, and while he was solid, the league hadn’t yet seen what John Hurrelbrink was all about. In 1943, his 17 year run of dominance began, as he won 23 games with a 2.57 ERA. He wouldn’t record an ERA over 3 again until 1954.

Hurrelbrink ended up winning 284 games with a career ERA of 2.70. He won 5 Pitcher of the Year Awards, made 11 All Star Games, and won 5 Picknell Series Trophies. He pitched for Buffalo, San Diego and Milwaukee in addition to his time with the Senators, but went into the Hall of Fame wearing a Washington cap in 1965, when 97.9% of voters voted in his favor and the CL and VL Pitcher of the Year Awards were named after him.



We now find ourselves on October 27th of 1969. The Baltimore Barons just won their league-leading 6th Picknell Trophy. The Boston Trolleys, San Francisco Seals, Seattle Metros and Fresno Raisin Bears have never won it.