MR IRRELEVANT FABL STYLE
There is a long-standing tradition of recognizing the final player selected in the NFL draft each year. The title "Mr Irrelevant" was first bestowed in 1976 when former USC and NFL receiver Paul Salata coined the term and founded an event which would reward the final selection in the draft with a trip to Disneyland in California and an award called the Lowsman Trophy. Over the years many Mr. Irrelevant's have played in the NFL with the most successful perhaps being Tyrone McGriff who was taken with the final pick in what was then a 12 round draft in 1980 by Pittsburgh. He made the NFL all-rookie team and later became an All-Star in the USFL.
So by a suggestion from Sailors GM Alan let's take a look at the Mr Irrelevant's of FABL. We could actually argue there are 2 of them each year. One would be the final pick of the 10th round - the last selection by human GM's before the draft goes fully auto and of course the actual Mr Irrelevant being the final pick of the last round (originally 15 in the human GM era but in later years extended to 25 rounds).
We just completed our 9th draft with human GMs in the league and the most recent 10th round Mr. Irrelevant is
Hugh Dresch, a 22 year old catcher out of Golden Gate University. The Keystones selected him after Dresch went undrafted a year ago and returned to the Grizzlies for his senior campaign, a season that saw him bat .219 with 8 homers in 46 games.
So is there a chance that Dresch will ever wear a big league uniform? Well, history says 'yes' as two previous Mr Irrelevant's have suited up for a FABL club already.
The most successful is Rip Crandall, a second baseman selected by the New York Stars out of Milwaukee High School in 1925. He is not a superstar by any means but Crandall is a New York Star, having spent each of the past four seasons as a reserve infielder with the club including 88 games this past season. He is just a .237 career hitter in 256 games but Crandall brings value with his club - he is pretty solid defensively at all four infield positions and has a HIGH work ethic.
The 1926 Mr. 10th Round Irrelevant has also made it to the show.
Jack Richardson is now a 25 year old pitcher who spent a bit of time with the St Louis Pioneers in 1931 and 1932, compiling a 4-13 record with a 5.86 era in 23 appearances (20 starts). He pitched a no-hitter as a high school junior in Cleveland and was taken by the New York Gothams with the 16th pick of round 10 in 1926. His claim to fame is he was traded for the legendary Max Morris (well, along with 4 other prospects) in 1940. He peaked at #69 on the top 100 prospect list just before an arm injury cost him the back half of the 1931 season. He has had elbow issues ever since and spent all of 1933 in AAA so he may not make it back to the big leagues.
Other 10th round Mr. Irrelevants are:
1927-
JOE KING: A college pitcher out of Lubbock State was drafted by the Keystones but traded to the Chicago Cougars in 1929. He went 13-10 at AA last season and received a late promotion to AAA for the first time in his career last season.
1928-
GENE SMITH: The Sailors took the middle infielder from Waco High School and he is still in their system as a 23 year old. He spent 3 and a half years in Class C before a promotion to B last season. Is likely never going to make the big leagues.
1929-
DOC KEENAN: The former College of San Diego right hander has progressed very slowly through the Detroit Dynamos system. He has looked very good in Class B, winning 15 games as a 22 year old 3 seasons ago and going 12-15 the following year. He split last season between B and A but seems destined to be a career minor leaguer.
1930 -
BERT FOWLER: The Sailors selected the right hander out of Bayou State but cut him before he pitched an inning in the organization. He landed with independent El Paso of the Lone Star Association for a couple of seasons but is now retired.
1931-
JOHNNY PHILLIPS: A lefthander out of Lubbock State, Phillips was promoted from A to AA midway through the 1933 season and still has major league dreams at the age of 23.
1932-
BOBBY MCHENRY: Centerfielder from Coastal California had a nice rookie pro season in Class C of the New York Stars organization. McHenry hit .277 with 14 stolen bases in his first pro season after being a .344 hitter over 3 seasons of college ball.
MR IRRELEVANT - FULL DRAFT
As for the Mr Irrelevant selections when you look at the whole draft clearly the most successful final pick is
Job Readus, a 1917 selection of the Pittsburgh Miners out of Maryland State. The first baseman was the last listed pick of that draft and would go on to play 947 big league games but none were with the Miners, who released him immediately after the draft. He would sign with the New York Stars and hit .314 for his career while being a part of three straight World Championship teams with the Stars. Not bad for the 447th pick of his draft class. I don't believe Readus was actually the final pick of his draft, but anyone selected after him failed to sign so their names are lost to history. Either way, quite a career for Readus considering when he was selected. The draft is no longer over 25 rounds so Readus will likely forever be known as the lowest draft pick ever to win a World Series.
A similar case in 1925 - the first human GM draft year.
Ernie Frost was selected with likely the second last pick of that draft (round 15, pick 15) but the final pick likely did not sign so his name is also lost. As for Frost, well the outfielder is still going strong with the team that selected him, the Washington Eagles. A high schooler out of Chicago, Frost has played each of the last two seasons for the Eagles and is a .295 career hitter in 176 big league games. He was the 239th pick of his draft class as the draft was limited to 15 rounds that season.
That is pretty much it for final picks of the draft enjoying any big league success. If you want to follow his career along, the true Mr Irrelevant of this year's draft is
Billy Roberts, a second baseman selected 400th overall by the Chicago Cougars out of a junior college. Roberts spent three years playing for Toledo High School and enrolled in Pensacola JC after not being drafted following the 1932 season. The Cougars GM has does not speak very highly of Roberts so his pro career may be very brief.
And that concludes the brief moment in the spotlight for Roberts, Dresch and all of the other Mr Irrelevants of FABL draft history.