I think it has been a while since I looked back at an old draft class and I believe 1920 is the last one I did so let's get back on track and see how the first round selections of the 1921 draft made out.
1- HOWIE SHIFFLETT 2B- Philadelphia Keystones: The 18 year old shortstop put up some pretty solid numbers while with Houston High School but it took him a long time to get to the major leagues. At one point he was the #3 rated prospect in the game and he finally made his big league debut six years after his draft year. Since then he has played regularly for the Keystones but really is just an average big league second baseman, batting .295 and averaging about 7 homers a season. His defense is a little suspect and he is not what you would think a first overall pick should be, but it was a weak draft year and the Keystones did get a serviceable major league piece.
2- BERT FLORES RHP- Toronto Wolves: In the past I have talked about the AI years Toronto GM's penchant for drafting pitchers who ultimately underachieved and they got another one in 1921 with the selection of Flores. He was decent but not overly impressive in high school ball in Louisville. Flores peaked as the #7 rated prospect in 1927 and actually had a pretty strong sophomore season on a weak Toronto team in 1929, going 17-17 with a 3.26 era. That would be the zenith of his big league career as he struggled (to put it mildly) through a 1-12, 7.54 1930 season in a year he was plagued by a nagging hamstring injury. The Wolves released him early the following season and since then he has bounced around with a couple of independent teams finding a home with the Denver Plainsmen of the Western Association. It is extremely unlikely that, at age 32, he ever finds his way back to the majors so he finishes with a 27-47 career record. It should be noted Toronto had much better success with their second round pick as they went with Birdie Smith out of Brunswick University. Smith, who is still going strong with the Wolves at age 34, is the second most successful pitcher in his draft class posting a 150-184 mark to date. The Cougars Dick Lyons, who was taken 5 picks after Smith and is 112-88 with an all-star game selection, would likely be considered the best pitcher selection of this draft.
3- GUSTAVO MUNOZ SS- Pittsburgh Miners: Another high school selection, Munoz lasted just 2 seasons in the Miners system before being released. Obviously not a good look for the organization with a high first round draft pick. He bounced around with a couple of teams before finally get a big league chance with Detroit where he hit .309 as a 26 year old rookie. He was a regular on the Dynamos 1929 World Championship team but his playing time decreased substantially after that and he spent all of the 1934 season in AAA. He does have a .304 career average in 355 FABL games.
4- PETE LAYTON 2B- New York Stars: In hindsight the middle infielder from College of San Diego clearly should have gone #1. He has been a huge piece of the Stars success over the past decade, making two all-star teams, winning 4 World Championship Series and being named MVP of the 1932 Series. Now 34, Layton has a .333 career batting average and 1,851 hits in 1,454 FABL games and appears to still be going strong after hitting .329 this season - the 8th straight year he surpassed the .300 mark. Layton also won a batting title in 1928 and has a .375 career postseason batting average in 20 games.
5- FRANK PLATT OF - Detroit Dynamos: Now retired, Platt spent parts of 8 seasons in Detroit after being selected out of Brunswick, including 3 years as a starter in Detroit. He had back to back 200 hit seasons including 1927 when he led the Fed with 225 hits and also topped the loop with 35 steals. He was on the 1929 World Championship Detroit squad but only appeared in 16 games that season. Platt played 612 big league games and hit .324 but after his impressive run from 1925-26 much more was expected from him.
6- CHRIS ODLE 3B - New York Gothams: Out of Wilkes-Barre High School, Odle was released by the Gothams this past April and has not caught on anywhere else. He spent 7 seasons with the club including 3 as their starting third baseman and hit .274 in 560 FABL games. Certainly nothing special but no worse than most of those draft near him.
7- ROCKY EDWARDS 2B - Chicago Cougars: Edwards had 3 decent seasons for the Cougars but then fell off the map when they dealt him to Brooklyn at age 26. The Coastal California product hit .303 in 430 games with the Cougars and .214 after he left them. He retired following the 1933 season with career that encompassed 484 FABL games.
8- LEO REYNOLDS P - Baltimore Cannons: Reynolds perhaps could have been so much more than he turned out to be as it appears a devastating elbow injury greatly altered his career. He was MVP of the 1921 College World Series with the Northern California Miners as a junior before the Cannons selected him but Reynolds failed to sign and returned to the Miners for his senior season. Baltimore drafted him again the following season but in the second round this time and he did eventually sign. Fast tracked to AAA out spring camp, Reynolds won his first 4 decisions as a professional at that level and was in Baltimore midway through his rookie pro season. He was 6-11 with a 3.53 era until he hurt his elbow late in the season and missed over a year. While Reynolds did pitch for Baltimore again he never lived up to the promise he appeared to show as a rookie pro, going 2-7 with a 4.57 era in 1924 and pitching out of the Baltimore bullpen in 1926 but that was the extent of his big league time. He does remain in the Baltimore system at age 33 but has yet to make it back to the major leagues, spending most of his time at AA Erie. Johnson is 11-22 with 3 saves and a 4.00 in parts of 3 big league seasons.
9- DICK ALEXANDER P - Boston Minutemen: Alexander went 7-1, 1.79 in his draft year and along with Reynolds helped lead Northern California to a College World Series title. He made his major league debut less than 2 years later but never really caught on with the Minutemen. He was in the rotation for 3 seasons and went 14-7 in 1928 but was moved to the bullpen by 1931 and spent all of last season, at age 33, in AAA> His FABL mark is 54-61 with a 4.19 era.
10- ALEX DIAZ C- Philadelphia Sailors: Other than Pete Layton, the product of Lynn High School has been the most successful first rounder in this draft. 1300 career games and counting with a .290 batting average while with the Sailors. He won a pair of World Championship Series and was MVP of the 1928 Fall Classic. Simply a very good, steady big league catcher for the past decade.
11- LARRY CRAIG 2B- Brooklyn Kings: Ended up playing 259 big league games and hitting .267, but none with the team that drafted him. After one season of class A ball the Kings released the former Dickson College Maroon. The St Louis Pioneers along with Indy teams Portland and Sacramento also signed him for a spell only to quickly release Craig as well. He did eventually catch on with the Sailors in 1923 and spent parts of 5 seasons as a backup with Philadelphia, earning a pair of World Championship Series rings. The Sailors cut ties with him prior to the 1933 season and he has been with Pueblo of the Western Association ever since.
12- ART ROE P - Cleveland Foresters: Had a decent career at Rainier College and has accomplished a lot in the minors over his career including throwing a no-hitter in 1926 and being a part of 3 minor league pennant winners while winning 144 games. His big league career was much less impressive. He pitched 2 innings for the 1926 Foresters and went 6-6 for the club as a swingman the following season. After being waived he was picked up by Brooklyn and in 1929 went 2-3 with a 6.69 era in 6 starts for the Kings before being released. Now 34, he is pitching for independent Syracuse of the Union League.
13- ED PINKHAM C - Chicago Chiefs: The Oakland High Schooler was dealt to Montreal while still in the minors and ended up spending 7 seasons with the Saints, primarily in a backup role. Washington claimed him off waivers at the start of the season and he appeared in 82 games for the Eagles this season, second most of his career. Pinkham has hit .274 in 491 FABL games and is an average backup catcher.
14- GUS PERRY P -Montreal Saints: Perry won a pair of College World Series titles with Liberty College but went back to school after Montreal released him in his first spring camp. He would be selected by the Sailors in the second round of the 1922 draft and spend half a dozen years in their organization including a 10-14 season in 1925 with the big league club. He ran into some injury troubles after that and never pitched in the majors again, having to settle for a 16-26 record with a 5.75 era in 33 appearances over 3 seasons. He is now 34 and still going strong, having spent the past 5 seasons with independent Pueblo of the Western Association, posting 70-47 record over the time for the Mountaineers.
15- MIKE HICKS P - Washington Eagles: The 1921 draft must have had some tough player agents as Hicks was the third pick of the opening round who refused to sign joining fellow pitchers Leo Reynolds and Gus Perry. After 3 seasons at Northern Mississippi Hicks transferred to Commonwealth Catholic for his senior campaign after refusing to sign with the Eagles. Montreal grabbed him in the second round of the 1922 draft but released him midway through his rookie pro season. Hicks eventually caught on with Pittsburgh and spent 6 seasons in the Miners bullpen, appearing in 231 FABL games - all in relief. He was 25-23 with 27 saves before being cut loose after the 1931 season. He is now 33 and has spent the last two seasons pitching for independent Portland of the Great Western League.
16- CHARLIE JOHNSON P - St Louis Pioneers: Johnson, like 14th pick Gus Perry, had quite the college pedigree as he helped pitch Liberty College to back to back national titles in 1919 and 1920. Injuries hounded him as a pro including missing nearly all of the 1922 season with shoulder troubles. Despite that Johnson had some strong minor league seasons including going 24-3 for AA Dayton as a 23 year old in 1924. Midway through the 1925 season he was dealt to the New York Gothams in a trade that brought Hal Galvan to St Louis. He debuted with the Gothams that year and went 11-5 with a 3.01 era in 1926 - the only season he was a starter. Johnson then settled in the New York bullpen and led the Fed in saves with 14 in 1931 but dealt with numerous injuries through his days in New York. He was dealt to Cleveland prior to the 1933 season and spent the past two seasons pitching in AAA Cincinnati. Now 34 years old he is 25-25 with 43 saves and a 3.61 era in 196 big league appearances.
SUMMARY
So Pete Layton and Alex Diaz were the only solid major leaguers to come out of the first round of the 1921 draft which appears to have been a very thin crop overall. Frank Vance is about the best of the remaining hitters - he went in round two to Detroit. I already mentioned pitchers Dick Lyons and Birdie Smith, who were both very good second round picks but beyond that there really is not much that stands out. Perhaps third rounders Tom Hopkins, who enjoyed a few seasons in Pittsburgh or Ed Roberts, who remains Baltimore's option at third base all these years later.
It would be easy to criticize a number of teams for bad first round picks - especially those that released guys very shortly after drafting them - but the truth is, other than a very select few, this was simply a very poor crop of players in the 1921 draft.