JUNE 25, 1962
MINERS, SAINTS GET TOP DRAFT GRADES FROM OSAThe 1962 draft was especially kind to the Pittsburgh Miners and Montreal Saints if the OSA prospect rankings are any indication. Those two FABL clubs were the only teams to place two of their draft picks on the scouting service list of the top fifty prospects as the first post-draft rankings were made public.
The Miners first rounder, high school pitcher Jack Kotarski, heads the newcomers with his standing as the number seven prospect. The fifth overall selection in the draft will turn 18 later this week. Pittsburgh's second rounder, two-time Christian Trophy winner Dick Vitt, a first baseman/outfielder from Brunswick College, slotted in at #14 on the pipeline, giving the Miners both the highest first rounder on the list as well as the top ranked second rounder.
Only the Montreal Saints, with a pair of high school pitchers in Ellis Porter and Joe Downing, joined the Miners in having both their first and second rounder crack the OSA top fifty prospects. Porter, the 8th overall selection, lands at #18 on the scouting service list while second rounder Downing slides in at #38.
Only one other newly drafted player joined Kotarski in cracking the top ten. That would be Toronto's Bill Carpenter, who was the hero for California Catholic's College World Championship Series victory two weeks ago. The 6th overall pick is 9th overall and third amongst pitchers behind Kotarski and 1958 draft pick Owen Lantz of the Washington Eagles organization.
All but two of the twenty first round selections debuted inside the OSA top 100 prospects with the two exceptions being the selections that bookended the round. First overall pick Joe Conner, a high school pitcher selected by the expansion Los Angeles Suns, debuted at 129th on the scouting service list while the final choice of the opening round, Cleveland's new third base prospect Babe Thornton, ended up just missing the century list at 101st.
Five of the twenty second round selections cracked the top 100 led by Pittsburgh's Vitt. Only one second round choice - St Louis Pioneer Elias Lugo- failed to crack the OSA top 500. The highest ranking third round prospect according to the OSA is Andy Bailey, an Arizona born outfielder selected 42nd overall by the New York Imperials. The 18-year-old is the only third round selection to crack the scouting service's top 100 prospects.
OSA lists do need to be taken with a large grain of salt as all players, especially newly drafted ones, can experience wild swings as they chart a path that hopefully ends in the big leagues but at least for this moment in time here is a list of all players selected in the opening three rounds of the 1962 draft and where they stand on the prospect pipeline as they embark upon professional careers.
- Buddy Miller of the Philadelphia Keystones collected his 2,000th career hit last week. The 32-year-old outfielder owns 3 Whitney Awards and is an 8-time all-star selection.
- Forgive me for starting to wonder if the New York Imperials will ever win another game. The Imps are 1-21 in June and have lost their last 15 games.
- From the Boston Globe "2 pitchers (Kotarski #7 and Carpenter #9) rank highest (according to Boston's scout) in the new pipeline. John Edwards ranks as the highest position player at #15 but Dick Vitt who was taken in round 2 by the Miners appears to be the early steal of the draft.
- Word out of Los Angeles is the Stars are happy with their draft and in particular first rounder Lew Smith. The young shortstop debuted at 50th on the OSA scouting pipeline after being selected 16th in last week's FABL draft.
- The Toronto Mail & Empire's Brett Bing tells us the Wolves have decided to send all their draft picks to Class C Tuscaloosa to start their professional careers including first rounder and top ten OSA prospect Bill Carpenter. With records of Vancouver, 24-34 in the COW, Davenport 21-46 in the Heartland the FABL club expects rapid movement throughout the system after the rookies get their feet wet. July will be an active month in the Toronto's system. Toronto has eight prospects in the top 100 with now former college pitcher Bill Carpenter at 9 leading the pack. Toronto's system now ranks sixth in the FABL. Wolves have told Carpenter not to bother looking for an apartment in Alabama as a promotion is expected to come quick.
RECENT KEY RESULTS- French heavyweight hopeful Jean-Marc Durand improved to 37-3 with a 9th round knockout of Brit Ross Hamilton in a bout in Paris on Saturday. The 26-year-old is said to be negotiating a title shot with Harry Pratt, assuming Pratt successfully defends his crown in New Orleans next month.
UPCOMING MAJOR FIGHTS
- July 12 heavyweight champion Harry Pratt will make his first defense after knocking out Bert Parks -another champ who was making his first defense- in March. Pratt, who turns 27 later this month, hails from Houston, Tx., and enters the ring with a 28-4 career record. The bout will be held in New Orleans and his opponent will be Walt Phillips, a 25-year-old San Francisco native with a career mark of 34-7.
The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 6/24/1962
- Citing the first amendment, the Supreme Court struck down New York's 22-word prayer in public schools as an unconstitutional breach of the law of separation between church and state. The court held that neither the fact the prayer was "denominationally neutral" nor the fact that student participation was voluntary could save it from the First Amendment's ban on the establishment of religion.
- Government officials labored to attempt to find a solution to the Eastern Airlines strike and to head off another threatening Pan Am. The Labor Department says more meetings are slated between the airlines and the Flight Engineers Association after Eastern flights were grounded Saturday by the strike.
- Today is the 12th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War. It was marked quietly in Seoul but South Korean and United Nations authorities reaffirmed their determination to block any repetition of the Communist invasion of 1950.
- The British government is fully ready to cooperate with America's new no-city nuclear-war strategy. American sources suggest, despite rumours otherwise, France will also accept the United States effort to deter city destruction during a future nuclear war.
- Hit by five consecutive losing sessions, the stock market dropped to its lowest level in nearly four years.
- Former President Eisenhower, sounding like the campaigner of 1952, has attacked the "mess in Washington" under the Kennedy administration and urged his fellow Republicans to "work like never before" to regain control of the House in November. The general added that his successor in the White House "is floundering" in his efforts to manage to economy.