New Baseball League Drafts Players
Tuesday, January 3, 1950.
Liverpool; owners, managers and coaches opened a week of meetings at the Adelphi Hotel in Liverpool with a player draft. Unfamiliar to sports fanatics in England, the draft is an element of American sports said to ensure equality and fairness.
The order of picks was drawn randomly to begin the draft and the order would proceed in a serpentine format.
The Birmingham club had the first pick, opting to take George Jones, 23 years old, a pitcher, formerly of their own club during it’s touring days. Jones is highly rated in baseball circles, expected to be a leading star in the newly formed National League.
Second pick, Leeds White Sox took Bart Vickers. The 22-year-old Scots pitcher was unknown to the clubs of England until the open try-outs last year.
The third overall pick was Sheffield’s to make. Mark Evans, another pitcher, was their choice. The 27-year-old from Brighton had been attracting many courters from the professional ranks whilst playing in London’s amateur circuit.
Pick 4 Liverpool Giants drafted Edward Johnson, formerly of their own club system, Nottingham picked up James Bayman, formerly of the amateur Lancashire League. The 6th, 7th and 8th picks fell to the London, Bristol and Manchester clubs respectively.
It wasn’t until the 10th overall pick by Bristol that a ball player other than a pitcher was taken, that was Derby Fisher, a 26 year-old shortstop, often praised as the greatest defensive baseball player England has produced.
The draft finally concluded late in the evening, after over 400 players were picked, representatives of all clubs were said to have seemed satisfied with proceedings
From the archives of the Manchester Guardian.