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Dick James 1967
The first MLB amateur draft opened with the A's taking Rick Monday, the Mets choosing Les Rohr, the Senators grabbing Joe Coleman Jr, the Astros selecting a shortstop named Alex Barrett (reached spring training 1967 - nothing more), and the Red Sox adding Tony Conigliaro's brother Billy fifth.
And then the Cubs drafted Dick James out of Coffee High School in Florence, Alabama. They gave him a reported $40,000 bonus, watched him throw six shutouts in his first 58 minor league starts, then summoned him in September of '67. He made three appearances, one start, went 0-1, stalled in '68 and was left off the protected list and chosen by the Padres in the Expansion Draft. He spent 1969 in AA for them, then wound up back in the Cubs system for a final minor league season in 1970.
(Current records identify him as "Rick" but the newspapers of 1967 and 1969 - and George Brace's records - call him only "Dick")
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