1971 Major League Baseball draft

First round selections

= All-Star

= Baseball Hall of Famer

The following are the first round picks in the 1971 Major League Baseball draft.^[1]

Pick	Player	Team	Position	Hometown/School
1	* Danny Goodwin	Chicago White Sox	C	Peoria, Illinois
2	Jay Franklin	San Diego Padres	RHP	Vienna, Virginia
3	Tommy Bianco	Milwaukee Brewers	SS	Elmont, New York
4	* Condredge Holloway	Montreal Expos	SS	Huntsville, Alabama
5	Roy Branch	Kansas City Royals	RHP	St. Louis, Missouri
6	Roy Thomas	Philadelphia Phillies	RHP	Lompoc, California
7	Roger Quiroga	Washington Senators	RHP	Galveston, Texas
8	Ed Kurpiel	St. Louis Cardinals	1B	Hollis, New York
9	David Sloan	Cleveland Indians	RHP	Santa Clara, California
10	Taylor Duncan	Atlanta Braves	SS	Sacramento, California
11	Tom Veryzer	Detroit Tigers	SS	Islip, New York
12	Frank Tanana	California Angels	LHP	Detroit, Michigan
13	Neil Rasmussen	Houston Astros	SS	Arcadia, California
14	Rich Puig	New York Mets	2B	Tampa, Florida
15	Jim Rice	Boston Red Sox	OF	Anderson, South Carolina
16	Jeff Wehmeir	Chicago Cubs	RHP	Indianapolis, Indiana
17	William "Sugar Bear" Daniels	Oakland Athletics	RHP	Detroit, Michigan
18	Frank Riccelli	San Francisco Giants	LHP	Syracuse, New York
19	Terry Whitfield	New York Yankees	OF	Blythe, California
20	Rick Rhoden	Los Angeles Dodgers	RHP	Boynton Beach, Florida
21	Dale Soderholm	Minnesota Twins	SS	Miami, Florida
22	Craig Reynolds	Pittsburgh Pirates	SS	Houston, Texas
23	Randy Stein	Baltimore Orioles	RHP	Pomona, California
24	* Mike Miley	Cincinnati Reds	SS	New Orleans, Louisiana

* Did not sign

Background

The June 1971 draft was a productive one, even though none of its top ten choices yielded players who would have memorable major league careers. Selected in the regular phase were future all-stars Jim Rice (Boston, 1st round), Frank Tanana (California, 1st round), George Brett (Kansas City, 2nd round), Ron Guidry (New York Yankees, 3rd round), Rick Rhoden (Los Angeles, 1st round), Mike Schmidt (Philadelphia, 2nd round) and Keith Hernandez (St. Louis, 42nd round). In the secondary phase, Burt Hooton (Chicago Cubs, 1st round), Steve Rogers (Montreal, 1st round) and Steve Busby (Kansas City, 2nd round) were chosen.

Pitcher Mike Flanagan was selected in the 15th round of the June regular phase by Houston, but enrolled at the University of Massachusetts. One of the more interesting highlights of the June draft was that five quarterbacks were selected including future NFL stars Archie Manning, Steve Bartkowski and Joe Theismann. Danny Goodwin, the nation's top pick, couldn't agree to terms with the White Sox and became the first top choice who did not sign a contract.

Other notable players

Condredge Holloway went on to have a career in the Canadian Football League, where he was awarded Most Outstanding Player while playing for the Toronto Argonauts

Notes

1. "MLB First Round Draft Picks - 1971". Retrieved 2008-10-28.

External links

• Complete draft list from The Baseball Cube database

References

• Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.