The 1977 Major League Baseball draft took place prior to the 1977 MLB season. The draft saw the Chicago White Sox select Harold Baines first overall.
First round selections = All-Star = Baseball Hall of Famer
The following are the first round picks in the 1977 Major League Baseball draft.
Pick Player Team Position Hometown/School 1Harold Baines Chicago White Sox OF St. Michaels, Maryland 2 Bill Gullickson Montreal Expos RHP Orland Park, Illinois 3Paul Molitor Milwaukee Brewers SS Minnesota 4 Tim Cole Atlanta Braves LHP Saugerties, New York 5 Kevin Richards Detroit Tigers RHP Wyandotte, Michigan 6Terry Kennedy St. Louis Cardinals C Florida State University 7Richard Dotson California Angels RHP Cincinnati, Ohio 8 Brian Greer San Diego Padres OF Brea, California 9 David Hibner Texas Rangers SS Howell, Michigan 10 Craig Landis San Francisco Giants SS Napa, California 11 Bruce Compton Cleveland Indians OF Norman, Oklahoma 12 Randy Martz Chicago Cubs RHP South Carolina 13 Andrew Madden Boston Red Sox RHP New Hartford, New York 14 Ricky Adams Houston Astros SS Montclair, California 15 Paul Croft Minnesota Twins OF Morristown, New Jersey 16 Wally Backman New York Mets SS Beaverton, Oregon 17 Craig Harris Oakland Athletics RHP Sierra Vista, Arizona 18 Anthony Nicely Pittsburgh Pirates OF Dayton, Ohio 19 Drungo Hazewood Baltimore Orioles OF Sacramento, California 20Bob Welch Los Angeles Dodgers RHP Eastern Michigan 21 Mike Jones Kansas City Royals LHP Pittsford, New York 22 Scott Munninghoff Philadelphia Phillies RHP Cincinnati, Ohio 23 Steve Taylor New York Yankees RHP Delaware 24 Tad Venger Cincinnati Reds 3B Newhall, California 25 Tom Goffena Toronto Blue Jays SS Sidney, Ohio 26Dave Henderson Seattle Mariners OF Dos Palos, California
Other notable selections = All-Star = Baseball Hall of Famer
Round Pick Player Team Position 2 29Kevin Bass Milwaukee Brewers OF 2 38 Terry Francona* Chicago Cubs 1B 2 42 Mookie Wilson New York Mets OF 3 54 Scott Sanderson Montreal Expos RHP 3 57 Darrell Brown Detroit Tigers OF 4 84 Jim Gott St. Louis Cardinals RHP 4 85 Brian Harper California Angels C 4 86Ozzie Smith San Diego Padres SS 5 106Tim Raines Montreal Expos OF 5 124 Mickey Hatcher Los Angeles Dodgers OF 7 145Jesse Orosco* St. Louis Cardinals LHP 9 233Jesse Barfield Toronto Blue Jays OF 11 270Chili Davis San Francisco Giants OF 15 389 Danny Ainge Toronto Blue Jays INF 16 416 Tony Phillips* Seattle Mariners INF/OF 17 429 Gary Redus* Boston Red Sox OF 36 762 Tom Niedenfuer Los Angeles Dodgers RHP
* Did not sign
Background The White Sox surprised some when they passed on right-handed pitcher Bill Gullickson, a native of nearby Orland Park, Illinois, and selected outfielder Harold Baines as the number one pick in the draft. White Sox owner Bill Veeck had seen Baines play little league baseball in Maryland and had followed his progress through the years. After spending three seasons in the minors, Baines was a fixture in the White Sox lineup for 10 seasons, and was eventually elected to the baseball Hall of Fame.
With Gullickson available, Montreal selected the pitcher second overall, and eventually pitcher Scott Sanderson in the third round and outfielder Tim Raines in the fifth.
Shortstop Tom Goffena from Sidney, Ohio became the Toronto Blue Jays' first draft pick as he was chosen 25th in the first round. The Seattle Mariners picked 26th and took outfielder Dave Henderson from Dos Palos, California as their first draft pick. The Blue Jays also picked Danny Ainge out of Brigham Young University in the 15th round. Ainge, who was also drafted by the NBA's Boston Celtics, later quit baseball and played basketball instead, becoming a basketball coach and executive after his playing days ended.
References
External links Complete draft list from The Baseball Cube database