June 11, 2022

A book all fans of the major-league draft -- out in time for the July amateur selection of high schoolers and college players -- has been published. It is entitled Feeling A Draft: Baseball Scouting and the First 50 Years of the Amateur Player Draft.

One of the latest releases on a subject all draft historians will admire was written by Fred Day and Ray McKenna.

The book looks at the important role of scouts in the game as well as weighing in on some of the more provocative topics in the game. For example, the authors take a dim view of the hyperbolic suggestions in the book “Moneyball” that statistical analysis will supplant the “eyes on” role of scouts in the draft.

They also assert that more recent acclaim for analytics is also overwrought, especially as it is applied to the draft.

The book taps into the knowledge of the men with the “special eyes” ... scouts, who are able to project into the future.

There are a number of stories in the book which are particularly interesting about the work of some excellent Montreal Expos and Toronto Blue Jays scouts. For example Gary Hughes, former Expos scouting director, who won five World Series rings with the Boston Red Sox and Florida Marlins is included. Hughes signed John Elway with the New York Yankees, but he turned to football and won two Super Bowls with the Denver Broncos.

Hughes worked as a scout or executive, for the San Francisco Giants (1967-1972), New York Mets (1973-1976), Seattle Mariners (1977), Yankees (1978-1985), Expos (1986-1991), Florida Marlins (1992-1998), Colorado Rockies (1999), Cincinnati Reds (2000-2002), Chicago Cubs (2002-2011), Boston Red Sox (2012-2018 and the Arizona Diamondbacks (2018-2020), winning five World Series rings.

Former Blue Jays scout Tim Wilken, now of the Arizona Diamondbacks, along with the former top Jays dynamic duo of Al LaMacchia and Bobby Mattick are featured ... along with their legendary war room battles leading into the draft.

New York Daily News ball writer Bill Madden, a former Baseball Writers of America excellence award winner, wrote: “For all those draft aficionados, Frederick J. Day and Raymond J. McKenna, a couple of attorneys (and super fans) have compiled the definitive history of the draft since its inception in 1965 – “Feeling a Draft” (Universe). There’s a ton of interesting behind-the-scenes stuff here gleaned from the teams’ war rooms and I’m fairly certain this book will have a place on the shelves of all 30 general managers.”

Day lives in Falls Church, Va, after obtaining degrees from Providence College, University of Albany-State and George Washington University. McKenna is a Washington, D.C. lawyer who lives in Alexandria, Va. and has been involved in the baseball ministry for over 30 years.

From what we have heard of people who have seen the book, Day and McKenna have hit a grand slam.

Excerpt

Scout Jax Robertson’s account of his first look at Bo Jackson

It was 1982. I was in my third year with the Tigers. John Young had been, in effect, the scouting director that year for the Tigers. Before that, John was living in Alabama and he had a tryout camp in Birmingham. It had rained but Bo Jackson came.

Bo was like the two-time state decathlon champion. Early in the year, John said to me, “I want you to go to McAdory High School, outside of Birmingham, and go see this kid Bo Jackson. I don’t know what he can do, but I know he’s a great athlete.” I went into his little high school early in the season. Only one other scout was there, Julian Morgan with the Cincinnati Reds.

Bo had not been a popular prospect in baseball circles. We got there real early, just the two of us. The coach was kind of a red neck, he was hitting ground balls to all these kids. Bo was about 6’2” and 220 pounds. I asked the coach, “Is there a kid named Bo Jackson around here?” I kept peeking at the gym door and then this stud comes walking out the door and strolling down the hill.

I’m thinking, “Man, this is him.” Bo looks around, picks up his glove, goes out to shortstop where he played in high school and the coach is hitting ground balls. They had a skin infield, hard as a rock. Bo couldn’t catch a cold. He was awful catching ground balls. Coach says, ‘Anybody out here hasn’t hit yet?’ Bo raises his hand.

About six more ground balls bounce off Bo’s shin. He still hasn’t caught a ground ball. Coach says to Bo, ‘all right come on in, get a bat.’ He doesn’t swing, doesn’t loosen up or anything.

Bo hits this one iron shot into the trees in center field. I start thinking, ‘Holy cow, this guy’s really something.’ Then they played the game. Bo’s team won by a lot. He played shortstop and caught almost every ball hit to him. He lined shots to right field, left field. He hit everything.

It was by far the best athletic display on a baseball field I have ever seen.