It Took 36 Years for Another New Yorker to Do This
Each year organizations in Major League Baseball draft select players from high schools and colleges from around the country to fill their minor league rosters. Often, the players that are drafted #1 come from California, Texas, Florida, Georgia and other warm weather states. Therefore, New Yorkers at the top of the MLB draft are few and far between. That is was another thing that made Rexford, NY native, Ian Anderson special being selected by the Braves as the third overall pick. The number one pick overall, that has been illusive for New Yorkers.
In fact, until this past July, a New Yorker had not been selected with the #1 overall draft pick in the Major League Baseball draft since 1985. Ken Davidoff of nypost.com wrote a really cool article about the young man that broke that 36 year streak. Henry Davis, the top overall pick in this year’s amateur draft was out of Louisville but prior to that, he went to Fox Lane High School in Westchester. Davis is a born and bred New Yorker.
The last New Yorker drafted in the #1 slot in 1985, the Brewers chose B.J. Surhoff from the University of North Carolina and Rye High School. Surhoff, originally a catcher like Davis, got picked by the Yankees, of all teams, out of high school in the fifth round of the 1982 draft before deciding to go forward with his commitment to UNC.
Davis was asked if he was hard coming from the northeast. “New Yorkers don’t make excuses with stuff like that,” Davis, the Pirates’ top catching prospect, told nypost.com in a recent interview as he discussed growing up as a ballplayer in our four-season region. “Coming from New York, it’s great that other people can play year-round. But having that time off really made me appreciate baseball more when you did get to play.”
Davis, who played in eight minor-league games after signing before straining his right oblique, is spending much of the winter at the club’s development complex in Bradenton, Florida. Because he is a minor leaguer, Davis can continue to workout at team facilities. It always great to see New Yorkers succeed, especially when they are from just down the road.