Saturday, August 8, 2020

Straight to the Majors

A lot of the posts in my draft folder start as an idea based on one card. I must have found out that Burt Hooton never played in the minors. I know there are a few other players that made the leap from high school or college directly to the majors. Jim Abbott and Mike Leake come to my mind right away. Who else?

Burt Hooton - Chicago Cubs - 1971


3 comments:

  1. Bob Feller comes to mind, but then again he was playing for the Indians while he was still in high school.

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  2. Kaline and Winfield are two more guys who went straight to the show.

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  3. I always remember Bob Horner going straight to the majors in 1978. A few years later he was sent down to Richmond, but refused to report and never played in the minors.

    John Olerud went straight to the majors in 1990. He did eventually have a rehab assignment to Pawtucket in his final season, making his minor league debut at the age of 36.

    Sandy Koufax was a "bonus baby", meaning his signing bonus was so high that under the rules he had to go straight to the majors and stay there for two years. The Dodgers considered sending him down in 1957, but never did.

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