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Safe at home Twins select native son Mauer with top pick of draft
Updated: Wednesday June 06, 2001 9:50 AM
NEW YORK (AP) -- Joe Mauer was having a difficult time describing how he felt after becoming a part of baseball draft history. "I'm kind of tickled, I guess," said Mauer, a high school catcher drafted by the Minnesota Twins with the No. 1 pick in the draft Tuesday. "It's kind of a dream come true. Who'd have thought a year ago that I'd be sitting here today?" It was something Mauer, a left-handed hitting catcher from Cretin-Derham Hall in St. Paul, Minn., fantasized about while growing up a Twins fan. "I followed Kent Hrbek and Kirby Puckett and all those guys," the 18-year-old Mauer said. "This is kind of a fairy tale." Mauer, a right-handed thrower, joined Danny Goodwin (Chicago White Sox, 1971) and David Clyde (Texas, 1973) as the only players chosen by their home state teams with the No. 1 pick. "This is a natural for the Minnesota Twins," general manager Terry Ryan said. "I don't know if you could write a better script." Southern California right-hander Mark Prior, considered by some as the greatest college pitcher ever, was taken by the Chicago Cubs with the second pick. "I know it's going to hit me hard tonight when I sit down and think I'm going to be a Chicago Cub and I might have the opportunity to play in Wrigley Field," Prior said.
Next, Tampa Bay selected Middle Tennessee State right-hander Dewon Brazelton; Philadelphia took high school right-hander Gavin Floyd; and Georgia Tech third baseman Mark Teixeira was chosen by Texas with the fifth pick. High school shortstop Michael Garciaparra, brother of Nomar Garciaparra; prep first baseman Dustin Yount, son of Hall of Famer Robin Yount; and Arizona outfielder Shelley Duncan, son of St. Louis pitching coach Dave Duncan were among those drafted with strong baseball bloodlines. Rolando Viera, a Cuban pitcher who was denied a request for free agency Monday, was drafted in the seventh round by Boston with the 213th pick. Matt Harrington, a right-hander drafted by Colorado with the seventh pick last year and the only first-round pick who didn't sign, re-entered the draft and was picked by San Diego with the 58th pick. The 6-foot-4, 205-pound Mauer was a standout in baseball, basketball and football, and has accepted a scholarship to play quarterback at Florida State. "Right now, I just want to enjoy this," said Mauer, the first catcher drafted with the top pick since Milwaukee took B.J. Surhoff in 1985. He hit .605 with 14 homers and 46 RBIs this season. Prior, 14-1 with a 1.50 ERA, had a school- and Pac-10- record 189 strikeouts and just 17 walks in 131 2/3 innings for the College World Series-bound Trojans. Brazelton went from being an unknown pitcher to one of the best in college after going 6-0 with a Team USA-record 0.65 ERA last summer. Floyd, from Mt. St. Joseph High School in Maryland, has a fastball that touches the mid-90s, a knee-buckling curve, and excellent command. Teixeira, considered one of college baseball's best switch-hitters, was sidelined 10 weeks with a broken right ankle, but healed in time for the NCAA tournament, where he showed he hadn't lost his sweet stroke. With the sixth overall pick, Montreal took UCLA right-hander Josh Karp. Next, Baltimore took Chris Smith, a left-hander from Cumberland (Tenn.) University. John VanBenschoten, a right-handed pitcher and first baseman from Kent State who led the country with 31 home runs, went to Pittsburgh with the eighth pick. Colt Griffin, a right-hander from Marshall (Texas) High School who threw a 100-mph pitch in front of dozens of scouts two months ago, was taken ninth by Kansas City. Houston selected Tennessee infielder Chris Burke, the Southeastern Conference player of the year, with the 10th pick. Rice right-hander Kenny Baugh was drafted by Detroit, then Milwaukee took right-hander Mike Jones from Thunderbird (Ariz.) H.S. Casey Kotchman, son of Anaheim minor league manager and scout Tom Kotchman, was selected out of Seminole (Fla.) H.S. by the Angels with the 13th pick. Tulane third baseman Jake Gautreau was taken by San Diego and Auburn outfielder Gabe Gross went to Toronto with the 15th pick. Oakland took Long Beach State shortstop Bobby Crosby, son of former major league infielder Ed Crosby, and high school right-hander Jeremy Bonderman with the 25th and 26th picks. Bonderman, a junior from Pasco (Wash.) H.S., declared for the draft and was granted eligibility because he is 18 and received a general equivalency diploma.
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