Looking at NBA #1 picks,

Last years #1 pick (Blake Griffin) hasn't yet played because he broke his foot before the start of the season. He's expected to return next season however.

Before that the last #1 pick to never play in the NBA was Gene Melchiorre in 1951. He never played because he admitted to participating in a college point shaving scandal (after the draft) and the NBA banned all people involved in that scandal.

Other than that Clifton McNeeley in 1947 because instead of taking the pro job he instead took a high school coaching job.

I believe we concluded a while ago that winning Minor League Player of the Year was a better predictor of success than winning the Heisman Trophy.

Well duh! The Heisman is for FOOTBALL. Of course a baseball award would be a better predictor of success in the majors.....

Baseball Reference has "Hall of Fame" scores for everybody in which you earn points for various playing achievements. The average Hall of Famers has a score of 100. So far the MLB draft has only produced three surefire Hall of Famers in the #1 pick (Griffey-235 points, Rodriguez-349 points, Chipper Jones-162 points) and one borderline case (Harold Baines-66 points).

Excluding the three sure things, the rest of the group picked through 1997 (to allow time for an actual career) averages a Hall of Fame score of 13.2.

Unfortunately I don't see anything similar for basketball on their site. However, a somewhat random sample of modern major leaguers produces and average of 2.57. So they're definitely pretty good at making sure that the #1 pick is better than average.

When Craig Biggio makes the Hall of Fame, my campaign for Harold Baines will begin in ernest.

Not a bad start for the kid. 14 X's in seven innings for the win.

I also like the rapid-fire pitch cadence he has. It keeps the game moving right along.


Note: 14 Strike outs ties the record for most in the majors so far this season.

Did they have a ceremony after the game to give him the Cy Young award or are they doing that before his next start?

I don't know about that, but I have heard the term "The Sermon on the mound" tossed about....

He should get his ass kicked back down to the minors for that stroll to first in the 3rd.

And what the F? He LOST a game. It's definitely time to send this guys back to the minors.