{"id":698,"date":"2007-05-02T17:38:42","date_gmt":"2007-05-02T17:38:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beta.mbtn.net\/?p=698"},"modified":"2013-11-30T17:40:16","modified_gmt":"2013-11-30T17:40:16","slug":"meet-the-missing-mets-les-rohr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mbtn.net\/?p=698","title":{"rendered":"Meet the Missing Mets: Les Rohr"},"content":{"rendered":"

A post below regarding\u00a0Moises Alou<\/strong>\u2019s appearance as the 800th Met of all time drew an\u00a0interesting response<\/a>\u00a0from Harvey Polis, who writes:<\/p>\n

The 2007 Mets Media Guide lists only 797 all-time Mets through 2006, not the actual 79[9]. As was the case last year, the missing Mets are pitcher\u00a0Les Rohr<\/strong><\/a>(the only Mets born in England) and outfielder\u00a0Darren Bragg<\/strong><\/a>. The same two were missing from last year\u2019s All-Time Roster in the 2006 Media Guide.<\/p>\n

I notified them of the error, but it was not corrected.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Amazin\u2019! Because not only does Les Rohr have the distinction of being the first and only Met born in England but he was also the first-ever Met draft pick when the amateur draft as we know it today was established in 1965.<\/p>\n

Until then, all amateur ballplayers were free agents, whom scouts competed to find and to sign. This competition of course led to inflated signing bonuses \u2014 an effect owners first tried to blunt by limiting the number of first-year players a team could protect from a postseason raid. This plan never worked out: Not only did teams lose good players this way (the Orioles in 1962 robbed the Mets of\u00a0Paul Blair,<\/strong>\u00a0who might well have become the Mets\u2019 best player of the 1960s), but teams trying to avoid such losses simply carried young players on their squads all year long whether or not they were ready for the competition, or else tried hiding them with bogus injuries and other tricks. No, there had to be a better way, and a draft \u2014 which would limit every player\u2019s suitor to one club (and therefore, his salary to what that club was willing to pay and not a penny more) was the solution.<\/p>\n

Oh yeah, and the draft also would evenly distribute talent and prop faltering minor leagues, proponents were quick to add.<\/p>\n

For the Mets the introduction of the draft was a mixed blessing. While pleased to be free of threats and restrictions to their prospects, they along with the Dodgers and a few other free marketeers feared the draft would blunt their financial advantages over the competition. Not that the Mets of the era ever carried through on the threat to spend big, they clearly enjoyed having the option.<\/p>\n

And so on June, 9, 1965, teams would pick amateur talent one player at a time in the reverse order of the past year\u2019s standings and alternating by league. The AL and the Kansas City A\u2019s got the first crack that year so the Mets picked second overall.<\/p>\n

Writing in the\u00a0New York Post<\/em>\u00a0that day,\u00a0Leonard Schecter:<\/strong><\/p>\n

As all the keen-eyed, sharply experienced baseball men from all over the world gather here to draft young baseball players off the sandlots and campuses of the nation, we can be certain of only one thing \u2013 they will make mistakes. \u2026 In years to come, these men will sit around over a glass of iced tea or something, shake their heads sadly and say, \u2018How the hell could the Mets have passed that kid up?\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The passage is remarkably prescient. Because after the A\u2019s selected\u00a0Rick Monday,<\/strong>\u00a0an outfielder with Arizona State University who\u2019d go on to have a fine 19-year career, the Mets with overall pick No. 2 chose\u00a0Les Rohr<\/strong><\/a>, a 6-foot-5, 200-pound lefty who was born in England but just graduated high school in Billings, Montana.<\/p>\n

Met Scout Red Murff on Rohr that day:<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is as impressive as Ray Sadecki when the Cardinals signed him. He strikes out everyone and his own catcher is in danger of being injured. He should be a 20-game winner in the majors in a few years.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like I\u2019ve been a part of something historic,\u201d Mets assistant GM\u00a0Bing Devine<\/strong>\u00a0added afterward, and he had. In the 12th<\/sup>\u00a0round, he\u2019d unknowingly called the name of baseball\u2019s future all-time strikeout leader.<\/p>\n

That Les Rohr would battle injuries and ultimately appear in just six major league games over three seasons, while a 12th<\/sup>-round pick would go to become\u00a0Nolan Ryan<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0provides an early illustration of just how hit-and-miss the new draft system could be. And with the Mets still fighting an organizational talent deficit relative to their peers, it\u2019s easy to understand their reservations. (In addition to Monday, the first round would also produce\u00a0Joe Coleman, Bernie Carbo and Jim Spencer<\/strong>\u00a0but no other Major Leaguers of substance). Future Met infielders\u00a0Joe Moock<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Ken Boswell<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0were selected in rounds 3 and 4, respectively; and pitchers\u00a0Jim McAndrew<\/strong>\u00a0<\/a>and\u00a0Don Shaw<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0in rounds 11 and 24, respectively.<\/p>\n

As for Rohr, he\u2019d have a promising debut in September of 1967 but suffer continued arm trouble and make brief appearances in 1968 and 1969, also in September. His lifetime record 2-3, 3.70. He wore Nos.\u00a031<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(1967-68) and\u00a033<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(1969) for the Mets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A post below regarding\u00a0Moises Alou\u2019s appearance as the 800th Met of all time drew an\u00a0interesting response\u00a0from Harvey Polis, who writes: The 2007 Mets Media Guide lists only 797 all-time Mets through 2006, not the actual 79[9]. As was the case last year, the missing Mets are pitcher\u00a0Les Rohr(the only Mets born in England) and outfielder\u00a0Darren … Continue reading “Meet the Missing Mets: Les Rohr”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[313,243,314],"class_list":["post-698","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-les-rohr","tag-nolan-ryan","tag-red-murff"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mbtn.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/698","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mbtn.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mbtn.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mbtn.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mbtn.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=698"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.mbtn.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/698\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":699,"href":"https:\/\/www.mbtn.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/698\/revisions\/699"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mbtn.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=698"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mbtn.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=698"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mbtn.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=698"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}