1966 Major League Draft

Here is the first round of the 1966 Major League Baseball draft. The Mets drafted and developed a remarkable number of quality pitchers in the 1960s, including Tom Seaver and Nolan Ryan. Their thinking heading into the 1966 draft was that they needed a quality catcher to handle to pitchers. Great catchers are often late bloomers and usually take longer to develop than any other position. In the opinion of this writer, it is a terrible mistake to draft a catcher in the top 10 picks, let alone #1 overall. Steve Chilcott played seven seasons in the minors before hanging it up. He was the first and one of a handful of #1 overall picks that did not play a single game of major league baseball.

You don't have to look far down the list to find the guy they should have drafted. Arizona State outfielder Reggie Jackson was the cream of the crop and would have stirred New York a decade earlier than he did. He might also have emerged less bitter sans the experience of working for Charlie Finley.

#	Name	Position	Team	School
1	Steve Chilcott	C	Mets	Lancaster, CA
2	Reggie Jackson	OF	Athletics	Arizona State University
3	Wayne Twitchell	RHP	Astros	Portland, OR
4	Ken Brett	LHP	Red Sox	El Segundo, CA
5	Dean Burk	RHP	Cubs	Highland, IL
6	Tom Grieve	OF	Senators	Pittsfield, MA
7	Leron Lee	OF	Cardinals	Sacramento, CA
8	Jim DeNeff	SS	Angels	Indiana University
9	Mike Biko	RHP	Phillies	Dallas, TX
10	Jim Lyttle	OF	Yankees	Florida State University
11	Al Santorini	RHP	Braves	Union, NJ
12	*John Curtis	LHP	Indians	Smithtown, NY
13	Gary Nolan	RHP	Reds	Oroville, CA
14	*Rick Konik	1B	Tigers	Detroit, MI
15	Richie Hebner	SS	Pirates	Norwood, MA
16	Ted Parks	SS	Orioles	University of California
17	Bob Reynolds	RHP	Giants	Seattle, WA
18	Carlos May	OF	White Sox	Birmingham, AL
19	Larry Hutton	RHP	Dodgers	Greenfield, IN
20	Bob Jones	3B	Twins	Dawson, GA

* Did not sign