Baseball Musings: Draft Dodger

November 25, 2005

Draft Dodger

A New Mexico reader sends an article about governor Bill Richardson embellishing his baseball credentials:

What you won't find in the record books is a baseball distinction that's been attached to Richardson's name for almost 40 years: that he was drafted to play pro baseball by the Kansas City Athletics.
Publications ranging from The New York Times to the New Republic to the Albuquerque Journal have reported that as fact. So have USA Today, Time magazine and National Review.

In the just-published "2006 Almanac of American Politics," these words appear in a history of Richardson's career: " ... in 1967 was drafted by the Kansas City Athletics."

In preparing a story earlier this year on Richardson's baseball past, the Journal was unable to confirm in any authoritative record that he had been drafted.

Richardson said he believed that he had been, based on conversations with scouts and other sources, and asked for additional time to find proof.

But in a written statement provided to the Journal last week, he said, "After being notified of the situation (by Toby Smith) and after researching the matter ... I came to the conclusion that I was not drafted by the A's."

"However, as the Journal's reporting should reflect, I was actively scouted by several Major League teams ... "

As far as I can tell, Richardson was a very good high school and college pitcher, and struck out a ton of batters. The story appears to be that he would have been drafted out of high school, but his father insisted they younger Bill go to college. Since teams were reluctant to draft someone who wasn't going to sign, Richardson was passed over.

I love this circular thinking:

Steve Vaughn, a teammate who was drafted, said he thought Richardson "clearly was a prospect" and "remembered hearing" his teammate had been offered a contract by Kansas City.

Being offered a contract isn't the same as being drafted. Teams approach players before the draft and try to head off negotiations with agents by offering the player a contract if he's drafted.

That was 38 summers ago, and Richardson was playing for the Cotuit (Mass.) Kettleers, a team comprised of standout college players.
The Kettleers published a 25-cent handout they issued to fans.

Next to Richardson's name on the faded program are four brief lines, and the words "Drafted by K.C."

"When I saw that program in 1967," Richardson said, "I was convinced I was drafted. And it stayed with me all these years."

So Richardson sees his name next to "was drafted", and believes it to be true. But where did Cotuit get the information?

At Richardson's urging, the Journal talked to Arnold Mycock, who was the general manager of Richardson's Cape Cod League team in 1967.
Mycock, 82, and living in Cotuit, Mass., has a copy of that 1967 program. He said information on the bios came from the players or their college coaches.

Nick Furlong, a pitcher for the Kettleers in 1967, later drafted by three major league teams, said he filled in his Cotuit bio sheet himself and sent it to the club.

College athletes typically fill out a biographical form to help a school's athletic department disseminate information to a student's hometown media.

On the bio sheet Richardson completed for Tufts in his junior year, he penciled words "Drafted by Kansas City (1966), LA (1968)."

So what Richardson likely saw in the program either came from his own hand, or came from Tufts relating what Richardson had told them! He believed he was drafted after seeing it in the program, but he had supplied the information! (There is also no evidence Richardson was drafted by the Dodgers in 1968.)

The person sending the link to the story believes Richardson is going to run for president in 2008, and wonders if this will be a campaign issue. It seems anything can become a campaign issue, so I have no idea. It could very well be that as a young man Richardson was confused by what constituted being drafted. In 1967, the baseball draft was only three years old. Before that, players were basically free agents until they signed with a team, often netting large bonuses to sign. The model of direct signings was the model Richardson grew up with, so he could have made a pattern recognition mistake. The baseball draft was always oqaque, with only the first round picks made public. Hypothetically, a scout saying, "We're going to draft you if you're willing to sign a contract," could be remembered as, "We've drafted you. Are you willing to sign a contract?"

Of course, thinking he was drafted twice makes that explanation a little less plausible. So will this be an issue? I suspect reporters like Toby Smith, who did a great job tracking down this exaggeration, will start looking for other embellishments. If there's more, it will be an issue. If this is the only one, it's likely an honest mistake.

Update: Joel Jacobsen of New Mexico sent me the link to the article. I hadn't heard back from Joel about using his name when I published the original post.

Posted by David Pinto at 10:40 AM | Draft | TrackBack (0)

Comments

Much as I hate it when public figures lie... I think we've all embellished our previous athletic achievements at one time or another. Or maybe that's just me.

Posted by: Mike at November 25, 2005 12:41 PM

Like you said, if that's the worse they can find, he should be OK; look at how well Clinton did with everyone knowing what he probably did.

However, as the saying goes, where there's smoke, there's usually fire. As noted, this incidence should get an enterprising reporter the impetus to see if there were other, worse embellishments and should smoke them out before the 2008 campaign even is a realistic dream in a candidate's mind.

Posted by: biasedgiantsfanatic at November 25, 2005 01:40 PM

I know this isn't exactly the point, but someone's name is Mycock? Good lord.

Posted by: Joe at November 25, 2005 03:47 PM

Speaking as a Tufts alum... I had no idea Richardson was a Tufts alum.

Posted by: incarnadine at November 25, 2005 04:26 PM

In reality it was probably just a misunderstanding, but Lord knows in politics they'll rip you for anything. Whoever put together the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth (sic) is probably salivating at the bit over this story. That's probably why Richardson's thankful it's becoming public now instead of during the election year.

Posted by: Adam Villani at November 25, 2005 05:30 PM

Or, during primaries Hillary's team is salivating as much as the Democrats during the supposed Karl Rove led CIA leak.

Personally, political affiliations aside, I don't think this is, or should be, a big deal. I'm a Republican, but if the party went after this I'd just put my head down and laugh at the absurdity of it. Leave the baseball to baseball, and the politics to the politics.

Posted by: Nate B. at November 25, 2005 10:13 PM

wow

another lying politician.

imagine that.

and don't forget about richardson lying about him being a "foreign policy advisor" to senator somebody when he was really only an intern.

it's like that old johnny carson thing - the great carsoni-

lying sack of ***
hmmmmmmmmm
what is politician?

Posted by: lisa gray at November 26, 2005 02:49 PM

I agree with David. A thing like this can be an issue if it's part of a pattern of exaggerations. Otherwise, it's just harmless puffing.

Posted by: Crank at November 27, 2005 12:50 AM

It's not that Richardson may have puffed himself with his "I wuz drafted by the Athletics" stuff. It's that he offers up the lame excuse that he "thought" he was drafted.

Well, that all by itself should be enough of an indication he wasn't, since there wouldn't be any thinking involved if he was. You're either drafted or you aren't.

So he even now doesn't accept that he was just puffing himself. What a wienie.

Posted by: Bob Kunz at November 28, 2005 06:09 PM

Curve balls and Hatchet jobs on Governor Richardson in Baseball History

Dear Editor:

I thought I had witnessed the ultimate in newspaper hatchet jobs and curve balls in political journalism, but this latest "discovery" by the Albuquerque Journal that Bill Richardson was not drafted by Kansas City A's ought to win some kind of new prize for "Absurd Political Journalism," since this story even was printed in the New York Times!

Forty years ago, drafts were discussed generally, hinted at, and not accompanied by clear cut contracts. The Governor's recent biography makes this perfectly clear, and I believe that he truly believed that he had been drafted by them and several other teams. At that point, he was 19; who has not made any errors of judgment when they were 19?

What Bill Richardson pitches to the New Mexico Legislature about health, elementary education, fiscal policies, environmental policies, higher education, consumer protection: these are a lot more important to me than ancient baseball history and whether the guy was drafted by the A's or not.

I abhor the astonishing fact that conservative papers across the nation has picked this up and even some have described it as if he had been caught in a lie. This is a dismal and failed attempt at character assassination.

How about the other party's leaders' protracted and elaborate lies about Iraq's "weapons of mass destruction," which were grandiloquently strewn forth in the United Nations General Assembly before the ill-informed invasion? Are Americans just supposed to forget about those really big lies which directly resulted in 2000 dead G.I.'s, hundreds of thousands of Iraqi deaths, and billions of wasted-unless-you-are-Halliburton dollars they have caused, while the entire nation is side-tracked by absurd articles on the Sports and political pages about Bill Richardson?

Are these our new priorities in national politics and qualities of leadership?
Let's get really real here, folks, for a change!

Truly,

Stephen Fox
Santa Fe

Posted by: stephen fox at November 28, 2005 10:55 PM

Sure, Stephen.

This being a BASEBALL blog, why don't we dispense with the political-campaign talking points and stick with the baseball.

"Forty years ago, drafts were discussed generally, hinted at, and not accompanied by clear cut contracts."

Since you seem actually to believe that somebody could be drafted by a major league baseball team and not know it, in other words, no tender, nothing to sign, no dough--maybe you should offer up something to support such credulity.

Forty years ago... what does that mean, that the business of baseball was conducted all aw shucks and gosh durn?

Uh, sure, Stephen, whatever you say. I would hate to disturb your idyllic slumber.

Posted by: Bob Kunz at November 29, 2005 07:13 PM

Uh, check this out. Lost pro-scout says Bill was offered a draft.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1546238/posts

Posted by: mcconnell at December 23, 2005 04:17 PM

Post a comment

Baseball Info Solutions The publisher of the Bill James Handbook and a great source of stats.

ESPN.com's baseball page.

STATS, Inc. You'll find great baseball books and fantasy games here.

Baseball Direct Scoreboard This is powered by STATS, Inc. Good box scores, and good situational stats.

Baseball Reference.com It's like having Total Baseball and the Big Mac online!

Baseball Prospectus.com Wonderful commentary and analysis.

Baseball Primer Baseball for the Thinking Fan.

The Hardball Times Baseball. Insight. Daily.

Takkle High School Sports

Minor League Spilts Database Up-to-date minor league statistics, broken down by situation.

Inside The Book A blog by the authors of The Book.

Baseboogle A search engine for baseball research sites.

Win Shares From Major League Baseball Graphs.

The Transaction Guy A baseball transactions blog.

Japan Baseball Daily An English language site for Japanese baseball news and stats.

Doug's Business of Baseball Weblog A blog with a focus on the economics of the game.

Why I Like Baseball A Yankee fan writes about her favorite team.

Skilton's Baseball Links Links to numerous baseball sources.

Dan Lewis A blog about all sports.

Birds in the Belfry A site about the Orioles. Articles and research.

Only Baseball Matters A baseball blog by a John J. Perricone.

Jocksalot Lots of sports links.

Al's Ramblings A Brewer's blog.

Futility Infielder Jay Jaffe's baseball site. More than just a blog.

Mike's Baseball Rants Mike Carminati's baseball blog.

Aaron's Baseball Blog A general interest baseball blog.

Boy of Summer Travis Nelson on baseball.

Baseball Crank Dan McLaughlin's blog on baseball, the war and politics.

Bambino's Curse Edward Cossette's blog about the Red Sox.

Oakland Athletics Blog David Levens writes about the A's.

Ducksnorts Articles and Blog by Geoff.

Boston Sports Media Bruce Allen's roundup of the Boston Sports Media.

The Diamond Angle An online baseball magazine.

The Cub Reporter A Chicago Cubs blog.

Bronx Banter A baseball blog by Al Belth.

At Home Plate Articles by Jonathan Leshanski.

Dodger Thoughts Jon Weisman on the Dodgers.

The Clark & Addison Chronicle A Chicago Cubs web log.

Baseball Writing Joe Zibell's essays on baseball.

The Eddie Kranepool Society A Mets blog.

Mariners Weblog The Seattle Post-Intelligencer's weblog written by Shannon Fears

PortlandSoxFan.com A Red Sox blog from Portland, CT.

The Detroit Tigers Weblog Two Tigers fans and their take on the Motor City team.

A Rookie's Life The blog of Cleveland Indians' rookie Jody Gerut.

The Baseball Desert An Englishman living in France writes about the American game.

ChiSox Daily Mike Lubuda writes about the White Sox.

Shallow Center A blog mostly about the Phillies.

The House that Dewey Built Jeff Kuhn writes about the Red Sox.

SethSpeaks.net A blog by a Twins fan.

Frank's Field of Dreams News about Asian players in the United States.

Jay's Giants Blog William Jay blogging about the Giants.

Baseball Savant Cutting edge baseball news and analysis updated everyday from all aspects of the greatest show on dirt!

Athletics Nation Blogging about the A's.

Red Reporter JD Arney writes about the Reds.

Dominican Players Raul Tavares writes about players from his home country.

The Pearly Gates An Anaheim Angels Blog.

Red Sox Haven Randy Booth on baseball.

Tigers Weblog The Detroit News weblog on the Tigers, written by Tom Gage.

Management by Baseball Jeff Angus writes on how business can learn from baseball.

The View From the Bleachers A Chicago Cubs blog.

Cubs Now! Brian Hipp on the Cubs.

Honest Wagner A Pittsburgh Pirates weblog.

All-Baseball.com A collection of excellent baseball weblogs.

Soxaholix A comic strip blog about the Red Sox.

Most Valuable Network Blogging all 30 teams.

Baseball, Etcetera Andrew Godfrey's baseball blog.

Most Valuable Network, Astros Lisa Gray and others write about the Astros.

fenwayfanatics.com A Boston Red Sox blog.

Balls, Sticks & Stuff A sports blog with an emphasis on baseball.

Phillies Nation Brian Michael writes about the Phillies.

Batgirl Less stats, more sass.

Sabernomics Economic thinking about baseball.

Fire Brand of the American League A blog about the Red Sox.

Ivy Chat Chicago Cubs and other rants.

Baseball Evolution A group website writing about baseball.

The Cubdom.com Byron Clarke blogs about the Cubs.

Red Sox Stats Sabermetric numbers for the Red Sox system.

DRays Bay A blog devoted to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

Baseball Analysts Rich Lederer and Bryan Smith combine their baseball expertise into a single site.

Over the Monster A Red Sox blog by Randy Booth.

Viva el Birdos Ghosts of the St. Louis Cardinals past, present, and future.

Black Sox Blog A look at the current and historical teams of the South Side of Chicago.

Redleg Nation A group blog about the Cincinnati Reds.

Barry's Journal Barry Bonds' web log.

Hardball Dollars Keeping track of major league salaries.

Clem's Baseball and it's "Green Cathedrals" The resource for baseball stadiums on the web.

The Baseball Zealot Looking at the game of baseball from all sides of the spectrum .

Was Watching Laconic commentary from a Yankeeland zealot.

Bleed Cubbie Blue A Chicago Cubs blog.

Beaneball A's baseball from the heart of New York City.

The Writers A collection of sports writers express their opinions.

Yard Work What the Baseball Tonight crew would write if it could.

United States of Baseball Peter Handrinos' baseball columns.

Beer Leaguer Alternative veiwpoints on the Philadelphia Phillies.

Red Sox Connection Links to everything Red Sox.

Baseball Pilgrimages Stories of visits to baseball parks.

Fangraphs Multi-year charts of player stats.

Roto Authority Unique fantasy baseball information.

Yanksfan vs. Soxfan A Yankees fan and a Red Sox fan battle it out in the blogosphere.

Sawxblog.com A Red Sox fan writes about the home town team.

Oriole Magic An MVN blog about the Orioles.

The Baltimore Chop Joseph Jackson on the Orioles.

Lookout Landing A Seattle Mariners blog.

Sons of Bart Brush A blog about the Harvard baseball team.

Base Blogging A resource for sports and baseball bloggers.

Three True Outcomes A group blog by on major league baseball.

Cardinals Diaspora A blog for Cardinals fans living away from St. Louis.

Where Have You Gone, Andy Van Slyke? A Pittsburgh fan chronicles life in the Grand Canyon.

Brew Crew Ball A blog about the Milwaukee Brewers.

Getting Paid to Watch Posts by a former trainer for the NY Mets.

The Gas House Gang An historical St. Louis Cardinals Blog.

6-4-2 An Angels/Dodgers double play blog.

El Guapo's Ghost Rambles on about the Red Sox Baseball and the Red Sox.

Baseball Etc

Tiger Tales A Detroit Tigers web log.

The Baseball Card Blog A blog about baseball cards.

Sox1Fan A Red Sox blog.

Out of Left Field Another Red Sox blog.

New York Yankees Update A Yankees blog with lots of photos.

Liberty Ball A current and historical Phillies blog.

Crawfish Boxes A Houston Astros blog.

MLB Rumors Clearinghouse News from around the majors.

Roar From 34 A group blog about the Orioles.

Blogging Baseball All-time baseball highlights and real-time commentary.

Rubber Arm A group blog about major league baseball.

Fenway Nation More news about the Red Sox.

Rays of Light A Devil Rays blog.

Fantasy Baseball Chronicle Information for fantasy players.

American Legends A sports blog.

Duffy's Cliff An interactive Red Sox site, featuring a lexicon of the Red Sox.

Oriole Post - The World of Baseball and Beyond An Orioles blog.

DRays Bay A Devil Rays blog.

Mets Heads A blog about the New York Mets.

The Soul of Baseball Joe Posnanski promotes his book on Buck O'Neil and blogs about baseball.

My Baseball Bias A blog about East Coast baseball.

Sports Business Radio Articles and talk about the business of sports.

The Game of Baseball A blog about Major League Baseball.

Baseball Hot Corner Opinionated observations for the thinking fan.

FantasyDope.com Fantasy baseball news.

Peter's Red Sox Forever A Red Sox blog.

Sox Nest Commentary on the Red Sox.

The Big Oz A Florida Marlins blog.

Baseball Reflections Where old school baseball meets sabermetrics.

The Sommer Frieze A Yankees blog.

Fenway Nation A Red Sox fan site.

In-Between Hops A Milwaukee Brewers blog.

Right Field Bleachers Another Milwaukee Brewers blog.

On Baseball and the Reds Another Cincinnati Reds blog.

Crooked Pitch A fantasy baseball blog.

Bless You Boys A Detroit Tigers blog.

Cubs f/x Pitch f/x and the Chicago Cubs.

The Hot Corner

Eephus Pitch Tossing pure junk about New York baseball since 2006.

It Is High, It Is Far, It Is Caught A tribute to John Sterling.

Baseball GB Baseball from a British perspective.

Nick and Nick's Twins Blog A couple of Nicks write on the Twins.

SkyKing162 Baseball with a hint of lime.

Center Field A Red Sox blog.

Empyreal Environs Writing about the Red Sox.

Trophy League Planet Aggregating the baseball blogosphere.

Cardinals Best News Links Aggregating St. Louis Cardinals news.

Zell's Pinstripe Blog A Yankees Blog.

HSAC Blog Official Musings of the Harvard College Sports Analysis Collective.

The Baseball Fix A general baseball blog.

MLB Roundup A baseball video blog.

Fantasy Dope Fantasy Baseball News.

The Cubs Brickyard Hilarious fake news.

Spitting Seeds A blog about Major League baseball.

Infield Chatter A blog covering all aspects of baseball.

The Bronx View A blog and podcast about the Yankees.

Instapundit Politics and the law. This site inspired me to start blogging.

Wild Treasure Treasure hunts through the blogosphere.

San Diego Ticket Finder San Diego Ticket Information.

Prize Sports.net Baseball Collectibles.

Fantasy Sports R Us The #1 Fantasy Baseball Leagues site on the web.

RotoRank - Fantasy Baseball Draft Guides Customized For Any Fantasy Baseball League.