On June 8, 1965, the Kansas City A’s select collegiate star Rick Monday with the initial pick of the first-ever amateur free agent draft. Picking second, the Mets take pitcher Les Rohr. Future Hall of Famer Johnny Bench is taken by the Cincinnati Reds in the second round. Another Hall of Famer, Nolan Ryan, is chosen in the tenth round by the New York Mets.
Monday, “Nobody really knew how the process was going to work. I had talked to quite a few ballclubs, but Kansas City was going to have the first pick. Their scout, Art Lilly, had talked with me very briefly when I was with Arizona State. He said there was a real good chance that the Athletics would select me as the number one pick. But on the periphery of all of this, nobody knew exactly what was going to happen. No one knew the effect it was going to have on both baseball overall and the people who were going to be signed out of high school or college.”
I had attorneys coming to me saying, “Look, let’s take this to court because if you’re selected number one, why should you negotiate with only one ballclub?” And my first question was “How long will this process take?” They said, “Oh, about three to five years.” I said, “Forget that, I’m going to play baseball.”
Monday would receive the highest bonus in that first draft class, $100,000 and have a productive 19-year career.
More on the Rick Monday Interview.
