1916 Player Draft
One day, you might here a couple of Arizona League trivia questions that go something like this: Who was the one player picked ahead of
Babe Ruth in the 1916 draft? And which team took a pass on a prospect that scouts say could be a "once in a generation" type player?
Your answers: Pitcher
Elmer Myers. And the team? The Tombstone Epitaphs.
Yep, the perennially poor Epis — who have finished fifth or worse the past five seasons in the Southern League — took a pass on the Babe with the No. 1 pick in this year's draft. Instead they chose to go after pitching, picking Myers, the 21-year-old starting pitcher from Pennsylvania. Time will tell if that was the right decision. (methinks it was a poor one)...
So, Tombstone's loss is the Tempe Sun Devils' gain. Tempe was sitting in the No. 2 spot in the draft and wasn't about to let Babe Ruth drop any more. The Devils' championship hopes — and ticket sales — received a big boost on draft day. Of course, folks in the Nevada-Utah Baseball Association are crying foul over Babe coming to the Arizona League at all, but there isn't much they can do now.
Clyde Cooley of Show Low, who had the Babe on his youth showcase team during the summer of 1915, was very outspoken on what an amazing player Ruth could be at the big league level. "If I had a franchise in Show Low, I'd trade my entire starting lineup to get Babe on my roster. He's just that good. I don't know what Tombstone was thinking..." Of course, that's easy for Cooley to say. Show Low doesn't have a franchise.
Bisbee had been hoping Babe would fall to No. 3, but they still got a solid prospect in 2B
Rogers Hornsby.
*** Just for the heck of it, I googled Elmer Myers, because I had never heard of him. Here are some real life facts on our 1916 first draft pick (other than that he shares my birthday of March 2!):
Myers had an 8-year career as a right handed pitcher. He finished with a 55-72 record, 428 Ks and a 4.06 ERA in 1,102 innings. Myers shut out the Senators 4-0 in his first ML game on October 6, 1915 and pitched 315 innings as a rookie in 1916. He won 28 games for four last-place Athletics teams before being traded to Cleveland. He gave up Ty Cobb's 3,000th hit on August 19, 1921
I think we all know enough about Ruth. We'll see how the Sultan of Swat fares in the Arizona League, starting now...
Here is the complete list of 1916 draftees. How did your favorite team fare? Alas, Commissioner Doc Victory's grandson was not chosen. Maybe next year
Round 1:
Tombstone pick: P Elmer Myers
Tempe pick: RF Babe Ruth
Bisbee pick: 2B Rogers Hornsby
Yuma pick: P Jing Johnson
Sedona pick: P Otis Lambeth
Grand Canyon pick: P Ed Klepfer
Cottonwood pick: RF Harry Heilmann
Kayenta pick: P Bob Steele
Jerome pick: P Art Nehf
Carefree pick: P Milt Watson
Prescott pick: P Frank Miller
Nogales pick: P Jim Bagby
Payson pick: P Stan Coveleski
Phoenix pick: P Lefty Williams
Flagstaff pick: 1B Joe Judge
Tucson pick: P George Mogridge
Round 2 :
Tombstone pick: P Clarence Mitchell
Tempe pick: P Jesse Barnes
Bisbee pick: C Verne Clemons
Yuma pick: LF Carson Bigbee
Sedona pick: P Bill Evans
Grand Canyon pick: LF Hack Miller
Cottonwood pick: P Deacon Jones
Kayenta pick: 2B Joe Gedeon
Jerome pick: P Joe Lotz
Carefree pick: P George Cunningham
Prescott pick: P Claude Thomas
Nogales pick: RF Greasy Neale
Payson pick: CF Elmer Miller
Phoenix pick: RF Lee King
Flagstaff pick: CF Whitey Witt
Tucson pick: SS Zeb Terry
Round 3 :
Tombstone pick: P Allan Russell
Tempe pick: P Al Gould
Bisbee pick: CF Jack Smith
Yuma pick: P Dave Danforth
Sedona pick: P Cy Warmoth
Grand Canyon pick: RF Joe Schultz
Cottonwood pick: 3B Lee Mcelwee
Kayenta pick: 2B Stuffy Stewart
Jerome pick: C Byrd Lynn
Carefree pick: RF Buck Thrasher
Prescott pick: 3B Jimmy Johnston
Nogales pick: P Marsh Williams
Payson pick: 1B Babe Ellison
Phoenix pick: 2B Roy Grover
Flagstaff pick: C Walter Schmidt
Tucson pick: SS Bunny Fabrique
Round 4 :
Tombstone pick: 2B Jack Farmer
Tempe pick: P Bill Fincher
Bisbee pick: SS Chuck Wortman
Yuma pick: 2B Marty Shay
Sedona pick: RF Joe Wilhoit
Grand Canyon pick: P Molly Craft
Cottonwood pick: P Ken Penner
Kayenta pick: C Roxy Walters
Jerome pick: 2B Billy Gleason
Carefree pick: C Tony Brottem
Prescott pick: P George Hesselbacher
Nogales pick: P Rube Parnham
Payson pick: 2B Otis Lawry
Phoenix pick: 1B Lou Guisto
Flagstaff pick: RF Bill Johnson
Tucson pick: P Mike Cantwell
Round 5 :
Tombstone pick: P Gary Fortune
Tempe pick: 3B Hooks Warner
Bisbee pick: SS Frank Emmer
Yuma pick: CF Fred Bailey
Sedona pick: LF Lee (el) King