{"id":31769,"date":"2020-05-20T12:03:55","date_gmt":"2020-05-20T16:03:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonbaseball.com\/?p=31769"},"modified":"2020-05-20T12:03:55","modified_gmt":"2020-05-20T16:03:55","slug":"looking-back-1987-mlb-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2020\/05\/20\/looking-back-1987-mlb-draft\/","title":{"rendered":"Looking Back: 1987 MLB Draft"},"content":{"rendered":"

The fourth installment of \u201cLooking Back\u201d will take a look at the 1987 MLB Draft. This draft has two Hall Of Fame players which includes the first overall pick. It also has another player who some believe should be in the Hall of Fame. This draft also has a super value pick in the 58th<\/sup> round.<\/p>\n

Additionally, there are two really good compensation picks received after key players who helped their former team win a World Series left via free agency. There is also a player who set a record that no one wants. This draft is also filled with star and fringe star players.<\/p>\n

Number One Pick<\/h2>\n

The number one pick in the 1987 MLB draft belonged to the Seattle Mariners<\/a> who selected Ken Griffey Jr.<\/a><\/strong> out of Archbishop Moeller High School in Cincinnati, Ohio. The son of former player Ken Griffey<\/a><\/strong>, Junior was born to play baseball. Junior was tabbed to become one of the greatest players ever to play the game. It’s safe to say Griffey lived up to those expectations.<\/p>\n

Griffey was the US High School Player of the year in 1987. His minor league career would be very short as he played in 130 games across two seasons. Griffey slashed .318\/.425\/.572. He hit 27 HR and drove in 92 runs and scored 103 times.<\/p>\n

The Kid is Good<\/h2>\n

Griffey was named the starting centerfielder for the 1989 season and finished third in the Rookie of the Year voting. He then would go on to have a career that landed him on the All-Century Team. In 22 seasons Griffey was a 13 time All-Star, a 10-time Gold Glove winner, a seven-time Silver Slugger award, and the AL MVP in 1997.<\/p>\n

In his MVP season, Griffey slashed .304\/.382\/.646 leading the AL with 56 HR and an MLB high of 147 RBI. For his career, Griffey slashed .284\/.370\/.538 with 1,836 RBI, 1,662 runs scored, and 184 stolen bases. Griffey\u2019s 630 career HR is good for seventh all-time. In 18 postseason games, Griffey slashed .290\/.367\/.580 with six HR and 11 RBI and five stolen bases. Junior\u2019s numbers would be bigger if he didn\u2019t have knee injuries in his later years.<\/p>\n

Griffey and his father would be the first father and son to hit back to back HR in MLB history. Griffey is also one of three players to hit homers in eight straight games. The other two are Don Mattingly<\/strong><\/a> and Dale Long<\/strong><\/a>. In his 22 year career, Griffey played for the Mariners, his hometown Cincinnati Reds<\/a> and the Chicago White Sox<\/a>.<\/p>\n