1 / 1

Big leaguers remember draft experiences 'like Christmas Day'

Cheap Carolina Panthers Nike Jerseys

kqktputj1976
Download Presentation

Big leaguers remember draft experiences 'like Christmas Day'

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Jim Abbott vividly remembers sitting nervously at home in Flint, Michigan, the tension broken only by one life-changing phone call. On the other side of the line were the Angels, announcing to the left-handed pitcher that they had selected him with the eighth overall pick in the 1988 baseball draft. ''It's like Christmas Day, times 100,'' a smiling Abbott recalled Thursday night. ''You know Santa Claus is coming, but you're not sure when he's coming.'' Abbott was one of several former major leaguers in attendance serving as team representatives at MLB Network studios, the site of this year's Major League Baseball draft. ''I knew the Angels were interested in drafting me, but the anticipation and, ultimately, the confirmation, were endless,'' said Abbott, who pitched for four teams over 10 seasons and threw a no-hitter for the Yankees in 1993 despite being born without a right hand.Carolina Panthers Jerseys Nike ''And then, it happens and you're just so happy and it feels like the end of your prep career and the beginning of a whole new chapter. The Angels seemed so far away and so foreign from where I grew up in Michigan. ''It was phenomenal.'' View gallery Big leaguers remember draft experiences 'like Christmas … Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred, left, talks to Will Benson, an outfielder from The Westminster Sc … The draft has become a prime-time event, with Commissioner Rob Manfred announcing the names of each first-rounder in front of a live studio audience that includes many big leaguers whose draft-day experiences consisted of only a phone call or listening on the internet. Major League Baseball conducted its draft, which started in 1965, primarily by conference call with each of its teams until 2007,NFL Jerseys Carolina Panthers Outlet when it was televised for the first time. It still might not be the spectacle the NFL or NBA drafts are, but media exposure has increased in the last few years. And the players who see it now wish they had gotten a chance to shake hands with the commissioner and slip on their new team's cap and jersey.

More Related