Steve Garvey, Ron Cey, Billy Buckner and Bobby Valentine: What a Draft

The Los Angeles Dodgers 1968 amateur player draft was the best in baseball history. It enabled the Dodgers to be contenders for many years and produced pennants in 1974, 1977, 1978 and a World Championship in 1981.

Dodgers scouting director Al Campanis and his evaluators drafted Bobby Valentine, Bill Buckner, Tom Paciorek, Joe Ferguson, Doyle Alexander, Steve Garvey and Ron Cey.

Prior to the draft, Campanis called Al LoCasale, who worked for the Cincinnati Bengals. Campanis wanted advice on selecting players in the draft, which had started only three years before, in 1965.

LoCasale was experienced in drafting players. He had been the San Diego Chargers' director of player personnel in 1961 and had drafted some quality players.

"We spent a lot of time talking about organization and preparing paperwork," LoCasale told Campanis. "How do you evaluate your evaluators? You have to know what weight to assign various people, how to break personnel down."

Taking the advice, Campanis rated the available players. They added extra points for intangibles, including mental toughness and the desire to win.

Years later, in an interview for Sport Magazine, Campanis explained.

"We told our scouts to look for the cream. We didn't want just a major-league prospect. We wanted a Dodger prospect. They learned to look for the very best."

Many fans identify Billy Buckner with first base, but for most of his time with the Los Angeles Dodgers he played the outfield. Buckner was sent to the Chicago Cubs in 1977 for Rick "the Patriot" Monday.

As a Dodger, Buckner batted .289/.319/.380, averaging eight home runs and 59 RBIs over a 162-game season. His best years were with Cubs.

In 1974, first baseman Steve Garvey and third baseman Ron "the Penguin" Cey teamed up with second baseman Davey Lopes and shortstop Bill Russell to form one of the greatest infields ever. They played as a unit for almost nine years.

Tom Paciorek and Doyle Alexander had decent careers. The latter is best remembered as being traded by the Atlanta Braves to the Detroit Tigers in exchange for John Smoltz. The Dodgers traded Doyle in 1971 for Frank Robinson.

The best of all the 1968 might have been Bobby Valentine. Impatient with his development, the Dodgers sent Valentine, along with Frank Robinson, Billy Grabarkewitz, Bill Singer and Mike Strahler to their friends in Anaheim in exchange for Andy Messersmith and Ken McMullen.

Valentine did well in 1972, batting .302/.323/.397, but on May 17, 1973, his spikes got caught in the chain link outfield fence at Anaheim Stadium. He broke his leg and was never the player he might have been.

The Dodgers have drafted many great players, but no draft, not only for the Dodgers but also for any team, can equal that of 1968.

Source Citation

Langill, Mark. "Draft Dodgers." Sport July 1993: 49+. General OneFile. Web. 28 Nov. 2011.