The
Pittsburgh Pirates made UCLA right-hander Gerrit Cole the No. 1
overall selection in the first round of Monday night’s 2011 MLB
First-Year Player Draft, a pick that stuck another feather in the cap
of the All-American Classic, now known as the Perfect Game
All-American Classic presented by Rawlings.
A
record 18 former All-American Classic participants were first round
or compensation selections Monday night, which set a record. Thirteen
of the 18 played in last year’s game. The first round selections
(with year he played in the Classic in parentheses if it wasn’t
2010) were:
No.
1 Gerrit Cole (2007), Pirates; No. 4 Dylan Bundy, Orioles; No. 7
Archie Bradley, Diamondbacks; No. 8 Francisco Lindor, Indians; No. 9
Javier Baez, Cubs; No. 12 Taylor Jungmann (2007), Brewers.
No.
14 Jose Fernandez, Marlins; No. 18 Sonny Gray (2007), A’s; No. 21
Tyler Beede, Blue Jays; No. 23 Alex Meyer (2007), Nationals; No. 25
Joe Ross, Padres; No. 26 Blake Swihart, Red Sox.
No.
27 Robert Stephenson, Reds; No. 34 Brian Goodwin (2008), Nationals;
No. 36 Henry Owens, Red Sox; No. 39 Larry Greene, Phillies; No. 48
Michael Kelly, Padres; No. 50 Travis Harrison, Twins.
Back
in the summer of 2007, Cole – a hard-throwing California prep
preparing to enter his senior year in the fall – burst into the
national consciousness with dominating pitching performances at the
Perfect Game National Showcase, PG Sunshine West Showcase and the PG
WWBA World Championship.
But
the event that really thrust Cole into the public eye was the
All-American Classic, played that year at the University of San Diego
in front of thousands of fans, hundreds of scouts and college coaches
and a national television audience. He pitched a perfect 1-2-3 inning
with two strikeouts while flashing a 96 mph fastball.
“It
kind of opened my eyes to a whole level of baseball that I didn’t
know about,” Cole told MaxPrep.com’s Dave Krider in an interview
before the 2008 MLB Draft, referring to all of the PG events he
attended along with the All-American Classic.
“I
got to meet an elite class of baseball players. It did a lot (for my
confidence) and teaches you to handle a lot of situations – like
big crowds, a lot of scouts, a lot of people, people trying to talk
to you before and after games … and playing on TV. It was fun.”
Cole
was drafted by the New York Yankees in the first round of the 2008
MLB Draft with the No. 28 pick overall – he was one of 10 2007
Classic players drafted in the first round that year – but snubbed
the Yankees and headed to UCLA. His three year college career was
impressive enough to move up 27 spots in this year’s draft.
Cole
told the MLB Network Monday night his three years at UCLA were
invaluable.
“You
really can’t put a price on it, the stuff that you pick up just by
playing at an elevated level of baseball,” he said. “The
competitiveness and playing in the Pac-10 and all the stuff that
Coach (John) Savage has taught me, you can’t put a price on it.”
Cole
became the fifth All-American Classic alum to be taken with No. 1
overall selection in the draft, joining shortstop Matthew Bush (2004,
Padres), shortstop Justin Upton (2005, Diamondbacks), shortstop Tim
Beckham (2008, Rays) and Bryce Harper (2010, Nationals).
He
is the first All-American Classic alum to be taken No. 1 overall
after attending college as opposed to straight out of high school. He
is also the first player who attended the game to be drafted in the
first round twice.