6/7 Draft: Jamo, Cutch, Pittsburgh Kid, Sammy Khalifa, Richie Zisk, Gravedigger, Gene Clines
- 1966 – The Pirates selected SS Richie Hebner first (#15 overall, $40K bonus) in the draft. He was a solid pick – The Gravedigger played 11 seasons in Pittsburgh, hitting .277 with 128 HR. They had a couple of other future Buccos emerge from the mix in 2B Dave Cash (#5), who played five seasons in Pittsburgh with a .285 BA to begin his 12-year career, and OF Gene Clines (#6) who spent the first five campaigns of his 10-year MLB stint with the Bucs, hitting .287. Pitchers Ron Schueler (#12) & Rich Hand (#38; he was choosy and was drafted three times in four years) had long big league tenures although neither signed with Pittsburgh.
- 1967 – HS outfielder Joe Grigas was the Pirates first (#16) selection in the draft, and never advanced past Class A ball. They had better luck with OF Richie Zisk in the third round. He spent six of his 13 big league seasons with the Pirates, hitting .299. The second half of his career was spent in the American League, where he earned a pair of All-Star berths.
- 1969 – Pittsburgh picked HS righty John Morlan as its first (#10) selection in the draft; he won two games over two seasons. The rest of the draft was basically a washout with OF’ers Doug Ault and John Doherty being the only Bucco picks to play 100+ MLB games; they both passed on the Pirates and found their MLB homes in future drafts.
- 1977 – HS outfielder Anthony Nicely was the Pirates first pick (#18). He never made it to the show, but two of his draft mates did – SS Wayne Tolleson (12th round), who spent 10 years in the league mostly as a reserve for Texas and the Yankees, and LHP Dennis Rasmussen (18th round), who pitched 12 seasons of MLB ball for five teams.
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| Sammy Khalifa – 1987 Topps |
- 1982 – High school SS Sammy Khalifa was the first (#7) Pirate pick in the draft. The good glove, bad bat infielder would play 186 MLB games. They also drafted LHP Joe Magrane in the third round, but he didn’t sign with Pittsburgh, going to the Cards in 1985 as a first-rounder. Several first-rounders from that draft did stop in Pittsburgh during their career beside Khalifa – Shawon Dunston, Bob Kipper, Dale Sveum and John Russell (as skipper) all served Buc stints.
- 2004 – In front page news, Pine Richland HS C Neil Walker was drafted in the first round by the Pirates, 11th overall, and signed for a $1.95M bonus. The switch-hitting catcher became the first player selected out of the WPIAL in the first round since Tim Conroy from Gateway High School in 1978. In seven years as the Bucco second baseman, the Pittsburgh Kid hit .272 with 93 HRs; he had a 12-year career with six squads. SS Brian Bixler, the next selection, was the only other player to receive more than a cup of coffee at the MLB level, spending four years with the Bucs, Nats and ‘Stros.
- 2005 – Pittsburgh struck gold as Andrew McCutchen was selected in the first round (#11 overall) of the draft and was signed to a $1.9M bonus, prying the prep star away from a scholarship to Florida. After nine years with Pittsburgh, he bounced around a bit but is now back home. Cutch made it a great draft day, even though the only other picks to make it to the show were eighth rounder Steve Pearce, who played for seven teams over 13 seasons, and fourth rounder Brent Lillibridge, who played for four clubs over six years.
- 2010 – Pittsburgh drafted high school ace RHP Jameson Taillon, inking the second overall pick (Byrce Harper went first and Manny Machado third) for a $6.5M bonus; he’s now with the Cubs. They also signed preppie RHP Stetson Allie in the second round for $2.5M, who fizzled as a pitcher, was converted to a 1B/OF, and is now a real estate agent. Texas prep RHP Nick Kingham was a fourth round pick who was signed to a $485,000 deal and retired in 2023. Later round guys short-circuited by injuries but appeared in the show were pitchers Brandon Cumpton (last pitched in MLB in 2018) and Casey Sadler, who last worked in 2023. The club didn’t stint: they spent $11.9M on the draft.
Source: https://oldbucs.blogspot.com/2025/06/67-draft-jamo-cutch-pittsburgh-kid.html
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