Chapter 1 · Todd Van Poppel
Told Atlanta he wouldn't sign, so the Braves took Chipper Jones #1; Oakland took him 14th, and he lasted 11 seasons anyway, reinvented as a reliever.
Exhibitions · Baseball
In productionFive top picks, five reckonings with promise — the pick before Chipper Jones, a Rookie of the Year who walked away mid-game, the expansion draft's first pick, the ace of the team the strike stopped, and a kid from a school with no baseball team who won a World Series game.
Previews below. The full stories publish on this page at release.
Told Atlanta he wouldn't sign, so the Braves took Chipper Jones #1; Oakland took him 14th, and he lasted 11 seasons anyway, reinvented as a reliever.
1994 AL Rookie of the Year; in 1999 he grounded out in a minor-league game, told his manager “I'm done,” and later became a pro scout.
The #1 pick of the 1992 expansion draft threw the Rockies' first pitch, then chose retirement over one more demotion.
Ace of the 1994 Expos, the best team the strike stopped; the day it ended, he was the next day's starter.
His high school had no baseball team; he walked on in college and outdueled Tom Glavine to win a World Series game.
One-of-one. Only one set exists; when it is claimed, it is gone — and this page stays.
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