A Major League Leap

In the 1970s’, three players (all pitchers) made the jump straight from high school to the major leagues. Here are brief recaps of how their careers transpired.

DAVID CLYDE
David Clyde was the first player to make the jump from high school baseball straight to the major leagues. Clyde was selected #1 overall by the Texas Rangers in the 1973 draft after a stellar senior season at Westchester High School in Houston. With Westchester, Clyde went 18-0 and allowed only 3 earned runs across 148 innings pitched.  He was also the winning pitcher in the Texas state championship game.

Owner Bob Short’s club was struggling on and off the field, having failed to draw more than 9,000 spectators to a game at home so far that season. Short saw an opportunity with Clyde and took advantage of it. On June 27^th, 20 days after pitching in the state high school championship, Clyde was on the mound for the Rangers in front of the first-ever sell out at Arlington Stadium. Against the Minnesota Twins, Clyde pitched five innings, allowing two runs, but it was enough for a victory, a 4-3 win. 

However, the win was the high point in Clyde’s career. Manager Whitey Herzog would later say he regretted going along with Short’s decision to rush Clyde. The front office would push Herzog to keep the young phenom in games because the fans wanted to see him and that would result in his arm burning out early in his career. Players also would supply Clyde, who was not yet old enough, with alcohol and Clyde would later develop a problem with alcohol. A problem, Herzog said, that often effected his pitching performance. 

The Rangers ‘franchise savoir’ only lasted five years in the organization, the last two seasons being exclusively spent in the minor leagues. A month before the commencement of the 1978 season, Clyde was dealt to Cleveland, where he spent two years between the Indians and the minors. He was dealt back to Texas in 1980 but was cut days before the start of the regular season. After spending 1980 out of baseball, he attempted a comeback with the Houston Astros the next year but he never pitched a game in the majors. He would retire shortly after. 

Clyde finished his career with a disappointing 18-33 record and a 4.63 ERA over 416 1/3 innings. While the talent was there, pressure and mismanagement led to a sub-standard career. Teams who are struggling and attempt to rush players to the big stage are often reminded by the story of David Clyde. 

MIKE MORGAN
Just as David Clyde’s career was ending, Mike Morgan’s began. The righty out of Tulare, California was drafted by the Oakland Athletics fourth overall in the 1978 amateur draft. Five days after being drafted, Morgan made his debut against Baltimore, where despite pitching nine innings and surrendering a modest two earned runs, he still earned the loss in a 3-0 blanking by the O’s. 

He spent two years with Oakland before spending the next two seasons in the minor leagues. In 1982, he was dealt to the New York Yankees where he began his collection of frequent flyer miles. After a season in New York, he made stops in Toronto, Seattle, Baltimore, Los Angeles (NL), Chicago (NL), St. Louis, Cincinnati, Minnesota, Chicago (again), Texas, and finally, Arizona. In all, Morgan spent time with twelve different major league clubs, currently the major league record. 

While his career may have fallen short on expectations, no one could question his longevity. Morgan spent parts of 22 seasons in the major leagues and had some successful seasons statistically. His best season came in 1992 with the Cubs, when he has a 16-8 record with a 2.55 ERA. He was chosen to be a National League All-Star the year before with the Dodgers and he won a World Series in 2001 with Arizona. 

Morgan’s career totals accumulate to 141-186 and posted a respectable 4.23 ERA. Morgan also recorded 1403 strikeouts in 597 career games, 411 of those being starts. While he came into the league with high expectations, Morgan had a solid career and no doubt, many others have had way worse. 

TIM CONROY
15 selections were made between Morgan (#4) and Tim Conroy (#20) in the 1978 amateur draft. Conroy, like Morgan, became an Athletic and was rushed to the show as well. 12 days after Morgan made his major league debut, Conroy, a left-handed pitcher from Pennsylvania, would make his. He only made it 3 1/3 innings in his start against the Kansas City Royals but would pick up a no decision.  

Conroy struggled through one more start that season before being sent down to the minors. However, he never seemed to regain any of his control in the minors and was erratically wild for the remainder of his career (he averaged 5.48 walks per 9 innings of work). He spent the 1979 through 1981 seasons working his way back up to the major leagues before getting another chance late in the 1982 season, starting five games for the A’s with a reasonable record of 2-2 together with a 3.55 ERA. 

Conroy spent three more seasons with the Athletics, pitching in 93 games both in the starting and relieving roles, posting an 8-17 record during that stretch. After the 1985 season, he was sent to the St. Louis Cardinals in a trade that saw Oakland acquire all-star pitcher Joaquin Andujar. Conroy pitched only two seasons with St. Louis, his last two in the majors, and would post back-to-back dreadful ERA’s over 5. Conroy spent the rest of his career in the Pittsburgh Pirates’ organization but never got another shot at the majors. 

Conroy stayed in baseball and is currently a special assistant to Atlanta Braves’ general manager Frank Wren. No doubt he’ll be one of the first to intervene if Wren ever decides to rush a prospect too early. Who knows what these three players’ careers would have been like if they came through the minor league system properly.