The Pirates made University of Arizona shortstop Kevin Newman their No. 1 pick Monday night in baseball’s amateur draft. They are hoping he is the next Barry Bonds, not the next Mark Merchant.
“When you hit on one, it’s sweet,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle was saying Monday afternoon. “When you don’t hit on one, it’s sour because they’re game-changers now.”
Chances are Newman will be somewhere in between Bonds and Merchant. The draft is not an exact science. It’s impossible to predict with any certainty that a player will become a star.
Hurdle is proof.
Let’s just say Hurdle is a much better manager than he was a player, who, at 20, made the cover of Sports Illustrated in March 1978 with the screaming headline, “This Year’s Phenom.