One of my all-time faves from listening to Blue Jays Baseball over the years was the Benjamin Moore Paints "Where are they Now" segment. Today, we take over from Tom and Jerry, with the story on Blue Jays 1982 First Round Draft Choice (2nd Overall) Augie Schmidt. But rather than telling you of Augie's travels and travails myself, I'll simply pass along the amazing journey, as told by Pete Jackel of the Racine, Wisconsin, Journal-Times. I'm sure I speak for many Bauxites in wishing Mr. Schmidt all the best (and a successful NCAA tournament to cap his impressive season!)
Does anyone know what happened to Schmidt? The Baseball Cube, oddly, doesn't have any of his college or minor-league stats. He lasted only two years in the Jays organization before being thrown into the Gary Lavelle trade. That's damn quick to be giving up on the second overall pick in the draft, but Schmidt lasted only a year with the Giants before being cut loose for good. Weird.
For all the justified talk about the Jays' success with their first pick in the draft in the '90s, their record in the '80s was, well, dismal:
1980: Garry Harris, 2nd overall, high school
1981: Matt Williams, 5th, high school
1982: Augie Schmidt, 2nd, college
1983: Matt Stark, 9th, high school
1984: None (remember Dennis Lamp?)
1985: Greg David, 25th, high school
1986: Earl Sanders, 26th, college
1987: Alex Sanchez, 17th, college
1988: Ed Sprague, 25th, college
1989: Eddie Zosky, 19th, college
Sprague was a useful player for a couple of years, but everyone else on that list was a massive bust. If the Jays had been as good with their top draft pick as they were with Rule 5 choices in the '80s, Toronto might have been unstoppable. As it is, it's pretty amazing they were as successful as they were.
For all the justified talk about the Jays' success with their first pick in the draft in the '90s, their record in the '80s was, well, dismal:
1980: Garry Harris, 2nd overall, high school
1981: Matt Williams, 5th, high school
1982: Augie Schmidt, 2nd, college
1983: Matt Stark, 9th, high school
1984: None (remember Dennis Lamp?)
1985: Greg David, 25th, high school
1986: Earl Sanders, 26th, college
1987: Alex Sanchez, 17th, college
1988: Ed Sprague, 25th, college
1989: Eddie Zosky, 19th, college
Sprague was a useful player for a couple of years, but everyone else on that list was a massive bust. If the Jays had been as good with their top draft pick as they were with Rule 5 choices in the '80s, Toronto might have been unstoppable. As it is, it's pretty amazing they were as successful as they were.
FWIW, I hit 297 in 82 at Kinston, 167 in the FIL in 83, at Knoxville I hit .266, did hit four homers. In 84, I got up to Syracuse hitting .201, after I hit .259 at Knoxville the same year. Then I faded into the history books...
Whoa, that's cool... First Mr. Schunk, now Augie is here :-) You know your (this is for you Coach) little website is growing when...
Man, I love having an excuse to look at old drafts
Imagine if we had taken Dwight Gooden with the second overall pick instead of Augie. Imagine if Dwight had played in Toronto, a relatively tame city, party-wise, compared to New York. He might have been one of the greatest pitchers ever and missed the drug problems that probably started because of his situation as a party Met.
Then again, he might have blown his arm out in Single A for us and never made it to the show. Good stuff.
Imagine if we had taken Dwight Gooden with the second overall pick instead of Augie. Imagine if Dwight had played in Toronto, a relatively tame city, party-wise, compared to New York. He might have been one of the greatest pitchers ever and missed the drug problems that probably started because of his situation as a party Met.
Then again, he might have blown his arm out in Single A for us and never made it to the show. Good stuff.
Two players that vividly come into my mind when I saw the first round draft choice list are pitchers Earl Sanders and Alex Sanchex.
Both began their pro careers with St. Catherines, and were invited to major league camps shortly thereafter. In fact, Sanders was touted as a DH as well as a pitcher.
By 1989, Sanchez had a Donruss rookie card and was actually called up by the Jays in May. His debut was against Minnesota at the Ex (no decision) and he was the starting pitcher during that famous Sunday afternoon 10-9 game in Boston when Junior Felix had the game of his life. Sanchez was gone in the first.
(If you need a reminder of this game, please see the 1989 Jays highlight video: "Sky High".)
Sanchex was there at the opening of SkyDome the next day, but shortly was returned to Syracuse. He did another spring or so with the Jays, but never pitched another game for Toronto.
Both began their pro careers with St. Catherines, and were invited to major league camps shortly thereafter. In fact, Sanders was touted as a DH as well as a pitcher.
By 1989, Sanchez had a Donruss rookie card and was actually called up by the Jays in May. His debut was against Minnesota at the Ex (no decision) and he was the starting pitcher during that famous Sunday afternoon 10-9 game in Boston when Junior Felix had the game of his life. Sanchez was gone in the first.
(If you need a reminder of this game, please see the 1989 Jays highlight video: "Sky High".)
Sanchex was there at the opening of SkyDome the next day, but shortly was returned to Syracuse. He did another spring or so with the Jays, but never pitched another game for Toronto.
Re: post #2: Augie, if this is you, welcome to Batter's Box! We're always happy to have players past and present visit our community.
If this isn't Augie, but someone pretending tongue-in-cheek to be Augie, I'd like to restate our long-standing request that posters not impersonate real people. Amongst other reasons, we have more than a few high-profile visitors, mostly lurkers, who probably don't like seeing their own or a colleague/friend/teammate's name used as a handle. This will be set out in more detail in our Legal and Privacy Policy Page, which is nearing completion and will be posted in the next while. No foul, but just to let everyone know. Thanks.
If this isn't Augie, but someone pretending tongue-in-cheek to be Augie, I'd like to restate our long-standing request that posters not impersonate real people. Amongst other reasons, we have more than a few high-profile visitors, mostly lurkers, who probably don't like seeing their own or a colleague/friend/teammate's name used as a handle. This will be set out in more detail in our Legal and Privacy Policy Page, which is nearing completion and will be posted in the next while. No foul, but just to let everyone know. Thanks.
please see the 1989 Jays highlight video: "Sky High"
Sit down, Larry Sheets!
Sit down, Larry Sheets!
Ah 1989--a Blue Jays summer to remember:
1. Junior Felix's HR on his first pitch vs California.
2. Goodbye Jimy One-M.
3. Almost Terry Bevington, Bud Harrelson, or Lou Pinella.
4. Cito agrees...
5. Goodbye Exhibition Stadium (still miss it)
6. That series in Boston.
7. Hello SkyDome
8. Ducey hurting his knee on an ajar fence at SkyDome.
9. Mooooookie and Lee Maz.
10. That final series against Baltimore.
We just ran out of gas for the A's. A great summer, anyways!
1. Junior Felix's HR on his first pitch vs California.
2. Goodbye Jimy One-M.
3. Almost Terry Bevington, Bud Harrelson, or Lou Pinella.
4. Cito agrees...
5. Goodbye Exhibition Stadium (still miss it)
6. That series in Boston.
7. Hello SkyDome
8. Ducey hurting his knee on an ajar fence at SkyDome.
9. Mooooookie and Lee Maz.
10. That final series against Baltimore.
We just ran out of gas for the A's. A great summer, anyways!