The Curse of New York

Vote

by user Roblefko

Overall No 1. Draft Picks

With Eli Manning's recent struggles, I thought I'd take a look at other players picked first overall by New York teams (I know Eli was officially the No. 1 Overall by the Chargers, but because of the draft-day trade, it's the same difference).

The Curse of New York

10. Andre Veilleux

Andre Veilleux was the 1st overall pick in the 1965 NHL Amateur Draft, picked by the New York Rangers, but he never played a game in the NHL.

9. Paul Wilson

Paul Wilson was selected first overall by the New York Mets in the 1994 MLB Draft. In his minor league career, he was billed alongside Jason Isringhausen and Bill Pulsipher as being a future Mets superstar. He never lived up to his potential with the Mets accumulating 5 major league wins, before finally being traded to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 2000.

8. Billy Harris

Billy Harris was selected first overall in the 1972 NHL Amateur Draft. He played on Long Island until he was traded to the Los Angeles Kings on the 10th of March, 1980 along with Dave Lewis for Butch Goring. Later that year, the Islanders won their first Stanley Cup of four in a row. Harris was never part of a winning Cup team. He finished off the last few seasons of his career with the Los Angeles Kings and Toronto Maple Leafs before retiring after the 1983-84 season.

7. Shawn Abner

I wonder how much this card is worth now.

Shawn Abner was chosen first overll in the 1984 Amateur Draft by the New York Mets. Abner attended high school at Mechanicsburg Area High School in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania' where he was identified by New York Mets scouts as an all-around "can't miss" outfield prospect after his sophomore year. He was also a star at football, and his number "16" was retired by the school for use in both sports. The Mets owned the first pick in the 1984 amateur draft and had had recent draft successes with Darryl Strawberry and Dwight Gooden, two players who became stars almost immediately despite their young age. Shawn Abner was chosen first in the draft; his brother Ben was also taken, in the fifth round by the Montreal Expos. Other players chosen in the first round included Bill Swift, Cory Snyder, Terry Mulholland, Jay Bell, Oddibe McDowell, and, perhaps most importantly, Mark McGwire.

Abner never played a game for the Mets. After moving slowly through the minor-league system, he was traded after the 1986 season to the San Diego Padres as part of an eight-player deal that sent Kevin Mitchell to the Padres in exchange for Kevin McReynolds. The light-hitting Abner played sparingly over the next five seasons for San Diego, being used mostly as a reserve outfielder. He would be traded to the California Angels in 1991 and signed by the Chicago White Sox in 1992. Abner would injure his knee the following season, while in the Kansas City Royals organization, and never played in the majors again. He would end up back in the New York Mets organization in 1995, rehabilitating his knee with the Norfolk Tides.

6. Ron Blomberg

A perennial prospect for most of his career, Ron Blomberg was selected by the Yankees first overall in the 1967 amateur draft. Blomberg did not ultimately live up to the Yankees' great expectations for him. He was notoriously injury-prone. After going 3-for-6 in his first season, Blomberg was out in 1970. Things were not much better in the years to come. He played 107 games in 1972, 100 in 1973, 90 in 1974, 34 in 1975, and only one in 1976. Out in 1977, he was granted free agency at the end of the season.

5. Rick DiPietro

Rick DiPietro was selected first overall by the [[New York Islanders in the 2000 NHL Draft. On September 12, 2006, the Islanders signed him to the longest playing contract in NHL history, giving him a record 15-year deal that will pay him $67.5 million. While this may seem like good news, it means he's gotta play for the Islanders until 2021. We're sorry for you Rick.

4. Patrick Ewing

Patrick in a suit

Because Patrick Ewing was considered such a prize prospect and in order to prevent teams from tanking games in order to secure a better chance of obtaining Ewing's services, the NBA introduced a Draft Lottery, which gave each of the 7 teams not in the playoffs an equal chance of securing the first overall pick, a process that was won by the New York Knicks, who selected Ewing first overall in the 1985 NBA Draft. Ewing didnt disappoint.

He played 15 marvelous seasons for the Knicks, but will always be remembered for having never led the Knicks to a title. It's not his fault -- blame Michael Jordan for being so darn good -- but the man who would be king well, wasn't. Bill Simmons even notes that the Ewing-era Knicks were better off when Patrick was in a suit on the sidelines (see the Ewing Theory). That's just sad.

3. Steve Chilcott

Steve Chilcott, a catcher from Antelope Valley High School in Lancaster, California, was drafted by the New York Mets as the first overall pick in the 1966 Major League Baseball draft, ahead of Arizona State outfielder Reggie Jackson. Seventeen year old Ken Brett was the fourth pick, and would pitch 16 months later in the 1967 World Series for the Red Sox.

Chilcott played six seasons in the minor leagues before suffering career-ending injuries. Through 2005, Chilcott and Brien Taylor are the only number-one picks in the baseball draft to retire without ever reaching the major leagues. Jackson, on the other hand, hit 563 home runs, was a key component in five world championship teams, and was enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

2. Darryl Strawberry

While Darryl Strawberry, the first overall pick by the New York Mets in the 1980 MLB Draft, may not have been an on-field bust/curse, he did suffer through a never-ending list of off-field legal and personal problems. Here are just a few:

On January 29, 1987, Strawberry's wife, Lisa, filed for a legal separation from him in a Los Angeles court. She also accused him of breaking her nose after a game the previous October. On May 18, 1989, she filed for divorce in Los Angeles. On October 15, 1993, they divorced. The couple had two children together.

On April 3, 1994, Strawberry was absent from a baseball game and was not found until that night. The next day, the Dodgers announced that he had a substance abuse problem. Four days later, Strawberry began four weeks in the Betty Ford Center.

On December 8, 1994, Strawberry and his agent were indicted for failing to report more than $300,000 of income from autograph and memorabilia shows. On April 24, 1995, Strawberry was ordered to repay $350,000 in back taxes and sentenced to six months of home confinement.

On October 1, 1998, Strawberry was diagnosed with colon cancer. Two days later, he had surgery to remove a tumor and 16 inches of his colon. On October 9, doctors announced that cancer had been detected in a lymph node so he would also have to undergo chemotherapy.

On April 14, 1999, Strawberry was arrested in Tampa, Florida for soliciting sex from a policewoman posing as a prostitute and for having a small amount of cocaine. On April 24, he was suspended for 120 days by Major League Baseball for the incident. On May 26, he pleaded no contest to the charges and was sentenced to 18 months probation and community service.

On January 19, 2000, Strawberry tested positive for cocaine. On February 28, shortly after the test result was announced, Major League Baseball announced that he would be suspended for one year. Two days later, he was in rehab.

On September 17, 2005, Strawberry reported his sport utility vehicle had been stolen from a Delray Beach, Florida gas station but the station's surveillance video showed Strawberry leaving as a passenger in another vehicle. A tipster then told police that Strawberry had earlier left his SUV behind a sports bar and given her the keys. He was later charged with filing a false police report.

1. Brien Taylor

Almost 15 years later, you can still find his rookie card being sold on Ebay

Brien Taylor was selected first by the New York Yankees in the 1991 MLB Draft. He is best known for being just the second Major League Baseball player to be picked first in the MLB Draft and never make the major leagues. After the draft, he was offered about $350,000 to sign a minor league contract, the typical amount given to #1 draft choices at that time. However, agent Scott Boras (acting as an "advisor" because unsigned players were not allowed to have an agent at that time) advised the Taylor family that last year's top-rated high school pitcher, Todd Van Poppel, was given more than $1.2 million dollars to sign with the Oakland Athletics, giving up a scholarship to Stanford University in the process. The Taylors held out for "Van Poppel money" even though they had less leverage due to the fact that Brien's poor grades at East Carteret High School in North Carolina prevented him from getting a college scholarship anywhere. They then used a local community college as leverage to get the Yankees to agree to pay Van Poppel money. The Yankees were without the official services of George Steinbrenner who was serving a suspension at the time but through the media, Steinbrenner said that if the Yankees let Taylor get away, they should be "shot." Taylor was signed for $1.55 million the day before his classes were set to begin.

While working up the minor league ranks in 1993, Taylor suffered a torn labrum while defending his brother in a barfight. He was never the same pitcher again. He was at AA before the incident but spent the bulk of the remainder of his league career struggling at Single A.

Enable Comment Auto-Refresher