First round selections
The following are the first round picks in the 1971 Major League Baseball draft.
Contents
* Did not sign
Background
The June 1971 draft was a productive one, even though none of its top ten choices yielded players who would have memorable major league careers. Selected in the regular phase were future all-stars Jim Rice (Boston, 1st round), Frank Tanana (California, 1st round), George Brett (Kansas City, 2nd round), Ron Guidry (New York Yankees, 3rd round), Rick Rhoden (Los Angeles, 1st round), Mike Schmidt (Philadelphia, 2nd round) and Keith Hernandez (St. Louis, 42nd round). In the secondary phase, Burt Hooton (Chicago Cubs, 1st round), Steve Rogers (Montreal, 1st round) and Steve Busby (Kansas City, 2nd round) were chosen.
Pitcher Mike Flanagan was selected in the 15th round of the June regular phase by Houston, but enrolled at the University of Massachusetts. One of the more interesting highlights of the June draft was that five quarterbacks were selected including future NFL stars Archie Manning, Steve Bartkowski and Joe Theismann. Danny Goodwin, the nation's top pick, could not agree to terms with the White Sox and became the first top choice who did not sign a contract.
Other notable players
Condredge Holloway went on to have a career in the Canadian Football League, where he was awarded Most Outstanding Player while playing for the Toronto Argonauts