1981 Amateur Draft

In the 1981 Amateur Draft, the New York Yankees selected future NFL great John Elway with their first pick in the draft, which came in the 2nd round. He played a few games in their minor league system in 1982 before moving on to professional football.

1981 First Round Picks

Pick	Team	Player	Position	School (Type)	Hometown	Notes
1	Seattle Mariners	Mike Moore	RHP	Oral Roberts University (Col.)	Eakly, OK
2	Chicago Cubs	Joe Carter	OF	Wichita State University (Col.)	Oklahoma City, OK
3	California Angels	Dick Schofield	SS	Sacred Heart-Griffin High School (HS)	Springfield, IL
4	New York Mets	Terry Blocker	OF	Tennessee State University (Col.)	Columbia, SC
5	Toronto Blue Jays	Matt Williams	RHP	Rice University (Col.)	Houston, TX
6	San Diego Padres	Kevin McReynolds	OF	University of Arkansas (Col.)	Little Rock, AR
7	Chicago White Sox	Daryl Boston	OF	Woodward High School (Cincinnati) (HS)	Cincinnati, OH
8	St. Louis Cardinals	Bobby Meacham	SS	San Diego State University (Col.)	[[]]
9	Texas Rangers	Ron Darling	RHP	Yale University (Col.)	Honolulu, HI
10	San Francisco Giants	Mark Grant	RHP	Joliet Catholic High School (HS)	Joliet, IL
11	Minnesota Twins	Mike Sodders	3B	Arizona State University (Col.)	[[]]
12	Atlanta Braves	Jay Roberts	OF	Centralia (WA) High School (HS)	Centralia, WA
13	Cleveland Indians	George Alpert	OF	Livingston High School (HS)	Livingston, NJ
14	Pittsburgh Pirates	Jim Winn	RHP	John Brown University (Col.)	Stockton, CA
15	Oakland Athletics	Tim Pyznarski	3B-OF	Eastern Illinois University (Col.)	Chicago, IL
16	Chicago Cubs	Vance Lovelace	LHP	Hillsborough High School (HS)	Tampa, FL	Compensation from Cincinnati Reds for Larry Biittner
17	Detroit Tigers	Ricky Barlow	RHP	Woodville (TX) High School (HS)	Woodville, TX
18	Montreal Expos	Darren Dilks	LHP	Oklahoma State University (Col.)	[[]]
19	Boston Red Sox	Steve Lyons	OF-SS	Oregon State University (Col.)	Tacoma, WA
20	Philadelphia Phillies	Johnny Abrego	RHP	Mission San Jose High School (HS)	San Jose, CA
21	Toronto Blue Jays	John Cerutti	LHP	Amherst College (Col.)	Albany, NY	Compensation from Milwaukee Brewers for Roy Howell
22	Los Angeles Dodgers	Dave Anderson	SS	University of Memphis (Col.)	Louisville, KY
23	Kansas City Royals	Dave Leeper	OF	University of Southern California (Col.)	Santa Ana, CA
24	Texas Rangers	Al Lachowicz	RHP	University of Pittsburgh (Col.)	Pittsburgh, PA	Compensation from Houston Astros for Dave Roberts
25	Boston Red Sox	Kevin Burrell	C	Poway High School (HS)	Poway, CA	Compensation from Baltimore Orioles for Jim Dwyer
26	San Diego Padres	Frank Castro	C	University of Miami (Col.)	[[]]	Compensation from New York Yankees for Dave Winfield

January 1981 amateur draft

Pick	Team	Player	Position	School (Type)	Hometown	Notes
1	Chicago Cubs	Jim Rooney	LHP	County College of Morris (Col.)		Did not sign
2	Seattle Mariners	Bret McAfee	SS	Merced College (Col.)
3	New York Mets	Randy Milligan	OF	San Diego Mesa College
4	California Angels	Kevin Price	RHP	Cosumnes River College (Col.)
5	San Diego Padres	Eric Bullock	OF	Los Angeles Harbor College (Col)		Did not sign

Other Notable Selections

Sid Bream, John Elway, Mike Gallego, Mark Gubicza, Neal Heaton, Mark Langston, Frank Viola (2nd round); Phil Bradley, David Cone, Sid Fernandez, Tony Gwynn (3rd round); Paul O'Neill, Eric Plunk (4th round); John Franco, Mickey Tettleton (5th round); Mike Pagliarulo, Devon White (6th round); Mark McGwire (8th round, did not sign); Fred McGriff (9th round); Roger Clemens (12th round, did not sign); Lenny Dykstra (13th round); Bob Tewksbury (19th round); John Kruk (secondary phase); Billy Hatcher (6th round, January); Glenn Davis, Kevin Gross, Rob Murphy (secondary phase, January)

Other Sports Selections

• John Elway (2nd round); Jack Del Rio (22nd round)

Notes

The Major League Baseball Draft was held on the same day as the National Basketball Association Draft in 1981. OF Tony Gwynn of San Diego State University was drafted by the San Diego Padres in the 3rd round of the MLB draft, and by the San Diego Clippers in the 10th round of the NBA Draft (he was a point guard for the SDSU Aztecs). He chose to play baseball, a wise decision as he went on to have a Hall of Fame career.