1977 Major League Baseball draft

The 1977 Major League Baseball draft took place prior to the 1977 MLB season. The draft saw the Chicago White Sox select Harold Baines first overall.

First round selections

The following are the first round picks in the 1977 Major League Baseball draft.

1	Harold Baines	Chicago White Sox	OF	St. Michaels, Maryland
2	Bill Gullickson	Montreal Expos	RHP	Orland Park, Illinois
3	Paul Molitor	Milwaukee Brewers	SS	Minnesota
4	Tim Cole	Atlanta Braves	LHP	Saugerties, New York
5	Kevin Richards	Detroit Tigers	RHP	Wyandotte, Michigan
6	Terry Kennedy	St. Louis Cardinals	C	Florida State University
7	Richard Dotson	California Angels	RHP	Cincinnati, Ohio
8	Brian Greer	San Diego Padres	OF	Brea, California
9	David Hibner	Texas Rangers	SS	Howell, Michigan
10	Craig Landis	San Francisco Giants	SS	Napa, California
11	Bruce Compton	Cleveland Indians	OF	Norman, Oklahoma
12	Randy Martz	Chicago Cubs	RHP	South Carolina
13	Andrew Madden	Boston Red Sox	RHP	New Hartford, New York
14	Ricky Adams	Houston Astros	SS	Montclair, California
15	Paul Croft	Minnesota Twins	OF	Morristown, New Jersey
16	Wally Backman	New York Mets	SS	Beaverton, Oregon
17	Craig Harris	Oakland Athletics	RHP	Sierra Vista, Arizona
18	Anthony Nicely	Pittsburgh Pirates	OF	Dayton, Ohio
19	Drungo Hazewood	Baltimore Orioles	OF	Sacramento, California
20	Bob Welch	Los Angeles Dodgers	RHP	Eastern Michigan
21	Mike Jones	Kansas City Royals	LHP	Pittsford, New York
22	Scott Munninghoff	Philadelphia Phillies	RHP	Cincinnati, Ohio
23	Steve Taylor	New York Yankees	RHP	Delaware
24	Tad Venger	Cincinnati Reds	3B	Newhall, California
25	Tom Goffena	Toronto Blue Jays	SS	Sidney, Ohio
26	Dave Henderson	Seattle Mariners	OF	Dos Palos, California

Other notable selections

Round	Pick	Player	Team	Position
2	29	Kevin Bass	Milwaukee Brewers	OF
2	38	Terry Francona*	Chicago Cubs	1B
2	42	Mookie Wilson	New York Mets	OF
3	54	Scott Sanderson	Montreal Expos	RHP
3	57	Darrell Brown	Detroit Tigers	OF
4	84	Jim Gott	St. Louis Cardinals	RHP
4	85	Brian Harper	California Angels	C
4	86	Ozzie Smith	San Diego Padres	SS
5	106	Tim Raines	Montreal Expos	OF
5	124	Mickey Hatcher	Los Angeles Dodgers	OF
7	145	Jesse Orosco*	St. Louis Cardinals	LHP
9	233	Jesse Barfield	Toronto Blue Jays	OF
11	270	Chili Davis	San Francisco Giants	OF
15	389	Danny Ainge	Toronto Blue Jays	INF
16	416	Tony Phillips*	Seattle Mariners	INF/OF
17	429	Gary Redus*	Boston Red Sox	OF
36	762	Tom Niedenfuer	Los Angeles Dodgers	RHP

* Did not sign

Background

The White Sox surprised some when they passed on right-handed pitcher Bill Gullickson, a native of nearby Orland Park, Illinois, and selected outfielder Harold Baines as the number one pick in the draft. White Sox owner Bill Veeck had seen Baines play little league baseball in Maryland and had followed his progress through the years. After spending three seasons in the minors, Baines was a fixture in the White Sox lineup for 10 seasons, and was eventually elected to the baseball Hall of Fame.
With Gullickson available, Montreal selected the pitcher second overall, and eventually pitcher Scott Sanderson in the third round and outfielder Tim Raines in the fifth.
Shortstop Tom Goffena from Sidney, Ohio became the Toronto Blue Jays' first draft pick as he was chosen 25th in the first round. The Seattle Mariners picked 26th and took outfielder Dave Henderson from Dos Palos, California as their first draft pick. The Blue Jays also picked Danny Ainge out of Brigham Young University in the 15th round. Ainge, who was also drafted by the NBA's Boston Celtics, later quit baseball and played basketball instead, becoming a basketball coach and executive after his playing days ended.