From Humble Beginnings

Riley Terr

18 months ago, 144 presumably different people were drafted in the inaugural MLR draft. Some threw 0 pitches and swung 0 times. Others are around today still kicking. Even fewer have remained with the team that first drafted them to this day. No matter where they are, I dug deep and have eagerly awaited sharing my results until today, so I can share them exactly 18 months after the first draft. So if you would, please do indulge me, and let me share my results when finding the end result for those who left, and the current result for those who remain in a sport that punishes players' minds, and which many leave very early into their career.

OVERALL

I first approached this project as a look at who was still around and when people retired. You'll find the whole set of data here, so feel free to observe the raw data if you wish (I'll refer to it a few times, but you don't really need to see it to understand). When looking at when players retired, I first looked up if they are currently rostered in MLR. If they were not currently rostered, I looked up when their last swing or pitch recorded for MLR was. This means that I did not keep track of GMs, as their retirements and switching teams and all else was much too difficult to track. Here's the breakdown by the last time a player played:

And by numbers:

Obviously, there are some big bumps and valleys. The biggest of which is the middle of season 2, due to the great rift. While I personally wish these broken bonds could be mended, I know that some refuse to forgive others, and that's neither my choice to make nor the purpose of this article.

Several players never stepped foot in the box in the majors, and unsurprisingly, you'll find most of these players in the last few rounds of the draft; In the final 2 rounds, of the 24 players selected, 15 never stepped foot on the mound nor in the batter's box. Of the 9 that did, none of them remain in the league, with 3 lasting until the end of season 2. There are some prominent names in the last few rounds, however; look at Mike Anderson, the excellent Pirate hitter, as well as Chad Barrett or Larry Wayne, who led the Nationals to a phenomenal opening season and a 5-2 record.

Since the beginning of season 3, 2 more of the original 144 draftees have retired, leaving the number of original draftees still playing in MLR at 52. That means that over the past 18 months, more than 5 retirements have happened per month- an indication of the brutality this sport has on some people's minds and schedules.

But instead of focusing on those who retired, that led me to think: of those 52, how many have stayed with the team that originally drafted them? 

Now, despite warnings from no one, I was hesitant to include teams that left the league that were part of the original 12. However, I researched these teams' equivalents in MLN, and saw how many retained the players they originally drafted in MLR. For those unaware, I discovered the corresponding teams to be the Sunnydale Slayers for the former Minnesota Twins and the Humongous Melonheads for the Washington Nationals.

Here's how that breakdown looks:

Obviously, all these teams aren't the same teams that started. The Braves moved from Atlanta to Montreal, the Orioles moved from Baltimore to LA, the Mets moved from New York to Milwaukee, and the Royals moved from Kansas City to Oakland. This, in addition to the Twins and Nationals who left. Here's the number breakdown:

Interesting to see here: Half of Toronto's original 12 draft picks are still on the team. That is just a microcosm into the incredible drafting by Mr. Madis Mickelson. Additionally, the Tigers have 5 of their original 12 picks still on their team. Pittsburgh and Montreal round out the top 3 with 4 original players still playing for them, and the Angels and Washington/Humongous have retained a quarter of their original picks throughout the last 18 months.

Another neat note is Oakland and Philadelphia- the first paper cup participants- have retained 0 of their original 12 draft picks. The teams that went to the paper cup in their inaugural season have shipped away or lost to retirement every one of their original 12 players. The only other team to do this was Milwaukee, who have yet to be in the postseason.

In a somewhat relevant note, the only teams to retain their original GMs are the Phillies of MLR (Jay Burd), Astros (Sam Wood), and the Twins/Slayers (Charlie Scott). Of those that remained in MLR, the 2 of the 3 teams with their original GM as of the end of season 2 were Philadelphia and Toronto. Was it a coincidence that these 2 teams participated in the 2nd season's paper cup? Perhaps, but I would bet on no.

As we begin another hopefully prosperous 18 months of MLR play, I would hope that all members of the original draft class would find joy in what they do, just as I would hope all who participate in fake baseball of any kind would. Even those who were drafted and never stepped foot in a batter's box; who never got to face the best of number-throwing masters, they helped lay the foundation for the league. Through retirements or continued play, we salute you, and wish you the best for being part of this tremendous league's humble beginnings.

Writer's note: with lots of players, this can lead to several mistakes, but as a writer of the people, I am willing to accept those mistakes and reveal them to you. So far, I have been corrected on the original GMs, as Sam "Wilbur" Wood is the original GM of the Astros, and Gil Metz was not drafted by the Mets.