87 Percent Of Americans Unaware Of Their Selection in MLB Draft

A University of Iowa Study (via The Onion) reveals 87 percent of Americans are unaware they were selected in the latter rounds of the 2015 MLB draft.

It turns out a huge majority of Americans have no idea they are eligible to play in Major League Baseball. 

A report released by the University of Iowa (via TheOnion.com) on June 10, 87 percent of Americans are unaware they were selected in the latter rounds of the 2015 MLB draft.

Study author Angelo Crawford told TheOnion.com an overwhelming majority of Americans’ names were shown on MLB’s live draft tracker when the draft was held this week:

“Our survey indicates that over 270 million Americans are totally oblivious to that fact that they’ve been picked between the 20th and 40th rounds of this year’s MLB draft and are now eligible to negotiate minor-league contracts. 

Article: Report: 87% Of Americans Unaware They Have Been Chosen In Later Rounds Of MLB Draft http://t.co/TAEiDVLHs7— The onion (@the_onion) June 10, 2015

“For example, several hundred thousand Americans are now part of the Baltimore Orioles organization and have been assigned to the Single-A Delmarva Shorebirds over in Maryland — they just don’t know it.”

TheOnion.com report says an estimated seven million Americans were expected to reject a phone call from an anonymous caller which actually belongs to Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane. 

In another development, the Los Angeles Angels drafted right-handed pitcher Aaron Cox, the brother of Angels outfielder Mike Trout’s girlfriend Jessica Cox, on June 10. 

According to MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez, there have only been two players from Roy Hallenbeck’s Millville High School baseball team based in Southern New Jersey who have been drafted by a major league team over the course of the past 17 years. 

Those two are Trout and Cox, both of whom were drafted by the Angels, per MLB.com. 

Hallenbeck told Gonzalez on Wednesday he’s really excited at the prospect of Trout and Cox playing for the same team:

“When I heard it was the Angels, that was crazy. We heard some other teams that were interested in him, but I hadn’t heard the Angels yet, so that’s really exciting.

.@Angels draft Aaron Cox – who happens to be the brother of @MikeTrout‘s girlfriend. http://t.co/26Xj8RWPdp #MLBDraft pic.twitter.com/qX6hy6DPRj— MLB (@MLB) June 10, 2015

“It never really seemed that odd to me, just because that’s the way I’ve always kind of known the situation. But I guess from an outside perspective, it is kind of strange.”

The 6’3″, 205-pound Cox just wrapped up his junior year at Gannon University in Pennsylvania. He registered eight home runs and 32 RBIs on a .316 batting average in 44 games. He sported a 5-5 record with a 3.74 ERA and 81 strikeouts in 10 starts, per Gonzalez.

Trout, one of the best players in the majors, has been dating Jessica Cox since they were high school sophomores. Hallenbeck says Trout and Aaron Cox are “like family, for lack of a better word,” per MLB.com. Trout is just three years Cox’s senior. 

Gonzalez says the two hunt, fish and even work out together. 

Now that Cox is in the majors, the Angels are envisioning him to be one of their starters. Hallenbeck told Gonzalez he’s really been impressed with how Cox has come along:

“I mean he looks fantastic, and he just continues to mature physically. What I’m hearing from scouting reports is that his veolcity crept up a little bit, as they expected it would, as he got bigger and stronger and older, but he really developed devastating offspeed stuff to go along with that.” 

Congrats going the other way today!
Conor Biggio, son of Hall of Famer Craig, taken by @Astros
http://t.co/nZUq5ky0gw pic.twitter.com/4IU8TziB7d— MLB Draft (@MLBDraft) June 10, 2015

The 2015 MLB draft has been a tale of second generation baseball stars.

On June 10, the Houston Astros drafted Conor Biggio, son of Craig Biggio and one of the team’s all-time greats. Houston picked up the younger Biggio in the 34th round, per MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart. 

Craig Biggio couldn’t be more excited for his son, who was an outfielder with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, per MLB.com:

“We’re pretty excited around here. It’s a cool, very exciting moment and we’re just kind of enjoying it right now and we’ll sit down and try to figure out what our plan is. He’s got an opportunity at grad school.

“We’ve got to sit and figure out what we want to do, but we’re really enjoying the moment right now.

“We’re kind of leaning toward doing the graduate school thing. If not, he’s got a couple of job opportunities — one in MLB and another one hopefully, maybe in New York, so we’ll see what happens with that. We’ll talk about it and figure out what we want to do.”

This name /4/sound familiar. Mariano Rivera III, son of legendary Yankees closer, drafted in 4th round by Nationals. pic.twitter.com/GWPZ59c2K0— Baseball Tonight (@BBTN) June 9, 2015

Biggio’s other son, Cavan, just finished his sophomore year at Notre Dame. The Philadelphia Phillies selected him in the 29th round of the 2013 MLB draft but opted to go to Notre Dame, per MLB.com. 

Craig Biggio, who spent his entire 20-year MLB career with the Houston Astros, will be enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame next month, per Gonzalez. 

A day earlier, the Washington Nationals drafted Mariano Rivera III, son of the great New York Yankees closer. Another second-generation MLB player, Tate Matheny, was also drafted that day. He is the son of former MLB catcher and current St. Louis Cardinals manager Mike Matheny.

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