Rick Monday (#282)

Rick Monday was the first pick in the 1965 amateur draft - the very first draft.

He spent his first 2 seasons in the minors, making his major-league debut on 9/3/1966. He had a fine rookie season in 1967, and although he was named to the Topps' 1967 All-Rookie team, a trophy doesn't appear on his card.



After 5 seasons as the Athletics' centerfielder, Rick was traded to the Cubs for pitcher Ken Holtzman in November 1971. Monday played with the Cubs for 5 seasons, and has his best power numbers there - hitting 26, 20, and 32 homers in 3 of his 5 seasons with Chicago.

In January 1977, Monday was traded to the Dodgers with pitcher Mike Garman for shortstop Ivan DeJesus and outfielder Bill Buckner. In his first season in LA, he was the Dodgers' regular centerfielder, but year by year, his playing time was reduced, so that by his final season in 1984, he only appeared in 31 games. He was released in June 1984.