Video Vault: Did the Cleveland Indians pass on drafting Kirby Puckett in 1982?

CLEVELAND - Hindsight in life, but especially in sports, is 20/20. The woulda, coulda, shoulda can haunt you forever.

When I watched the video in our player, I wondered how could the Indians have passed on drafting Kirby Puckett?

Puckett had a stellar career in his 12 seasons with the Minnesota Twins. According to Baseball-reference.com, Puckett won six Gold Gloves and was an All-Star 10 times on his way to induction in baseball’s Hall of Fame in 2001.

So how did the Indians pass on Kirby Puckett? They didn’t.

Mlb.com's website shows the Tribe had the 11th pick in the January 1982 amateur draft. You’ll hear Indians’ Farm Director Bob Quinn draft Tracy Echols. It was the way the tape was edited that makes it seem like the Tribe front office staff passed on Puckett.

The Twins drafted ahead of the Indians in the number three position, but it was edited so Quinn’s sound would be louder for the pick and the audio person lowered it when it aired. Gib Shanley read the story before Gib tossed to a sound bite from Quinn, explaining to our Allen Davis why the team selected Echols.

Echols' baseball career, like nearly all players drafted that year, never materialized.

The draft war room has some big baseball names from that era, including Gabe Paul and Phil Seghi. You can see Phil Thomas and Bobby DiBiasio in the video; Bobby is with the organization today.

The Indians drafted Jim Jefferson in round two. According to the minor league website milb.com, Jefferson is listed as an active player at the AA-level in the White Sox organization and he’ll turn 50 years old this August.

Yikes!

So, give the Indians a break on this one sports fans. Blame the videotape editor.