Is Stephen Strasburg destined for greatness?

Being the first pick in the draft means instant success, right?

Wrong.

But try telling that to the 1985 me and I’d sooner spit in your face than agree with you.

Please…allow me to explain.

In 1985, the Topps card company had, among their seemingly ENDLESS amount of sub-sets, a block of cards reserved for baseball’s past number one draft picks.

All the big ones were there…Bill Almon, Al Chambers, Bob Horner. Even Shawn Abner, first pick overall by the Mets in 1984 was included.

Suffice it to say…I was hooked and I had to collect all of those first picks.

25 years later, I got to thinking…”is this year’s number one pick destined for the greatness everyone seems to think he is?” Think about it…is Stephen Strasburg already knocking on the door to Cooperstown simply because he was picked first?

Well?

Would you be shocked to find out that since the draft started in 1965, there hasn’t been a single number one draft pick to make his way to The Hall of Fame?

Matter of fact, only four players that have been selected in the top ten of the respective draft classes have been enshrined…Reggie Jackson (drafted second overall in 1966), Robin Yount and Dave Winfield (selected with the third and fourth picks in the 1973) and Paul Molitor (taken third overall in 1977).