Cleveland Indians: 5 best first-round draft picks in club history

No. 5: Ray Fosse – No. 7 overall, 1965

The first ever draft for Major League Baseball took place in 1965 and the Cleveland Indians started off their draft history on a high note, selecting high school catcher Ray Fosse with the No. 7 overall pick that season.

The Marion, Illinois native reached the major leagues before the end of the 1967 season, getting a September call-up that season and making his major league debut at just 20 years of age.

Fosse wouldn’t become a mainstay in the Tribe lineup though until the 1970 season, but he broke out in a big way that year, making his first of two consecutive All-Star appearances and finishing in the top-25 in the MVP voting, hitting an impressive .307/.361/.469 with 18 home runs. He also won the first of two straight Gold Gloves.

Unfortunately for Fosse, he’s best remembered for what happened at the 1970 All-Star Game, in which he was involved in a nasty collision at that plate with Pete Rose on the final play of the game. While original X-rays were negative, it was later learned that Fosse actually fractured his shoulder and suffered a nasty separation, both of which healed incorrectly due to their missed diagnosis.

Fosse still managed to play well in 1971 but was never the same player again and further injuries limited his career. He still finished with the seventh-highest career WAR among all Tribe first-round picks (per baseball-reference).

Yet it still pains Tribe fans to think what might have been had he not gotten hurt.