Angels Make Glaus the Third Pick

Some got a message on their answering machine, a few heard the news personally, others found out 20,000 feet in the air. One by one college and high school baseball players across the Southland realized their future Tuesday, the first day of baseball’s amateur draft.

The Southland’s top prospect, UCLA shortstop Troy Glaus, was one of the earliest to find out as he received a phone call from the Angels at an Omaha hotel saying he was the third overall pick.

Weeks of speculation the Angels would take Glaus over several pitching prospects ended when he received the call an hour before his flight back to Westwood from the College World Series.

“It’s exciting,” said Glaus, who batted .413 with 32 home runs and 88 runs batted in during the regular season. “I thank the Angels for giving me the opportunity. It is an opportunity few people get. I can’t be more thrilled.”

The Angels, and particularly director of scouting Bob Fontaine, were impressed with Glaus, who played shortstop and third base in college. They also seemed unconcerned with a team-high 34 errors.

“We had looked closely at pitching, but when you come across an athlete like that, with that power potential, who plays a premium position it’s hard to pass up,” Fontaine said. “Sometimes getting a player like that can be the best way to help your pitching.”

Glaus is the second UCLA player selected in the first round by the Angels, who took pitcher Pete Janicki with the No. 8 pick in 1992. Janicki is struggling in triple-A after several arm operations.

Glaus, who Fontaine said will get a look first at shortstop, was selected after the Detroit Tigers made Rice pitcher Matt Anderson the first overall pick, and the Philadelphia Phillies selected Florida State outfielder J.D. Drew, considered the best position player in the draft.

“It was pretty much a consensus [to take Glaus],” Fontaine said. “This draft had a lot of good players at the top, but everybody liked him and you could say at the point [we made the selection] that everybody felt good about it.

Glaus was one of four Southland players selected in the first round, the only round released by major league baseball. Baldwin Park High first baseman J.J. Davis was picked at the No. 8 slot by the Pittsburgh Pirates, followed closely by Kennedy High pitcher Jon Garland--chosen 10th by the Chicago Cubs.

“I had the feeling for a month or so it would be the Cubs,” Garland said. “I can’t explain why, the feeling was just there.”

Meanwhile, Cal State Northridge shortstop Adam Kennedy was a surprise selection by the St. Louis Cardinals at No. 20. Kennedy was ranked the 96th best prospect going into the draft by Baseball America.

“I’m trying not to get too excited,’ Kennedy said. “They made the right choice, but I still have to go out and do the job.” The draftees from UCLA, which at last count had seven players selected, were forced to endure a three-hour flight back from the CWS during the draft.

Glaus’ agent, Doug DeCinces, helped some by calling friends and teams to see where some had been drafted. That was how UCLA pitcher Jim Parque found out he was selected by the Chicago White Sox with a supplemental pick between the first and second rounds.

DeCinces could not find out, however, where UCLA outfielder Eric Byrnes had been selected, so Byrnes found out, to the tune of $3.28 a minute.

In the middle of the flight, he used an Airfone and found out what he suspected. He had been chosen by the Astros in the fourth round.

Also drafted from UCLA were junior relief pitcher Jake Meyer by the Chicago White Sox in the fifth round, senior outfielder Jon Heinrichs by the Marlins in the ninth round and junior Pete Zamora by the Dodgers in the 20th round.

Meanwhile, five Long Beach State players were chosen.

The highest was pitcher Rocky Biddle, a supplemental pick by the Chicago White Sox. Also, Long Beach State pitcher Marcus Jones was a third round selection by the Oakland Athletics.

Also drafted from Long Beach State were infielder Toby Sanchez, by Cincinnati in the sixth round, and pitcher Ara Petrosian, by Colorado in the 18th round.

One of the better local stories was USC pitcher Randy Flores, the school’s all-time winningest pitcher, and a 21st round pick last season by the Cardinals. He returned for his senior year and was rewarded when the New York Yankees picked him in the ninth round. Also, USC teammate Seth Etherton, also a pitcher, was taken in the ninth by the Cardinals.

USC senior shortstop Marc Miriczi was selected in the 15th round by the New York Yankees. Pepperdine pitcher Randy Wolf went to the Phillies in the second round after expecting to be chosen earlier.

Times staff writer Steve Henson contributed to this story.

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The First Round

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No. Team Player Pos. School 1. Detroit Matt Anderson P Rice 2. Philadelphia J.D. Drew OF Florida State 3. Angels Troy Glaus SS UCLA 4. San Francisco Jason Grilli P Seton Hall 5. Toronto Vernon Wells OF Bowie (Tex.) HS 6. New York (NL) Geoff Goetz P Jesuit (Fla.) HS 7. Kansas City Daniel Reichert P Pacific 8. Pittsburgh J.J. Davis 1B Baldwin Park HS 9. Minnesota Mike Cuddyer SS Great Bridge (Va.) HS 10. Chicago (NL) Jon Garland P Kennedy HS 11. Oakland Chris Enochs P West Virginia 12. Florida Aaron Akin P Cowley County (Kan.) CC 13. Milwaukee Kyle Peterson P Stanford 14. Cincinnati Brandon Larson SS LSU 15. Chicago (AL) Jason Dellaero SS South Florida 16. Houston Lance Berkman 1B Rice 17. Boston John Curtice P Great Bridge (Va.) HS 18. Colorado Mark Mangum P Kingwood (Texas) HS 19. Seattle Ryan Anderson P Divine Child (Mich.) HS 20. St. Louis Adam Kennedy SS CS Northridge 21. Oakland Eric DuBose P Mississippi State 22. Baltimore Jayson Werth C Glenwood (Ill.) HS 23. Montreal Donnie Bridges P Oak Grove (Miss.) HS 24. New York (AL) Tyrell Godwin OF East Bladen (N.C.) HS 25. Dodgers Glenn Davis 1B Vanderbilt 26. Baltimore Darnell McDonald OF Cherry Creek (Colo.) HS 27. San Diego Kevin Nicholson SS Stetson 28. Cleveland Tim Drew P Lowndes County (Ga.) HS 29. Atlanta Troy Cameron SS St. Thom. Aquinas (Fla.) HS 30. Arizona Jack Cust 1B Immaculata (N.J.) HS 31. Tampa Bay Jason Standridge P Hewitt Trussville (Ala.) HS

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