Atlanta Braves History: Dale Murphy is picked by the Braves in the 1st round (June 5, 1974)

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="240"] Dale Murphy - Atlanta - 1983 Road (Photo credit: BaseballBacks)[/caption]

The June 5. 1974 draft produces just 725 picks‚ the fewest in history‚ and only 300 of these are from the college ranks‚ with the low number blamed on the introduction of aluminum bats this past season.

In the 1st round, with the 5th pick‚ the Braves select Dale Murphy. It is hard to know if they had a clue about the talent they just brought on board. Probably not. What a great pick it ended up being though.

The Padres‚ with their 3rd number-one free-agent pick in 5 years‚ select Brown University SS Bill Almon‚ the TSN College Player of the Year. They had selected him 3 years earlier out of high school‚ but he attended college instead. The Rangers take P Tommy Boggs with the 2nd pick and the Phils follow with prep OF Lonnie Smith. The Angels‚ picking 10th take the ill-fated Mike Miley‚ who quarterbacked LSU to a win in the Orange Bowl. the Tigers take Lance Parrish with the 16th pick‚ the Royals pick prep football star Willie Wilson with the 18th‚ and the Red Sox‚ picking 20th‚ take SS Eddie Ford‚ son of Whitey Ford. Picking next‚ the Dodgers get Rick Sutcliffe.

The Orioles‚ with the 24th pick in round 1 pick Rich Dauer‚ the top player for USC's championship team; 4 of their other picks will end up in the NFL (QB's Andy Johnson‚ Steve Bartkowski‚ and John Sciarra‚ and Anthony Davis). The Cards use a pick on the NFL Giants Brad Van Pelt‚ the 5th time he's been selected. The Twins pick up prep C Butch Wynegar‚ who will make the AL All-star team at age 20.

And so, the Braves added to their roster a future star in 1974. Doesn't always work out that way.

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The year of the Hammer (1974)

The off season was all about Hank Aaron. No one could talk about anything else. He would break the record in 1974. No doubt about it. It was Eddie Matthews last year as manager. Clyde King would end the year as the manager. The Atlanta Braves would end up third in the East with a 88-74 record. 14 games behind was not anything to speak of. But it didn't seem to matter too much in the year when the Hammer would become the home run King.

The season did start with some controversy though. The Braves would open the season in Cinncinnati. Everyone wanted Hank to hit his record home run in Atlanta. So, they were going to keep Hank out of the line up. Bowie Kuhn had to step in and demand the Hank play.