Loading ...July 5, 1979: The Reds select catcher Daniel Lamar from Bellaire High School in Houston, Texas in the first round of the amateur draft.
Lamar had trouble hitting his weight, and never progressed above Class A level. Future MLers picked by the Reds included Bob Buchanan and Keefe Cato, both in the 2nd round, Jeff Russell in the 5th, and Jeff Jones in the 20th.
All “Reds trivia” posts come from Greg Rhodes and John Snyder’s fabulous book, “Redleg Journal” (see link for purchasing) and are used with Greg’s permission.
Thanks again to Greg Rhodes for permission to use his material.
Comment: If you don’t know who Bob Buchanan or Keefe Cato are, don’t feel like the Lone Ranger. I looked them up. Buchanan pitched in 16 games in the majors (14 with the Reds in ‘85 and 2 for KC in ‘89). Cato pitched in 12 games in the bigs, all with the Reds (4 in ‘83 and 8 in ‘84).
I remembered Keefe Cato, just because he had such a cool name. Buchanan, however, had faded from my memory.
Back in junior high, when I had fewer other things to remember, I could keep track of everyone who appeared in the majors. No longer.