June Baseball Draft : Harkey First Southland Choice; Griffey Is No. 1

Pitcher Mike Harkey, a junior at Cal State Fullerton, was the first college player and the first Southland player selected in major league baseball’s annual June draft Tuesday.

Harkey, 10-2 with 9 complete games and a 2.72 earned-run average this season, was selected by the Chicago Cubs after three high school players had been chosen.

The Seattle Mariners, as expected, made outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. of Cincinnati’s Moeller High the No. 1 pick and announced that he had agreed to a contract. The Pittsburgh Pirates then selected outfielder Mark Merchant of Oviedo High in Oviedo, Fla., and the Minnesota Twins picked pitcher Willie Banks of St. Anthony High in Jersey City, N.J.

The Dodgers, drafting eighth, their highest since 1969, chose 18-year-old pitcher Dan Opperman of Valley High in Las Vegas. Opperman was the nation’s second-rated prep prospect by the publication, Baseball America. The 6-foot 2-inch, 180-pound right-hander was 6-1 with an 0.54 ERA in 11 games. He struck out 92 and walked only 12 in 65 innings.

The selection of Opperman marks the second straight year that the Dodgers have used their first- round pick to draft a high school player after taking college players for six consecutive years.

“Dan has a very good arm . . . . He has a Bob Welch-type body,” said Ben Wade, the Dodgers’ director of scouting. “We hope to sign him. We think he has a very good future.”

The Angels, drafting 25th, next to last, chose junior catcher John Orton of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Orton, 21, batted .348 this year. He had 11 homers and drove in 30 runs in 49 games. He made only 3 errors in 235 chances and threw out 16 of 35 base stealers.

Rich Schlenker, the Angels’ national scouting coordinator, said Orton was the top-ranking position player available on the team’s list and superior to any pitcher then available. The fact that Bob Boone will be 40 in November was a definite factor.

“We feel that Orton’s ability to catch and throw are very close to major league standards,” Schlenker said. “He may take awhile to develop offensively, but his defensive ability could get him to the big leagues in a hurry. He also has outstanding leadership ability.”

Fifteen of the 26 players selected in the first round Tuesday were pitchers; four were catchers, and three were shortstops.

Southern California players, besides Harkey and Orton, selected in the first round: No. 5--pitcher Jack McDowell, Stanford and Notre Dame High of Sherman Oaks, by the Chicago White Sox; No. 9--pitcher Robert Appier, Antelope Valley College, by the Kansas City Royals; No. 17--pitcher Alex Sanchez, UCLA, by the Toronto Blue Jays; No. 23--catcher Billy Haselman, UCLA, by the Texas Rangers, and No. 24--third baseman Chris Donnels, Loyola Marymount, by the New York Mets.

The first-round selections were released through the office of Baseball Commissioner Peter Ueberroth. The other selections will be revealed by the clubs next Monday, a practice that allows the clubs to contact their choices before the information becomes public and they can then be pursued by agents and/or college recruiters.

Three teams did not have first-round picks, having forfeited them as compensation for signing Class A free agents. They were the Cleveland Indians, who surrendered their pick to the Baltimore Orioles for signing catcher Rick Dempsey; the Philadelphia Phillies, who yielded their pick to the Detroit Tigers for signing catcher Lance Parrish, and the New York Yankees, who gave their pick to the Rangers for signing outfielder Gary Ward.

Griffey--who batted .478, drove in 26 runs in 24 games and was 13 for 13 in steals--is the first son of a major league player to be selected No. 1 in the draft. His father plays for the Atlanta Braves. Terms of Griffey’s contract with the Mariners were not announced but Griffey had said he wanted a $160,000 signing bonus or he would enroll at Gulf Coast Community College in Panama City, Fla. He will work out with the Mariners for three days next week before joining their rookie league team at Bellingham, Wash.

Harkey, a 6-foot 5-inch, 220-pound right-hander, is the first Cal State Fullerton player ever selected in the first round. The Montreal Expos picked Tim Wallach in the 10th round in 1979 and Bob Caffrey in the 14th round in 1984.

In his final start of 1987, Harkey pitched a four-hit shutout against Tulane in the NCAA’s South II Regional tournament.

Of his selection by the Cubs, Harkey said: “There was some speculation that I might be going higher, but I’m not surprised with where I went. I’m not disappointed, either. I’m very pleased.”

He said that he will meet with an official from the Cubs tonight. His father and the family attorney will handle the negotiations.

Harkey added that he was eager to try pro ball. “I feel I’m pretty complete right now as a pitcher,” he said. “I’ve learned a lot here (at Fullerton), and I think it can work in the big leagues. But that’ll be up to them. They’re the professionals.”