Dunning, Stanford's MVP and TSN College Player of the Year in 1970, became Cleveland 's first pick in that June's draft. He went right
to the majors, but never met expectations. He even fooled Ted Williams, whose Senators
Dunning one-hit on April 18, 1971. Williams said "he's going to be some pitcher some
day." But Dunning went 8-14 in '71, and had little success with four other clubs.
(KC)
FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY
»June 4, 1970: In the June draft, the Padres select high school catcher Mike Ivie as the number-one pick and sign him in three days to a $100,000 contract. He'll play in the ML 11 years but catch only nine games in the bigs because of a phobia about throwing the ball back to the pitcher. Choosing next, the Indians take Stanford P Steve Dunning, who will debut in 10 days. Catchers Barry Foote (Expos) and Darrell Porter (Brewers) go next. The Pirates wait till the 14th round to take Dave Parker. Rich Gossage goes in the 9th round to the White Sox; Rick Reuschel to the Cubs (3); pitcher Dale Murphy to the Braves (18th). The Giants took Randy Moffitt and Chris Speier on the first round in January and repeat the good first round picks today with John D'Acquisto and Dave Kingman. The Reds take prep SS Gary Polczynski in the first round, but have better luck in the 8th (Will McEnaney), the 10th (Ray Knight) and the 19th (Pat Zachry). The Phillies, Royals, Dodgers, and Angels pick 5th, 8th, 9th and 10th on the first round and also come up with duds. Future seventeen-year major leaguer Frank White goes undrafted today.
»May 11, 1971: Indian pitcher Steve Dunning connects for a grand slam, but doesn't get the win, as Cleveland beats the A's 7–5. Dunning, who came straight to the majors from Stanford, hits the last grand slam this century by an AL pitcher.
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