TOP PICK MIKE IVIE OVERCAME MENTAL BLOCK TO REACH MLB
Being the first overall pick in the draft carries expectations that some-times shadow a player’s career.
Mike Ivie reached the major leagues young, played in parts of 11 seasons and once hit 27 home runs in a season while playing half his games in San Francisco’s Candlestick Park.
Ivie also was the No. 1 pick in the 1970 draft by the Padres as a high school catcher from Atlanta. He had a powerful righthanded bat and, according to Hall of Fame catcher Johnny Bench, the softest hands behind the plate.
Padres scouting director Bob Fontaine Sr. is quoted in BA’s Ultimate Draft Book as saying that Ivie “could have caught at the major
