The two pictures below are from the 1962 yearbook of Thomas Jefferson High School in Tampa, Florida. and depict the 17-year-old shortstop on the school’s baseball team, as well as in a more formal pose. He was a top prospect, batting .479 for the team that year, and since this was the days before the draft, 17 scouts representing 14 different big-league franchises approached him about signing. He ended up inking a professional contract with Kansas City the night he graduated, after owner Charlie Finley flew to Tampa to seal the deal. It cost Finley a $100,000 bonus, a promise to cover college tuition, and a white Bonneville with black leather seats.
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