Eric Munson will never know if different circumstances would have led to different results with the Detroit Tigers and his Major League Baseball career.
As it was, Munson arrived super hyped as the third overall pick in 1999 and was left unsigned five difficult seasons later.
His was a case of a struggling organization in need of a bright young star, and it never happened.
Munson, a power-hitting catcher at USC, was selected after Josh Hamilton and Josh Beckett in the draft and quickly converted to a first baseman (he later played third base) to accelerate his progress through the organization.