Gov. Richardson Admits Never Being Picked in Baseball Draft

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Gov. Bill Richardson is coming clean on his draft record — the baseball draft, that is, admitting that his claim to have been a pick of the Kansas City A's in 1966 was untrue.

For nearly four decades, Richardson, often mentioned as a possible Democratic presidential candidate, has maintained he was drafted by the Kansas City Athletics.

The claim was included in a brief biography released when Richardson successfully ran for Congress in 1982. A White House news release in 1997 mentioned it when he was about to be named U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. And several news organizations, including The Associated Press, have reported it as fact over the years.

But an investigation by the Albuquerque Journal found no record of Richardson being drafted by the A's, who have since moved to Oakland, or any other team.

Informed by the newspaper of its findings, the governor acknowledged the error in a story in Thursday's editions.

"After being notified of the situation and after researching the matter ... I came to the conclusion that I was not drafted by the A's," Richardson said. He said he had believed it was true based on an old program from an amateur team he had played for in Massachusetts.

Richardson spokesman Gilbert Gallegos declined to comment when reached by the AP on Thursday.

Richardson, a right-handed pitcher who played at Tufts University, said he was actively scouted by several major league teams in the 1960s.

He insisted his name appeared on "a draft list of some kind" created by the Los Angeles Dodgers and Pittsburgh Pirates. He named team scouts, whom he said told him that he "would or could" be drafted. The scouts have since died.

Richardson later developed arm trouble, eliminating any possible pro career.

In the summer of 1967, he played for the amateur Cape Cod League's Cotuit (Mass.) Kettleers. The words "Drafted by K.C." appear next to his name on a faded team program, the Journal reported.

"When I saw that program in 1967, I was convinced I was drafted," Richardson said. "And it stayed with me all these years."

Then-general manager Arnold Mycock said the biographical information was supplied by players or their college coaches.

On a biographical sheet Richardson completed for Tufts in his junior year, he wrote, "Drafted by Kansas City (1966), LA (1968)." He said he wrote those words because he believed they were true.

"I never tried to embellish this," he said. "I never tried to mask it."

Richardson, elected governor in 2002, is seeking a second term next year.