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LAKE BUENA VISTA, FL — Major League Baseball has completed the first day of the 2008 First-Year Player Draft, which aired live on ESPN2 this afternoon from The Milk House at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex. In total, 202 players were selected through the first six rounds and the two compensation rounds — the first of which followed the first round and the second that followed the third round.
The First-Year Player Draft is scheduled to resume via conference call on Friday beginning at 11:30 a.m. (EDT). The Draft will have 50 rounds and will conclude after all 30 teams have passed on a selection or after the final selection of the 50th round, whichever comes first.
The following players chosen today have participated in events at Major League Baseball’s Urban Youth Academy in Compton, California: Tyler Chatwood (2nd round, 74th overall, LAA), Zachary Collier (Compensation Round A, 34th overall, PHI), Cutter Dykstra (2nd round, 54th overall, MIL), Anthony Gose (2nd round, 51st overall, PHI), Aaron Hicks (1st round, 14th overall, MIN), Mike Montgomery (Compensation Round A, 36th overall, KC), Clark Murphy (5th round, 153rd overall, TEX) and Kyle Skipworth (1st round, 6th overall, FLA).
On Friday, MLB.com will continue its comprehensive, live multimedia coverage from Florida on The Baseball Channel through the conclusion of the 2008 First-Year Player Draft. Live interactive pick-by-pick results will be available through the Draft Tracker.

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But the spotlight fell on their championship-winning pitcher, the one player who wanted it least. And it has followed Chris Drury his whole life.
“Chris is always in the right place at the right time, and that’s not a luck thing,” said Dave Galla, who was Trumbull’s second baseman. “But what he’s done is nothing short of amazing. The greatest thing about him is his ability to remain a real person. He never lost touch with reality.”
Fame fell on Drury that day when he pitched his underdog team of 12- and 13-year-olds past Taiwan, and it stuck. He wanted to be just one of the boys, but even his teammates knew better. They begrudged him none of it. For them, the limelight glowed long enough to visit the White House, go on “Good Morning America” and ride in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Then they went on to nonsports-hero lives.
But Drury just kept winning. He chased his first sports love, hockey, and won a national championship at Boston University as a freshman and captured the Hobey Baker award as college hockey’s best player in 1998, when he was a senior. The next year, his first with the Colorado Avalanche, he was named the N.H.L.’s rookie of the year.
He won a Stanley Cup with Colorado in 2001. Now, he plays under the brightest lights, as a center for the Rangers.
He still squirms a bit in the glare, a reaction learned when he was 12 and just wanted to be one of the boys. But the Rangers signed Drury to shine in the kind of situation they are in now, down by 2-0 in their Eastern Conference semifinal series against Pittsburgh. The Rangers play Game 3 on Tuesday at Madison Square Garden.
“I admire his leadership,” said Jason Hairston, who was the Trumbull third baseman. “When it comes down to wanting the puck at the last minute, Chris is that guy. Whatever team he’s on, that’s the team I like. That’s always been the rule.”

nytimes.com