The Sad Case of Eric Duncan

Most astute baseball fans can list several first-round draft picks that failed to live up to expectations. Their careers could have been derailed by drugs, alcohol or sex addiction. In some cases, their style of play may not have worked at the minor league level. In some cases, they are just mismanaged. One case will always stick out to Yankee fans, however: that of infielder Eric Duncan. Drafted in the first-round of the 2003 amateur draft, Eric Duncan and the Yankees appeared to be a match made in heaven. The Yankees needed to bolster their farm system and add a player whom fans could get excited about. They needed the next Derek Jeter: a true blue fan of the Bronx Bombers with enough baseball talent to spent his career in pinstripes. Duncan, a New Jersey native and high school standout fit the bill. A player’s first 100 at-bats in the minors are never a good indication of how he’ll perform later in his career, but Duncan’s early performance suggested that the ...