Trevor Plouffe and a few friends and family huddled around the only computer in his mom's house back on June 7, 2004. The California high school prospect thought he might hear his named called when the Pittsburgh Pirates made the 11th overall pick of the Major League Baseball Draft. Plouffe figured the Pirates would take either him or Neil Walker, as they'd both been brought to Pittsburgh for workouts leading up to the draft.
As the audio emanated from the speakers of the computer in Plouffe's mother's room, it was Walker's name, not his, that resonated. So he continued to wait, still sitting around that computer. The next spot he might go, Plouffe thought, was to Oakland at No. 25.
Instead, it was the Minnesota Twins who jumped in with one of their five first-round picks. Their first pick came at No. 20. Before the word "Plouffe" had even been fully read, the California infielder knew where he was headed.
"It was just 'Plouffe,' the first part of it, and you could hear that it was me," he said. "Everyone went crazy. It was cool."
Plouffe is one of six first-round picks currently on the Twins' 25-man roster. Many in Minnesota remember when the Twins took Cretin-Derham Hall catcher Joe Mauer with the No. 1 overall pick back in 2001. Fellow Minnesota native Glen Perkins was in the same draft class as Plouffe, taken just two picks later at No. 22. Two years later Minnesota drafted Chris Parmelee out of California with the 20th pick and later center fielder Aaron Hicks was the 14th overall selection in 2008. Pitcher Mike Pelfrey was the ninth overall pick out of Wichita State by the Mets in 2005.
On Thursday, Minnesota will be making the fourth overall pick in this year's MLB Draft. Last year, the Twins used the No. 2 overall pick to take Georgia outfielder Byron Buxton, who has already developed into one of the organization's top prospects — and one of the top minor leaguers in baseball. There's much hype surrounding those early picks, especially now that the draft is televised on MLB Network and prospects are invited to attend the draft.
That hasn't been the case for very long, however. When Mauer was the top pick in 2001, he found out by word of mouth that he was Minnesota's choice at No. 1. He had about 20-25 friends, family and teammates over to his house and they ordered a party sub as Mauer waited to hear his name.
"I actually found out through a family friend that saw it on the Internet," Mauer said. "Now the first round is on TV, kind of like the NFL Draft. It's kind of different. I was actually still playing high school baseball. I had family and most of my teammates over, just kind of waiting to see what would happen. It was a lot of fun."
Minnesota had options with that first overall pick in 2001, including college pitcher Mark Prior, infielder Mark Teixeira and right-hander Dewon Brazelton. Many felt that Prior was the best choice for the No. 1 pick, but the Twins instead chose Mauer — a decision that has decidedly been the right one.
At the time, though, Mauer wasn't entirely sure he would be the first pick.
"I kind of had a good feeling that if I wasn't No. 1, then I was probably going to go soon after," he said. "Obviously I wanted to go here with Minnesota. I had no control over it, so I didn't really dwell on it too much. I knew I was going to get picked and maybe have an opportunity to play. That's what I was really excited about. I just wanted to kind of let it fall where it may."
As a standout left-handed pitcher for the University of Minnesota, Perkins figured he had a shot to be a first-round pick. So one day after his Gophers team returned to campus following a season-ending loss to Arizona State in the NCAA tournament in California, Perkins headed to his parents' house in Stillwater for a small draft day get-together.
There was nothing for Perkins to follow on TV, so he did what others had done to track where he'd begin his professional career.
"It was different then," Perkins said. "We followed it on the computer, dial-up Internet. I think it was delayed. I (was) the 22nd pick so I think I got the call during the 18th pick. It happened fast. You don't really have time to process it. …
"Especially being the Twins, that was everything that I wanted. It worked out pretty neat."
When Thursday's draft takes place, there will be a handful of players who are expected to go early in the draft who get the invite to the studio. That was the case for Hicks in 2008, before the Twins took him with the 14th pick. He and his family and girlfriend made the trip from Long Beach, Calif., to attend the draft in person.
As it turned out, Hicks was the only player there.
"There was nobody. It was just me and my family," Hicks said. "I heard a couple guys had gotten invited. I wanted to go because I heard it's a great experience. It's one of those things where you've got to really be prepared on what you're going to say. It's nerve-wracking. You're 17, 18 years old and you're talking to millions of people. You don't want to say the wrong thing."
Things have certainly changed since Mauer was the top overall pick in 2001. Hours after the Twins made him the first pick, Mauer had to head back to the field for a tournament game. If he were in this year's draft, he'd probably be in studio as he waited to hear his name called.
Top prospects likely aren't huddled around computers — certainly not any with dial-up Internet — and constantly hitting refresh to see their name pop up. In 2013, the MLB Draft is finally becoming a bigger deal.
"I think that's a good thing," said Twins general manager Terry Ryan. "One of these days we're going to see similar to football or basketball where the participants will be there. … I like the fact that the baseball draft is getting a heck of a lot more attention."
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