Rob Manfred Invents University, Shows He's Not A Grand Canyon Guy In Spectacular Misreading Of First-Round Pick

Reading is hard. Ask Rob Manfred who spectacularly flubbed a first-round draft pick's alma mater over the weekend.

Manfred — who still hasn't apologized for pulling the All-Star Game out of Atlanta, in case you were wondering — was at the podium to announce the Oakland Athletics' first-round pick.

They went with shortstop Jacob Wilson, but it was where Manford said he played college ball that left people scratching their heads and wondering if Manfred had ever heard of one of the seven natural wonders of the world.

"With the 6th pick of the 2023 MLB Draft, the Oakland Athletics select Jacob Wilson, a SS from Grand Union University," he said.

Now, Wilson played at Grand Canyon University in Arizona. Y'know, the school named after that bigass hole in the ground they've got out there.

As for Grand Union University, it doesn't exist. Although in fairness to Rob Manfred, it does sound like the name of a fake college that would be made up for a low-budget, straight-to-video American Pie sequel.

Still, that's a brutal mistake to make for a man who has made his share of brutal mistakes. You've got to have the details of at least the top 10 prospects down pat.

The only saving grace is that it wasn't the biggest draft-pick-reading foible in the last few weeks. Former Montreal Canadiens netminder Carey Price has that title locked up for the foreseeable future.

He completely forgot the name of the Habs' first-round pick last month in Nashville at the NHL Draft.

Egad, man. Poor Carey went full-on deer in the headlights.

At least, if you asked Price about the Grand Canyon he'd know exactly what it is.

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