MLB DRAFT'S FIRST EPISODE IS A HIT.

Byline: JILL PAINTER

With reality shows covering the courtship of 20 women at once, rock stars in college and 24-hour roommate squabbles earning high marks in the ratings game, it's unfathomable someone didn't think of televising the Major League Baseball draft a long time ago.

Thursday's first televised amateur draft was a hit.

The idea to televise the event wasn't even hatched by ESPN officials. They surely considered it before, but surprisingly never tried it. Not until MLB approached ESPN did it finally become a reality.

And it was reality television worth watching. Much more than a nip and tuck here or jungle bath there.

There were enough bios, video, anecdotes, interviews, peeks into draft rooms and statistics to make even the geekiest baseball fan drool.

Karl Ravech, host of the ESPN2 presentation, began the telecast by calling Thursday a "monumental day for baseball." The show wasn't that exciting, but it was informative and intriguing. The telecast did more than enough to lose the pilot tag.

Tampa Bay fans were in the house at the Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., and as commissioner Bud Selig approached the podium to announce the first overall pick, they chanted: "We want Price! We want Price!"

Devil Rays fans were hoping for Vanderbilt pitcher David Price, and they got him. There was no made-for-TV booing, ranting and head shaking like New York Jets fans are known to do in the popular NFL draft. It would have been a thrill to see the reaction had Tampa Bay chosen anyone not named Price.

Price was interviewed in a remote location and analysts had three players -- Phillippe Aumont, Missouri State pitcher Ross Detwiler and Cypress High's Josh Vitters -- at the draft. They donned hats and shirts, and posed for pictures with Selig.

Many more likely will be there next year.

Vitters was drafted third and Detwiler sixth, but there were no cameras focused on Aumont, a la Brady Quinn in the NFL draft, until he was selected 11th. Some of the high school kids were unknown, but Aumont was likely an even bigger mystery since he's from Canada. There are probably many scouts who don't even know his favorite drink at Starbucks.

Steve Phillips, the former New York Mets general manager and analyst on "Baseball Tonight," and analyst Peter Gammons provided cool stories and in-depth analysis. Phillips gave sharp background on what goes into making a pick, how players are developed, projection and signability issues.

Gammons had an interesting bit on UC Riverside's James Simmons, the 26th selection by Oakland.

Gammons suffered a brain aneurysm last year and was released from the hospital for a day to go home. Gammons said he went to the ballpark instead, saw Simmons pitch and tabbed him a future big leaguer.

By the time the 28th selection came along, ESPN was caught without a mug shot of Ben Revere, a high school player from Lexington, Ky. You'd never see that on the NFL draft.

It was clear there wasn't much information on Revere, but Dave Rawnsley, a columnist for Perfect Game USA, picked up the slack because he'd seen the outfielder play before.

Analysis on Wendell Fairley, who was selected No. 29 by San Francisco, was limited mostly to his athleticism. The video of him was quite amateur since the cameraman couldn't keep Fairley in the frame as he was rounding the bases. Of course, that proved quite telling.

The final hour was devoted to in-studio interviews with Darryl Strawberry, Dave Winfield and Tampa Bay general manager Andrew Friedman, among others. Producers couldn't have planned it better when they broke into the live broadcast of Curt Schilling's near no-hitter near the end of the broadcast. We saw Schilling record the second out of the ninth inning and then Shannon Stewart's single to right to break it up.

Dodger fans received a glimpse of life in the draft room with general manager Ned Colletti, assistant general manager Kim Ng and a shot of Logan White, the assistant general manager for scouting, talking to owner Frank McCourt.

Scott Boras, who's known for winning top dollar in lengthy negotiations, commanded much more time than any of the first-round picks themselves, and the show even had a segment dedicated to the "Scott Boras effect." It was a bit over the top, but Boras does have an enormous impact on the draft. Analysts did a fine job explaining why Rick Porcello (a Boras client) fell to Detroit at the 27th pick: Scott Boras.

Officials at ESPN said they had realistic expectations for the draft and didn't expect it to compare to the immensely successful NBA and NFL drafts.

They set the bar too low. One day, the baseball draft will be just as trendy.

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Newbury Park High's Andrew Lambo, pitching against Thousand Oaks in a game last month, became the Dodgers' fourth-round pick Thursday.

Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer