Sidetracked

Since we’re in the thick of baseball season, here’s a re-posting from 2008. New posts will return next week.

Garth Brooks And Michael Jordan Tried Baseball; Master P Tried the NBA.  All Three Failed.

Okay, so yesterday I talked a little about celebrities who venture into the world of professional sports. Here’s my top ten list:

10.) Marvin Gaye. Since I already mentioned it, I’ll start out with the Motown legend. According to the “American Masters” special about him on PBS, Gaye’s embarrassment over his father’s cross dressing gave him something to prove. So in the early 70s, he tried out for the Detroit Lions as a receiver. He was good – but not good enough to make the team. He did remain friends with two Lions, Mel Farr and Lem Barney, who sang backing vocals on “What’s Going On.”

9.) Bruce Hornsby. Hornsby is reportedly a pretty good basketball player. But he made his only pro sports appearance as a member of the Anaheim Angles in 1997. During a spring training game, he appeared as a pinch runner for Kevin Bass. Later, in exchange for getting to work out with the team, he had Angels’ pitcher Mark Langston provide the background snapping track for a song.

8.) Billy Crystal. A die-hard baseball fan, Crystal garnered a lot of attention this spring after taking an at-bat for the Yankees. At 60, he’s probably a little slower than he once was, though he did manage to foul off a pitch before whiffing against Pirate pitcher Paul Maholm.

7.) Kevin Costner. Costner has played several professional athletes in movies. But the film version is much better than the real version. In 1999, while playing an exhibition game with Cal State Fullerton against the Angels, he went 0-for-3 at the plate and dropped a pop fly in the field that led to the winning run. While playing against the Seattle Mariners for the minor league San Bernardino Inland Empire 66ers in 2002, he was 0-for-3 at the plate and made an error at short. Later that game he pitched, walking Seattle manager Lou Pinella, who, at 58, inserted himself into the game.

6.) Michael Jordan. Yeah, I know – Jordan was a professional athlete. And a very good one. But when he announced he was going to try professional baseball after abruptly retiring from the NBA, some people asked: Why? After some lackluster games with the White Sox in spring training, he played outfield for the minor league Birmingham Barons in 1994. He did hit three homeruns, and showed some great speed (He had 30 stolen bases). But he only batted .202. Not especially bad for a guy who hadn’t played baseball in over a decade. But not good enough for the bigs. Eventually MJ returned to hoops top win three more championships.

5.) Tom Selleck. The 6-4 Selleck actually had a basketball scholarship at USC. But it was baseball that gave him a shot at the glory. Selleck had actually hit balls out of the park during batting practice with three teams – and he once beat Jordan in a celebrity home run hitting contest. But his actual spring training at-bat in 1991 was less successful.

Reds pitcher Tim Layana had been instructed to through some heat at Selleck, batting for the Tigers. But the Reds catcher tipped Selleck off as to what Layana was going to throw. Even with that edge, after fouling off a couple of pitches, Selleck struck out.

4.) Garth Brooks. Brooks played baseball in high school, but high school ball and major league ball are not the same. In a charity move, Brooks played for three different teams in 1999 (Padres), 2000 (Mets) and 2004 (Royals). But Brooks (seen in the photo above) found that hit records came much easier than hits. After going 0-for-18 with the Padres, he got his first hit — a hard one up the middle — against White Sox pitcher Mike Sirotka.

“He might write a song about it,” said Sirotka, not a fan of country music, afterward, “but I’ll probably never hear it.”

In his three seasons, Brooks was a combined 2-for-42 at the plate.

3.) Kurt Russell. After his success as a teen Disney star, Russell decided he wanted to be a pro baseball player instead. Luckily, his dad owned a minor league club in the Angels organization. Russell spent most of his time on the bench. But when he finally got a start, he had a breakthrough game – with four hits and several RBI. Unfortunately, he tore his rotator cuff the next night, ending his short sports career.

2.) Master P. In 1998 – the same year “Forbes” declared him on of the richest entertainers in the world – the rapper decided to give basketball a go. At one time, the 6-4 music mogul had been set to play college ball. But an injury forced him to focus on music. (Good thing for him.) Still, he showed some skills during his NBA tryouts, once scoring eight points in an exhibition game against the Toronto Raptors. He had pre-season contracts with both Charlotte and Toronto, but he wound up getting cut by both.

His son, though, might have a better shot. The former Lil’ Romeo – now just Romeo — recently signed on to play hoops for USC. The rapper, considered one of the top high school point guards in the nation, once said his goal was to make the NBA.

1.) George Plimpton. No doubt who gets the #1 slot here. Sports writer Plimpton was the everyman who tried it all: He sparred with Archie Moore and Sugar Ray Robinson. He played in a preseason game for the Baltimore Colts. He pitched in an All-Star game. He played golf, hockey and tennis with the experts. And he milked it. Practically every experience led to a book.

Posted on July 30th, 2010 by Pat
Filed under: Music, Sports stuff, The World According to Pat