The Best Multi-Sport Baseball Players
After the popularity of our story on Michael Jordan’s brief professional baseball career (yes, minor league baseball is considered professional level) in the MiLB with the Barons we were inspired to bring you this list.
Editor’s note: Every player on this list has played professional Baseball (MLB or MiLB) and another professional sport.
8 – Michael Jordan: Birmingham Baron (AA) at age 31 (for one year) after his first retirement (he retired three times) and NBA Hall of Famer. He hit only .202 with 3 HRs 51 RBIs and 18 SB. His fielding wasn’t much betterin theOF as his fielding percentage was .952
7 – Nathaniel Clifton – Minor League 1B in the Cleveland organization before moving onto the NBA for 8 seasons. As a 1B he hit .307 and 23 HRs
6 – Chuck Connors: Chicago Cubs 1B for 66 games, Brooklyn Dodgers 1B for one game and Boston Celtics as a F/C for 53 games before becoming an actor most famous for his role as “The Rifleman”. He hit only .238 with 2 HRs, 18 RBIs and 2 SBs
5 – Danny Ainge: Toronto Blue Jays and NBA player, coach and GM. While Ainge couldn’t hit his way out of a paper bag, he was playing in the major league. He played 211 games over three seasons in Toronto and hit 2 HRs, 37 RBIs, 12 SBs while hitting .220. He played mainly 2B and 3B, but also saw time at SS (6 games), LF (6 games), RF (2 games), DH (4 games) and CF (25 games).
4 – Jim Thorpe: NY Giants, Reds and Boston Braves OF from 1913 to 1919 and NFL All Decade RB/DB in the 1920’s. In those 6 seasons in the OF he hit .258 with 7 HRs, 82 RBIs and 29 SBs
3 – Deion Sanders: In 9 seasons in the OF for the Yankees, Braves, Reds and Giants he averaged .263 with 39 HRs, 168 RBIs, 43 triples (he led the NL with 14 in 1992) and 186 SBs. He was a CB for Falcons, 49ers, Cowboys, Redskins and Ravens.
2 – Bo Jackson: 8 seasons with the Royals, White Sox and Angels as an OF/DH. He hit for only a .250 BA, but had 141 HRs, 415 RBIs and 82 SBs. Bo Knew Baseball, but he also knew the NFL as a RB until his hip injury. He played both sports from age 25 to 28.
1 – Brian Jordan: 15 seasons mostly as an OF for the Cardinals, Braves, Dodgers and Rangers. His career BA was .282 with a .333 OBP and 184 HRs, 821 RBIs and 119 SBs. He was also a Safety with the Atlanta Falcons for 36 games.
Although Bo & Deion were the most famous of these former MLB baseball players, it’s hard to argue with Brian Jordan’s 15 years, .282 BA and other numbers. Although Bo would have surpassed him in HRs and possibly some other categories if he was able to play longer.
Both Danny Ainge & Chuck Connors beat out Jordan and Clifton only because they played on the Major League teams while Jordan and Clifton only played in the minors!
My name is Peter Schiller. I am the creator/owner of Baseball Reflections.com. I’m also a contributing writer. To read more of my work at Baseball Reflections just click HERE!
I would have rated Jackson ahead of Brian Jordan.
Jim http://www.TextMatch.me — Love on the go.
WOw, major cool dude, I like it!
RT
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Most of these guys were very good at one sport and not so good at all at the other. I would suggest Jackie Jensen. He was a power running back for Cal, had a 60-plus yard TD run in the Rose Bowl, then won the first NCAA-sanctioned baseball championship in 1947 over (George Bush Sr.’s Yale team) then went on to play for the Yankees and Red Sox, winning the 1958 AL MVP.
So you’re list forgot the two best multi-sport players, Charlie Ward “NBA basketball player, college football Heisman Trophy winner, Davey O’Brien Award winner and a Major League Baseball draftee” and Jim Thorpe “one of the most versatile athletes in modern sports, he won Olympic gold medals in the 1912 pentathlon and decathlon, played American football at the collegiate and professional levels, and also played professional baseball and basketball.”
One serious omission from your list of the Best Multi-Sport Baseball Players:
Gene Conley played 11 years as a pitcher for the Milwaukee Braves, Philadelphia Phillies and Boston Red Sox. He pitched in 276 games with a 91-96 lifetime record and 3.82 ERA. He was on the world champion 1957 Braves team and was the winning pitcher in the 1955 All-Star game. Conley also played in the NBA for 6 seasons (52-53 and 58-64) with the Knicks and Celtics and was a member of the 59-60-61 world champion Celtics.
Thorpe is there. Take another look…
Thanks for bringing up Conley. I totally missed him.
But he didn’t play profootball, did he?
This list is full of fail for not listing three Hall of Famers:
Bob Gibson, Lou Brock & Ferguson Jenkins all played for the Harlem Globetrotters at one time or another.
‘Tia true.
What other professional sport did Gibson, Brock & Jenkins play?
What about Harry “The Golden Greek” Agganis ? Wasn’t he a superb football and baseball player (albeit, in college) ?