Basketball and Baseball careers
 

McGrady is trying it, and Jordan tried it, but a current article in SCD discusses 12 guys who did play both at the ML level in baseball and in the NBA. Who were they ? Also, all 12 appear on baseball cards, but which 7 also appear on basketball cards at some level. And, which two played in championship games in both sports ?

I can only think of Dave Debussure, Ron reed, & Danny Ainge.


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Gene Conley played on the Braves in the late 50s and the Celtics/Red Sox in the early 60s. Dick Groat played both also.

I remember this guy from when I watched the great Boston Celtics on TV as a kid - the following is taken from Wikipedia:

"Donald Eugene "Gene" Conley (born November 10, 1930) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who played eleven seasons from 1952 to 1963 for four different teams. Conley also played forward in the 1952-1953 season and from 1958 to 1964 for two teams in the National Basketball Association. He is best known for being one of only two people (the other being Otto Graham-- 1946 NBL and AAFC Championship, plus 3 more AAFC and 3 NFL championships) to win championships in two of the four major American sports, one with the Milwaukee Braves in the 1957 World Series and three Boston Celtics championships from 1959-61.

Conley was the winning pitcher in the 1955 All-Star Game and was selected for the 1954 and 1959 games."

In 11 seasons pitching for the Braves, Phillies and Red Sox, Conley posted a 91-96 with 888 strikeouts and a 3.82 ERA in 1588.2 innings.

Bob Gibson wasn't in the NBA, but did play "pro" for a year. He said:

"I would sign with the Cardinals for a bonus of a thousand dollars, play out the season for another $3,000, then join the Globetrotters at $1,000 a month for four months of the baseball off-season...The total was $8,000, but the real value of the deal was that it kept me alive in both sports. I still wasn't ready to pick one."

Gibson tried out with the Lakers but wasn't able to get signed. I think things worked out for him.

This is one of my favorite trivia questions I like to ask...who is the only person to win a World Series and NBA Finals? Gene Conley (Braves, Celtics)

What a cool life...

12
 

Still missing a few. One is best known for his later TV career

The Rifleman--Chuck Connors (not Chuck Person).

Connors
 

I remember him talking about a discussion he had with Branch Rickey about his salary. His remark was that the way Mr Rickey viewed things, he had money and he had ballplayers, and did not like to commingle them

Here is one, at 5:10, the smallest of the bunch. Seven of the 12 were pitchers

http://i1267.photobucket.com/albums/...psf4d6be19.jpg

Here're three of the pitchers and a first base/outfielder that played NBA ball...

Mark Hendrickson
Steve Hamilton
Dick Ricketts

Cotton Nash

At least Hendrickson and Ricketts also had basketball cards.

Toughie
 

So, the two in title games would be Conley and Connors? The former with the Celtics and Braves, the latter with the Celtics and Dodgers? Stumped on the last two guys (this was not an open-book quiz, right?) I can recall Tim Stoddard pitching for the O's in the '80's after he had been on the North Carolina college team, but maybe he never tried the NBA?

Dual sport careers
 

Ainge*, Baumholtz, Conley, Connors, DeBusschere*, Groat, Hamilton*, Hendrickson*, Nash*, Reed*, Ricketts* and Howie Schultz. All had baseball cards, and the players with an * had a basketball card at some level.

Doubt it will happen again due to schedule overlaps unless someone like Jordan or McGrady changes sports and has the time and talent

Near misses
 

I was just splicing some auction winnings into my 1961 Union Oil basketball set and remembered another man who played both baseball and basketball professionally. Though he never made the NBA, Rick Herrscher played for the minor league Hawaii Chiefs in 1961 and has a card in the 1961 Union Oil set. Despite playing 35 games for the Mets in 1962, he has no mainstream baseball card, but does appear in Larry Fritsch's One Year Wonders set. Another near-miss is basketball Hall of Famer Bill Sharman, who played in the minors for the Dodgers and even got into uniform for a game or two at Ebbets Field without actually seeing major league action.

I grew up playing against Mark Hendrickson. He was a year a head of my at our big rival school. For whatever reason I always had good luck at the plate against him (everybody else seemed to have no problem getting me out).

Hendrickson
 

Good story, Mac

In the 90's Football/Baseball was common, with Brian Jordan, Deion Sanders, and Bo Jackson being quite proficient at both sports.

I just looked at Deion's baseball stats, and they are really pretty good. He led the league in triples one season.

The Basketball/Baseball thing seems to have died out.

Larry Doby played some professional basketball too.
http://www.blackfives.org/baseball-h...ro-basketball/

Doby
 

Interesting about Doby. The focus of the article was players who played MLB and in the NBA or it's predecessor . Mike M had pointed out previously that Gibson played briefly for the Globetrotters.

Are there Globetrotter basketball cards, and if so does Gibson appear on any?

If not mistaken, Fergie Jenkins also had a very brief stint with the Trotters. Must have been a tempting gig for those guys in the days of 10 grand salaries doled out by the Baseball magnates.
Incidentally, Al - wonder what kind of uproar would follow a comment like Rickey's these days...probably equivalent to Stirling's recent remarks. But then, the comment would make no sense these days...and Stirling's made even less.