DONLIN & CONNORS....from BB to Actors....any others ?

[tedzan]

Here we have two well-known personalities, approx. 50 years apart, who started in major league BB and
went on to the Hollywood scene. Who knows what their sports careers would have been like....had they
taken them more seriously ?

"Turkey (trot) MIKE" DONLIN......
could have been one of the greatest hitters in BB. The more AB's he had in a given season....the higher
his BA.
Example......1905 he had 606 AB's with 216 Hits for a .356 BA. Donlin's lifetime career BA = .333

However, he preferred to be a dashing and flamboyant figure in the NY Showbiz scene with his actress
wife (Mabel Hite) during the years he was with the Giants. In 1914 he went to Hollywood and appeared
in many silent movies. A heavy drinker, one of Donlin's great friends and drinking buddies was renowned
actor John Barrymore.









KEVIN JOSEPH ALOYSIUS (CHUCK) CONNORS......

An all-sports athlete, Chuck had a taste of MLB (Dodgers and Cubs)....the NBA (Celtics)....the NFL (Bears).
However, he found his calling in Hollywood (when he was playing BB in the PCL); and, the rest is history.

I met Chuck at a BB card show in 1989. We talked BaseBall and Movie stars for about an hour. A really fine
gentleman with a great sense of humor.







So, can you come up with other BB players, who went on to other successful non-sports careers ?

Do tell or show us of them ? ?


TED Z

[milkit1]

Here is turkey mike in The General. Ernie Orsatti did stunt work for Buster Keaton including some fancy motorcycle work in Sherlock Jr. There is a cast and crew picture from Free and Easy that shows him with Buster but I cant seem to find it



gen-table.jpg

[BobC]

You've missed probably the best known of all ballplayers to also work as actors. Johnny Berardino is the only player to have won a World Series (Tribe in '48) and also have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Besides being in various movies, bit parts in various early TV shows, and even supposedly being in some of the Little Rascals shorts prior to his playing days, Berardino is probably best known for his 33 year stint as Dr. Steve Hardy on the soap opera General Hospital (1963-1996).

[prewarsports]

Walter Rehg was an actor after his career. He was a great PCL player who also had some time in the majors who loved Hollywood so much he stayed there after his playing career and appeared in several movies. After his looks and fame faded he stuck around and did the lighting for movies as an electrician for the studios until his death.

Rhys

[kcohen]

I believe that Cap Anson toured on the Vaudeville circuit for some time after the conclusion of his playing days.

[tedzan]

I didn't miss Johnny B....I just didn't want to monopolize this thread with all my posts.

"Here's Johnny"......from the 1948 Cleveland Indians team photo pack.





Thanks for your post.

Best regards,

TED Z

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

Some of the more obvious "actors": Babe, Mickey, and Roger.