Heavy Hitters - Players that made it big outside of baseball

[peterb69]

[bn2cardz]

No scans, but HOFer and former US senator Jim Bunning.

[novakjr]

Moe Berg.. was a spy...

[ramram]

Ok, I'll bite. Harry Harper made it as an industrialist I guess, but what did Ty Cobb and Elden Auker do??

Rob M.

[Brian Van Horn]

Rob,

In addition to Cobb making a fortune from Coca-Cola stock, his other stock investments also contributed to his wealth after baseball. Auker was an executive and I will reference a Washington Post article quoted on wikipedia:

"From 1946 until 1975, Auker worked for Bay State Abrasives in Massachusetts, a company that made armaments and abrasive materials, retiring as the company president.[2]"

Further, his SABR biography by Robert H. Schaefer notes the following:

"As Auker rose up the executive ladder, he and Mildred were obliged to relocate to Massachusetts. There, in addition to his corporate responsibilities, Auker became the vice president of the National Association of Manufacturers and president and chairman of the board of the Associated Industries of Massachusetts, a manufacturers’ trade group. In this role he met Joseph Kennedy (father of the president), Ronald Reagan, and Barry Goldwater, played golf with Gerald Ford and Tip O’Neill, and interacted with numerous other important people.

Immediately after his retirement in 1975, Auker was hired by Dresser Industries, the parent company of the division from which he had retired, as a consultant to evaluate its Washington office. He and Mildred had just purchased a home in Vero Beach, Florida, but Auker accepted the offer and commuted by air each weekend to Florida for a year."

[ramram]

Mr. Thorpe, while finishing his "baseball" career at Portland.

Rob M.

Portland group - Jim Thorpe.jpg

[Brian Van Horn]

http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/6f6673ea

[tedzan]

Frank Shaughnessy......President of the International League (1936-1960), and is in three Canadian HOF's (Football, Baseball,
and McGill University Sports)

.



Mike Donlin

Became a Silent Film actor (great friend and drinking buddy of John Barrymore). He was in numerous movies during the 1920's.
And, can be seen quite often on the TCM channel when they are showing Silent Film era movies.







TED Z

[packs]

Meet pitcher Matt White. He has an 0-2 career record. But what's special about him is that in 2007 he bought a piece of land for $50,000 to build his house. But the ground was too hard. He comes to find out that the land he'd just bought was sitting on top of 2.5 billion dollars worth of stone over 400 million years old.

[Abravefan11]

Originally Posted by packs

Meet pitcher Matt White. He has an 0-2 career record. But what's special about him is that in 2007 he bought a piece of land for $50,000 to build his house. But the ground was too hard. He comes to find out that the land he'd just bought was sitting on top of 2.5 billion dollars worth of stone over 400 million years old.

It didn't turn out to be quite the mother load originally thought, but still a cool story. I just hope the Aunt was taken care of.

From LA Dodgers Pitcher to Precious Stone Tycoon: The Matt White Story

[novakjr]

2 members of the basketball hall of fame have their first card appearances in baseball sets. Dave Debusschere in the 1963 Topps set, and Reese "Goose" Tatum in the 1976 Laughlin Indianapolis Clowns set. Sorry I don't have any scans, hell I don't even have the Tatum card, it's a pain to find...If anyone has one cheap, please let me know..

There's also 7 former MLB players in the pro-football hall of fame..Red Badgro, Paddy Driscoll, George Halas, Ernie Nevers, Ace Parker, Jim Thorpe, and Deion Sanders. John Elway was also featured on a minor league card before his football career. 2 former MLB players also won the Heisman Trophy. Vic Janowicz, Bo Jackson. Plus Ricky Williams, and Chris Weinke played Minor league ball and were featured on baseball cards before winning the award. Charlie Ward was drafted, although I don't believe he ever played.

Eric Lindros was also on a baseball card right around the same time as his hockey rookie card..