Baseball and Jim Thorpe

I mentioned in my last entry that family folklore has my grandfather playing football against Jim Thorpe when both were in college, and it occurred to me that Thorpe's athletic career is a testament to a sports fact that I have really come to appreciate these last few years.  That is, baseball is a very difficult game to play!

Consider that Thorpe is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame and the Professional Football Hall of Fame; he is an Olympic pentathlon and decathlon champion and ABC's Wide World of Sports named him the Athlete of the Century.  Thorpe also played six seasons in the major leagues from 1913-1919, and had a career batting average of . . . .252.  He never amassed more than 251 at-bats in a season.  In other words, the Athlete of the Century was a mediocre part-timer in the game of baseball.

I am not trying to minimize Thorpe's accomplishment.  Indeed, Thorpe's numbers are actually a testament TO his athletic ability; that he could simply walk onto the baseball diamond and perform at such a level.  It just goes to show, however, the ability and effort required for a solid, much less a Hall of Fame, career in baseball.  Perhaps only Bo Jackson, among other professional athletes had a career in baseball and football that surpassed Thorpe's.

In any case, Jim Thorpe is at the center of a great baseball story, the kind that only occur in the National Pastime.  According to the "Fast Facts" section of the Jim Thorpe website, Thorpe hit three home runs in one game and each landed in a different state.  Playing in a Texas ballpark in the very northeast corner of the state, Jim hit his first over the left-field fence and into Oklahoma.  His next sailed over the right field fence and into Arkansas.  His final round-tripper was an inside the park shot that never left the state of Texas.  Now, that's legendary!

Comments

[Nick]

Did you know. Jim Thorpe played in the early days of the NFL in a small (extremely small) town in Ohio. The club was in existence for 2 years and their only home game was played at a local high school. He was a player/coach for the Oorang Indians of Larue, Ohio (about 30 miles from my home). The team was owned by a dog breeder (Oorang dogs). The majority of their players were Native Americans.
One of those useless bits of information that can sometimes get you a free beer.