EVEN THE MACHO MAN LOVED BASEBALL

If there was one wrestler that I loved, it was Randy "Macho Man" Savage. His energy and talent made him quickly of the the fastest growing stars in the World Wrestling Federation for many years. But one thing I never knew is that Randy Savage played baseball and was part of a minor league system early on in his life, before he was consumed by wrestling. When I heard that nugget on the radio this past Saturday morning, I opened my eyes while I laid in my bed, and smiled.See baseball is in everyone. Whether you play it all of your life, or just have a brief connection to it, everyone has picked up a baseball or mitt or bat and tried it out at some point. After all, it's what you do as a kid, whether or not you keep playing it is entirely based on how good you are, or if you enjoy the game enough after you get the knack for it. Baseball is played by everyone, even Randy Savage. It's amazing how the sport has affected so many of us over the years. It's one of the greatest sports in the world.

Randy Savage, known as Randy Poffo then, signed with the St. Louis Cardinals organization as a catcher out of high school. He was placed in the minor leagues to develop, where he was an outfielder. As an outfielder, he was on several teams in the minors. Besides the Cardinals, he was with the Reds and the White Sox minor league teams. According to Wikipedia, Savage would swing a bat into a hanging car tire as a regular training exercise in order to strengthen his hands and make sure he utilized his legs during swings. The technique was so effective that Larry Herndon, his former roommate and professional ballplayer adopted it and used it during his own career.
(in photo: Larry Herndon)
Savage's last season was 1974, when he played for the Tampa Tarpons. He played 289 games in four minor league seasons. His career statistics were a .254 batting average, 16 home runs and 66 RBIs. It was near the end of his baseball career that Savage began to dabble in the wrestling world and as you know, the rest is history.

Sadly, the Macho Man left us on May 20th when he was killed in a car accident in Florida. It was a shock to many of us, because, as kids, so many of us watched and loved wrestling in the 80's in which he was an instant classic.
A salute to the Macho Man, iconic wrestler, great athlete and a good ballplayer with his eye on the prize, thanks for doing what you did, for all of us, both wrestling fans and baseball fans alike.

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