True Facts: Crossover Baseballers

Yesterday, in a lighthearted interview with Boston sports radio station WEEI, Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia stated — and understandably so — that he’d have no interest in fighting modern-day boxing great Manny Pacquiao.

Though whimsical in the context of the Pedroia interview, it’s not outside the realm of possibility that a ballplayer, former or otherwise, could excel in another sport. In fact, a number of MLB-ers have done just that. Below are some brief, and very-non-fictional, examples of baseball’s two-sport athletes.

1883: Charley “Old Hoss” Radbourn becomes America’s first real two-sport athlete, not only pitching for the Providence Grays but also excelling in the popular late-century sport of “drunken carousing.”

1961: Boston center fielder Jimmy Piersall (pictured above) unveils for the public’s consideration his self-taught “crane kick,” the move later used by Daniel LaRusso to beat that douche Johnny from Cobra Kai.

1982: In his freshman year at Auburn University, Bo Jackson becomes first college athlete to letter in 17 sports, including Women’s Equestrian. “I just love those damn horses,” says Jackson when asked to comment on his first-place finish at the NCAA national tournament.

2009: “If not wearing pants is a sport, I’m the f*cking champ,” announces a pantless Kenny Powers.

2014: After retiring from baseball, middle infielder and scrapaholic David Eckstein goes on to successful career as jockey in thoroughbred horse racing.