If ye be of the drinkin' persuasion, raise a birthday toast today to actor Kurt Russell, star of such classic early 70s Disney flicks as Dad, Can I Borrow the Car?, The Barefoot Executive and Superdad — all of which I heartily enjoyed as a child — who was born on St. Patrick's Day in 1951.
Though he initially seemed fated to be forever typecast as "that Disney kid," Russell would go on to find fame and respect as a serious actor, thanks to his memorable portrayals of such characters as Snake Plissken in Escape from New York and Elvis in, well, Elvis. But if it hadn't been for a torn rotator cuff, Russell might have had a serious career in baseball.
From 1971-1973, Russell played over a hundred games as a second baseman and outfielder in the California Angels' farm system, including stints with the Bend Rainbows, the Walla Walla Islanders, the Portland Mavericks and (as pictured above) the El Paso Sun Kings. In 1973, he was hitting .563 in six games with El Paso when he hurt his shoulder colliding with a runner while trying to turn a doubleplay.
"I was serious enough to be leading the Texas League (in hitting) when I got hurt," he told ESPN's Jim Caple in 2004. "I made the All-Star team and I was a second baseman who could turn the doubleplay and hit. It was what I did. The fun part of my life was that everyone in baseball knew me from baseball. They didn't understand what I was doing with the acting thing. The acting was what was strange to them."
Future major leaguers among Russell's Sun Kings teammates included Frank Tanana, Sid Monge, Paul Dade, Bruce Bochte, Dave Chalk and Gil Flores. "Most of the ballplayers that I played with, knew me from baseball," he told Caple. The acting thing to them was like, 'Yeah, I don't know why he does that.' Ballplayers used to say, 'You must meet a lot of girls in movies. Can you get me into that?' They always wanted me to get them into it."
Kurt never made it to "The Show," but his nephew Matt Franco — who apparently still holds the major league record for pinch hit walks in a season, with 20 — had a decent career as a utility man for the Cubs, Mets and Braves from 1995 to 2003. Here's a pic of Russell paying Franco a visit in 1994, when the latter was playing with the Iowa Cubs. Russell looks like he could probably still turn two...
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