Larry Bird once played college baseball as a dare
May 2, 2020 19:40:56 GMT
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Post by nutsberryfarm π on May 2, 2020 19:40:56 GMT
www.sbnation.com/2020/4/28/21240080/larry-bird-college-baseball-indiana-state-he-was-good
Birdβs status as an Indiana sports legend was cemented by the spring of 1979. The small forward had just led Indiana State to a 33-1 season, with the teamβs sole loss coming to Magic Johnson and Michigan State. Everyone knew Bird was destined for greatness in the NBA, but that didnβt stop Indiana State baseball coach Bob Warn from roasting him. It began as gentle ribbing, poking fun at Birdβs propensity to spend a majority of his free time getting ice and massages in the ISU training room. Then one day, Warn called Bird a βwussβ for his seemingly endless postgame recovery and threw down the gauntlet when he picked up a baseball.
βReal men play with balls this size,β Warn said, glaring at Bird. It was merely an escalated version of Warnβs usual brand of teasing, but Bird had enough and was ready to prove a point. βI could do that. I could play baseball,β Bird responded, taking the coach by surprise.
It would have been easy for the story to end here, with a healthy round of shit-talking and little else. But Bird, ever the competitor, wanted to prove a point. And Warn, firm in his belief Bird would look foolish on a baseball field, was willing to give him the chance to embarrass himself.
The pair made an agreement: A non-conference doubleheader was looming against Kentucky Wesleyan, a perfect low-risk opportunity to put Bird in a baseball uniform. The team didnβt have equipment big enough to accommodate Birdβs 6β9 frame, so they stretched out the longest pair of pants they could find, procured the largest hat on campus, and trotted out onto the field one of the greatest basketball players of all time. Only a few photos exist from the game, but seeing it live would have been legendary.
Mike Hayes, a Kentucky Wesleyan player, recounted the game, vividly remembering Birdβs bizarre, ungainly swing.
βHe definitely had a softball swing,β Hayes recalled. βIt looked almost like a straight uppercut.β The massive strike zone should have given pitchers a field day, but they soon realized Bird wasnβt there to goof around. He was there to prove a point.
Warn noted that Bird played baseball with the same energy he brought to the court:
βHe plays the game just as he does basketball, with every ounce he has. Heβs very intense. He was remarking to one of the players before the game that he just wanted to do well; he didnβt want to let the team down.β
Bird didnβt let the team down. Far from it. When the doubleheader was over, heβd finished 1-for-2 with two RBIs while recording nine putouts from first base in the second game. It wasnβt just that Bird played; he stunned everyone watching that day.
The .500 batting average still exists in Indiana State history books as one of the highest ever recorded by a player for the team. You wonβt find much on Larry Birdβs short-lived baseball career, but those who were there wonβt soon forget. For one day, Bird got to prove he wasnβt just a basketball player icing up in the locker room; he was a star at anything he wanted to try.
Bird signed autographs for fans in attendance and Kentucky Wesleyan players before walking off the field that day. Two months later, he signed his NBA contract with the Boston Celtics. And the rest is history.