Wayne Gretzky never got to live out his dream.
Yea, he’s the greatest hockey player to ever lace ‘em up, but that was never what he truly wanted – at least that’s what we’re gathering from this interview he had on the Dan Patrick show, was that his number one passion as a kid.
It came from a question about all of the different sports Gretzky played as a kid, and it was followed up by a question of what Gretzky would have done, if he had a choice between playing professional baseball and hockey, which he would choose.
In the above video, his answer was "Oh my gosh, I would have taken baseball all day long." He then elaborated on his desire to play baseball:
"I would have loved to have been the shortstop for the Detroit Tigers. I grew up such a big Tiger fan [and of] Ernie Harwell and listening to Tiger games."
If we’re being honest, we’re happy Gretzky wasn’t very good at baseball. It’s difficult to compare between eras in many sports, but with how far above the competition Gretzky was in the NHL, he’s the undisputed G.O.A.T. However, that didn’t stop someone from photoshopping him onto Danny Ainge’s 1981 Topps baseball card to see how he’d look in a Blue Jays uniform.
Of course, he also rubbed off on his son, Trevor, who was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 7th round of the 2011 MLB draft. His latest team he played for was Les Capitales de Quebec in Independent ball – the same league that Chris Colabello played in.
The closest Wayne ever got to playing professional baseball was a couple games in the Intercounty Baseball League. He played for his hometown Brantford Red Sox as a kid.
(H/T to FTW)
