What if I told you that back in the early 1970s, there was a young minor league baseball prospect in the Cardinals' system who was so determined to make it to the big leagues that he learned to play different fielding positions?
It wouldn't surprise you much, right?
Well, what if I added that one day, a minor league teammate saw him warming up by throwing left-handed, instead of using his natural right hand? And how his left-handed throws looked pretty darn good? And that when this teammate asked why he was warming up lefty, the young prospect said that if their coach ever wanted him to pitch, he wasn't going to pitch right-handed because he didn't want to risk blowing out his throwing arm. (Simple as that, right?)
And what if I added that later, this young prospect injured his right shoulder in a collision at home plate, but was still so determined to make it to the big leagues that he switched positions from catcher to outfielder, using that trained left arm to make the necessary throws back to the infield?
And what if I added that a few years later, the young prospect's coaching staff didn't think he would pan out as a big leaguer, and cut him from the team? And that despite the setback, this young prospect was still determined to be a star in some sport, somewhere, so he turned to the sport in which his father excelled?
And would you believe it if I told you that this young prospect, named Randy Mario Poffo, eventually turned into this guy?
Well, believe it or not, it's true. As Randy Poffo's professional baseball career was winding down, he began training with his father—who was a successful wrestler himself—to become the best professional wrestler in the world. Such was Randy's determination.
And did he ever accomplish his goal. Two-time WWF World Heavyweight Champion. WWF Intercontinental Champion. 1987 WWF King of the Ring. Pro Wrestler of the Year in 1986, 1987, and 1988.
The story was inspiring enough for me to create a custom card.
Over the years I'd seen a few Randy Poffo customs, but none that captured baseball and wrestling on the same card. So that's where I wanted to go. I thought a design from the Then & Now series would fit nicely, and settled on the one you see above. There's young Randy on the left, in his catcher's gear. Then you've got "Macho Man" Randy Savage on the right, sporting his championship belt.
And you know I had to create a custom card back for this two-sport star. Here it is, with stats and everything. I'm going to enlarge it so you can look through the numbers more easily.
The baseball stats reveal that Poffo was a pretty decent ballplayer. Solid batting average, some power, and what seemed to be a good eye at the plate.
As for the wrestling stats, wow, that's a lot of matches over a long period of time. Macho Man was pretty athletic in the ring, and I can't even imagine the wear and tear he put on that body over all those years. But it sure was fun being a kid in the 1980s, watching him do his thing.
You can find plenty of entertaining Macho Man highlights online—both in the ring and during those classic pre-match interviews. And I encourage you to do so. But for this post, I wanted to include something different. Here's a three-minute interview where Mr. Poffo discusses his baseball career and his transition to wrestling.
Nothing was going to stop that guy. We should all be that determined.
And that's another custom card in the books. I really had fun working on this one, and I hope you guys are enjoying it, too.
Thanks for reading along!
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