What happens when one of the top NFL quarterbacks of his generation pulls a Bo Jackson and plays in an MLB game?
Russell Wilson stepped to the plate in the Yankees' spring training game against the Braves Friday afternoon, with the eyes of both MLB and the NFL upon him. While he ended up striking out, the Super Bowl champion QB certainly didn't embarrass himself.
Wilson led off the bottom of the fifth against left-hander Max Fried, one of the Braves' top prospects. He took an aggressive cut at the first pitch, fouling back a high fastball, before taking a breaking ball for a called strike and watching a couple of pitches in the dirt to work a 2-2 count. Wilson went down swinging on a 93 mph fastball from Fried but earned appreciative applause from the crowd at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa.
Maybe not the result @DangeRussWilson wanted, but a fun cameo for the fans (and it looks like Wilson, too). #YANKSonYES pic.twitter.com/RZ3LFawpnf
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) March 2, 2018
Wilson has spent time with the Yankees in spring training, although the team originally said he would not appear in a Grapefruit League game. But Wilson and the Yankees apparently got the Seahawks' blessing to allow him a plate appearance in a game.
The Colorado Rockies originally chose Wilson in the fourth round in the 2010 MLB amateur draft. In two minor league seasons in Single-A ball, the infielder hit .229 with 118 strikeouts in 335 at-bats. After that inauspicious start Wilson decided to try his hand at football, and the rest is history.
MLB.com reporter Bryan Hoch caught up with the last pitcher to face Wilson in a pro baseball game. Chasen Shreve, now a reliever with the Yankees, induced Wilson to ground into a double play in a June 2011 game.
"I knew I faced him! That's funny," Shreve said. "I knew he played football and knew he was leaving to play football, but I didn't know what he was going to turn into."
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