Looking at batters, probably only a small percentage could transfer successfully from baseball to cricket, and vice-versa. In baseball, the most important attributes are hand-eye co-ordination followed by strength. In cricket, technique and concentration are more important.
That’s biased however by the fact that we never really got to see how Bo or Deion could have done if they were given unlimited time to train for each sport. The seasons for North American team sports (and their preseason and even offseason prep time) are too long to allow someone to optimize their training and development for both. In the case of football/baseball, there is about a month or two per year in which you aren’t playing either sport, and they overlap from late July to October. Even if they could (in some alternate universe) devote full time training to both, the needs of each sport are different and can affect the other. That Bo & Deion did as well as they did in both their disciplines is astonishing enough.
I’d think the biggest difference going from baseball to cricket would be sheer endurance, though maybe that’s what you mean by “concentration”.
Batting all day can be physically exhausting, especially on the sub-continent in high temperatures and humidity. However, the players say it’s the mental side that is the difficult bit. If a batter loses concentration and plays the wrong shot they are likely to get out.
I believe Dave Winfield was drafted in 3 different sports by 4 different teams in total, not four different sports. That said, he is the only one to have ever been drafted in three professional sports. ESPN lists him as the 3 best all-around athlete ever. Charlie Ward was “only” drafted in two sports, basketball and football.
The thread is kinda apropos considering Herschel Walker just won his 2nd MMA fight this past Saturday at the age of 48. He was an all-time great football player, a track star, an Olympic bobsledder, and (now) an MMA fighter. Pretty impressive.
Ah, you just beat me out. I was about to post Herschel… but, you know what? I think, even in the circle of great athletes, he may be an outlier. What he has done is absolutely unbelievable.
Bo Jackson was an all star in multiple sports. In fact, he was the 1989 All-Star Game MVP.
Yeah, Bo definitely had the tools to be dominant in either sport, had he focused on one exclusively.
As it was, he was considered a star running back, even though he only played about half of each season with the Raiders, and didn’t ever go to training camp (because his Raiders contract allowed him to wait to join the Raiders until after the Royals’ season ended). His career average-per-carry was 5.4 yards; only three running backs (Marion Motley, Jamaal Charles, Spec Sanders) have had an average at least that high.
As an outfielder, he had great power, speed, and a strong arm, though I think he was a little raw as a baseball player, and his overall numbers were never outstanding (his slugging percentage of .474 would only rank him around #215 all time, if he’d had enough at-bats). It would have been interesting to see what would have happened if he focused full-time on baseball, and was able to harness his physical gifts.
Jackie Robinson lettered in baseball, basketball, football, and track at UCLA. He won the NCAA title in the long jump.
Many great people have incredible skill in different physical and mental fields.
Examples: Michael Jordan and Garth Brooks were both amazing baseball players in addition to what they’re known for.
Tim Lincecum is a ridiculously athletic, “good at everything he tries” guy despite the fact that he seems so skinny and looks like he should be skateboarding outside PacBell Park rather than pitching at an All Star level inside of it. But I don’t know if he played anything other than baseball growing up.
Lionel Conacher excelled at football, baseball, hockey, lacrosse, wrestling and boxing. Then he tackled another sport: politics.
Jim Thorpe won Olympic gold in the pentathlon and the decathlon and played football and baseball.
Tom Glavine was drafted by both the Atlanta Braves (baseball) and Los Angeles Kings (hockey).
Yeah, I can see what you’re saying, but another meaning of concentration, that of simply being able to focus in 100% on what you’re about to be doing, strikes me as a crucial (maybe THE crucial) skill for baseball players. Something like “sustained concentration”?
Jackie Robinson only played 1 year of baseball at UCLA and he hit just .092.
You’re still talking about a guy who had 4 decent years in MLB and a lifetime BA of .250. I bet if his name wasn’t Bo Jackson he doesn’t even get invited to the All Star game in 1989.
Sanders probably would have been a damned good ballplayer had he (a) concentrated on it and (b) stayed healthy, largely, of course, by not playing football, which goes back to (a).
Possibly not, though he did have a pretty darned good first half of the year in 1989 (21 HRs, 23 SB, 59 RBI, .829 OPS), and finished in 10th place for AL MVP voting that year.
But, in general, I agree…as a baseball player, he was known for his potential, and specific incredible plays (long HRs, defensive plays), rather than his overall stats (and certainly not for his career longevity).
A quick glance at the stats indicates that he led AL outfielders in HR that year (4th overall). Throw in 26 SB for good measure and you have yourself an all-star.
Michael Jordan improved significantly in his time with baseball. Near the end of his run playing baseball, he’d developed into a fairly quality player and wasn’t at all the liability he was when he started (and understandably so).
While everyone seems to be sticking with two sport athletes and the like, I’d think that Greg Maddux would have been good at absolutely anything he’d try to do, in or out of sports, solely because of the way his mind works. From what I’ve heard and read about him, his mind just worked at a different level than most folks’.
Yes, sustained concentration. Most people can focus for a few minutes, not so many can do it for hours.