Nice return today...
This man is the answer to one of my favorite baseball trivia questions out there. I know you can win a few bucks with this one at a bar. The question is name the only 3 Hall of Famers to hit a HR in their first Major League at-bat?"..
Most would guess at least 70-80 guys before they get even one of them...
The answer is: Earl Averill(hit his in '29), Hoyt Wilhelm(his only HR of career)
and.........................
Clarence "Ace" Parker...
Ace was quite the athlete. From 1934 - 1936, he starred at tailback, doing most of the running and passing for Duke. He was second team All-American in 1935 and consensus All-American first team in 1936. He also played basketball and excelled at baseball at Duke. Pro football was not very glamorous back then so Ace signed with the Philadelphia Athletics in '37. Interestingly enough, in the NFL draft that year he was taken by the Brooklyn Dodgers(football team) and Sammy Baugh was the only passer drafted ahead of him. Ace homered in his first ever at-bat with Philly(Connie Mack was one of his managers!!) ....but never really hit well in the bigs(179 avg) and for 2 yrs(37-38) he pulled a Deion Sanders, playing MLB and NFL...
He then switched to only football and was named the NFL MVP in '40...
and he was elected into the NFL HOF in '72...so you see, he is the third answer to the trivia question!
Remarkably, Ace is 99 yrs old living in Virginia...While it's not the best quality(and he used a sharpie) I am still very ecstatic to add this legend to the collection...
Ace Parker 1/1 GU
thanks for reading!!!
Chris
This man is the answer to one of my favorite baseball trivia questions out there. I know you can win a few bucks with this one at a bar. The question is name the only 3 Hall of Famers to hit a HR in their first Major League at-bat?"..
Most would guess at least 70-80 guys before they get even one of them...
The answer is: Earl Averill(hit his in '29), Hoyt Wilhelm(his only HR of career)
and.........................
Clarence "Ace" Parker...
Ace was quite the athlete. From 1934 - 1936, he starred at tailback, doing most of the running and passing for Duke. He was second team All-American in 1935 and consensus All-American first team in 1936. He also played basketball and excelled at baseball at Duke. Pro football was not very glamorous back then so Ace signed with the Philadelphia Athletics in '37. Interestingly enough, in the NFL draft that year he was taken by the Brooklyn Dodgers(football team) and Sammy Baugh was the only passer drafted ahead of him. Ace homered in his first ever at-bat with Philly(Connie Mack was one of his managers!!) ....but never really hit well in the bigs(179 avg) and for 2 yrs(37-38) he pulled a Deion Sanders, playing MLB and NFL...
He then switched to only football and was named the NFL MVP in '40...
and he was elected into the NFL HOF in '72...so you see, he is the third answer to the trivia question!
Remarkably, Ace is 99 yrs old living in Virginia...While it's not the best quality(and he used a sharpie) I am still very ecstatic to add this legend to the collection...
Ace Parker 1/1 GU
thanks for reading!!!
Chris