Kurt Russell Was Nearly a Pro Baseball Star

Before he was Wyatt Earp or Snake Plissken, Kurt Russell had a different kind of career in mind - one that unfolded not on Hollywood soundstages but on the baseball diamond.

A Real Baseball Prospect

Russell was already a known face from Disney films when he quietly signed a professional baseball contract and began working through the minor leagues. In 1971, the 20-year-old switch-hitter debuted for the Bend Rainbows in the Northwest League, a California Angels affiliate. He batted .285 in 51 games and earned a spot on the Northwest League All-Star team at second base - a genuine achievement in any first professional season.

The following year with the Walla Walla Islanders, he hit .325 in 29 games. By 1973, he had earned a promotion to Double-A ball with the California Angels, joining the El Paso Sun Kings of the Texas League.

The Best Six Games He Ever Played

Russell opened the 1973 season on fire. Across his first six games with El Paso, he was batting .563. At any level of professional baseball, that kind of pace gets noticed. At 22 years old, with three years of steady improvement behind him, a path to the major leagues was starting to look real.

The Collision That Ended It

It ended in an instant. Turning a double play at second base, Russell was hit by a baserunner who came in high as he turned the pivot. The blow tore the rotator cuff in his throwing shoulder - the injury that ends infield careers. Without a reliable throwing arm, a second baseman cannot do his job.

He returned to baseball briefly, playing as a designated hitter for the Portland Mavericks, an independent team in the Northwest League owned by his father, Bing Russell. In 23 games, he batted .229. He made one final appearance for the Mavericks in 1977, the team's last season, then retired from baseball for good.

Back to Hollywood

Russell returned to acting and never looked back. Within a few years, he was starring in John Carpenter's Escape from New York and The Thing, building a career that would span more than five decades. The shoulder that ended his baseball days gave Hollywood one of its most consistently watchable stars instead.

As a footnote: his sister Jill's son, Matt Franco, did reach the major leagues - playing for the Cubs, Mets, and Braves in the 1990s and 2000s. Baseball stayed in the family after all.