The late Gordie Howe was a legend in the world of hockey, but his affinity for baseball is a somewhat lesser known fact.
This past weekend the sporting world lost another legend, Gordie Howe. Howe was one of the most influential hockey players to ever play, and he is the only man with an argument against Wayne Gretzky being the best hockey player to ever live. Howe played in the NHL for a long time, from the year 1946 to 1971. Every single one of those seasons was spent with the Detroit Red Wings. His loyalty and love for the game was unquestionable.
During the years 1955-1970, a span of 15 seasons, he was an All-Star every single year and finished in the top ten in Hart Memorial (Most Valuable Player) voting. He also won two Art Ross (top scorer in the league) trophies during that time period to add to the four in a row he won from 1950-1954.
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Not only was Howe a prolific scorer, he was a tough hockey player. A player like him is unfathomable in the current NHL. He was so well-known for his scoring ability and toughness that there’s a moniker given to a certain game milestone that is still used today, the “Gordie Howe Hat Trick,” which is when a player has a goal, assist and fight in the same game.
Gordie was well-known for his hockey prowess, and he is one of the greatest of all time. What most people don’t know is that he loved another game too. In the summer of 1951 he joined a team named the Saskatoon 55s of the Saskatchewan baseball league.
Teammates said he was a great hitter, but the most noticeable part of his game was the way he played for the love of the game. He had fun out on the field. While his baseball career was cut short prematurely because the Red Wings feared their star player getting injured, his example is a great ones for kids.
The first lesson learned from Gordie Howe is that a player can excel at one sport and still enjoy playing others. When Howe joined the Saskatoon 55s, he was just coming off a season where he had won the Art Ross for the first time in his career and finished third in the Hart trophy voting for the first time in his career. His success in hockey didn’t stop him from branching out and trying other things.
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The second lesson is the most important of all: have fun playing sports. Whether it was hockey or baseball, Howe was always having fun. He had a joy for the games that he played, and that led to him being successful.The people who got to see him play or even got to be around him always talk about the great joy he had. Gordie Howe will forever be Mr. Hockey, but his baseball legacy will not be forgotten either.