When you think of legendary NHL players, it’s hard to ignore Wayne Gretzky.
While it could be argued that the big man would be less effective against modern goalkeepers, the legendary striker rewrote the attacking record books.
But do you know that number 99 does not consider hockey to be his favorite sport?
“Oh, I played them all,”
the NHL legend told Dan Patrick.
“I loved, my favorite sport, believe it or not, was baseball. I wanted to be a Major League Baseball player. I used to hear Jack Buck on the radio all the time because we had their station in my hometown and the great thing about the Cardinals is that they were an hour behind.”
“That’s why I wanted to be a baseball player,”
Gretzky said.
“I grew up playing box lacrosse. … When I was little, I dreamed of running the 1,500 meters or the marathon for Canada in the Olympics. So, I had all these dreams, and my dad was telling me, ‘You’re a hockey player.'”
And even though number 99 followed his father’s advice and became the greatest hockey player of all time, he never forgot that first love.
We taught Wayne Gretzky everything he knows 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/5umK4sp0UQ
— MLB (@MLB) January 1, 2024
In fact, if all things were equal, he would choose the baseball diamond over the ice.
“Oh my God, I used to play baseball all day,”
the big man admitted when Patrick was asked what sport he would have chosen if talent had not been a limiting factor.
“I grew up a huge Tigers fan.”
Wayne Douglas Gretzky (born January 26, 1961) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former head coach. From 1979 to 1999, he played 20 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for four teams.
Nicknamed “The Great,” he has been named the greatest hockey player of all time by many writers, players, The Hockey News and the NHL itself, based on extensive polls of hockey writers, former players, managers and coaches.
Gretzky is the leading career scorer, assist scorer, and point scorer in NHL history, with more career assists than any other player in total points.
He is the only NHL player to score more than 200 points in a season, achieving this feat four times.
Additionally, Gretzky has scored over 100 points in 15 professional seasons, including 13 consecutive points.
At the time of his retirement in 1999, he held 61 NHL records, including 40 regular season records, 15 playoff records, and six All-Star records.
In June 1978, he signed with the Indianapolis Racers of the World Hockey Association (WHA), where he played briefly before being transferred to the Edmonton Oilers.
When the WHA failed, the Oilers moved to the NHL, where he set many scoring records and led the team to four Stanley Cup championships.
Gretzky’s trade to the Los Angeles Kings on August 9, 1988 had an immediate impact on the team’s performance, ultimately leading the team to the 1993 Stanley Cup Finals.
He is credited with helping popularize ice hockey in California.
Gretzky briefly played for the St. Louis Blues before finishing his career with the New York Rangers.
He also won the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy for sportsmanship and achievement five times and frequently spoke out against conflict in hockey.
After retiring in 1999, Gretzky was immediately inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, becoming the youngest player to be exempt from the waiting period.
The NHL retired his number 99 league wide.
Gretzky was one of six players selected to the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) Centennial All-Star Team.
He was inducted into his IIHF Hall of Fame in 2000 and was a recipient of the Hockey Order of Canada in 2012.
He became co-owner of the Phoenix Coyotes in 2000 and became the team’s head coach after the 2004-2005 NHL lockout.
In 2004, Gretzky was inducted into the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame.
In September 2009, following the Phoenix Coyotes’ bankruptcy, Gretzky resigned as head coach and relinquished his ownership interest.
Fans reacted as follows:
Before hockey basically became a “year-round” sport like it is now, which a kid has to do to go anywhere in the sport, Canadian kids played hockey in the winter, and baseball/fast pitch softball, and/or lacrosse in the summer. Gretzky was a great baseball and lacrosse player too
— Jeff Craig (@forcethedump) January 1, 2024
He said his dream was to play SS for the Detroit Tigers. He wanted to be Alan Trammell.
— Rob Long (@RobLong73) January 1, 2024
Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco was arrested earlier today for no-showing his Thursday meeting with the prosecutor investigating him for alleged relationships with underaged girls, sources told @JuanRecioM. More news and context, free at ESPN: https://t.co/BEYOtnlOFN pic.twitter.com/zYg8sL2o3r
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) January 1, 2024
The last MLB player to start and finish 162 regular season games in one year was Juan Pierre of the 2004 Marlins. pic.twitter.com/a5EOYVcH5J
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) January 1, 2024
