The Lead
Much has been made of wondering what if John Elway had followed through on his baseball dreams as part of the New York Yankees' farm system, but a new article from The Athletic asks what if Elway opted to play for the Kansas City Royals, who drafted him out of high school in 1979.
What a disturbing thought, the idea of John Elway playing for any Kansas City team.
That question aside, the piece does retell some great stories of a young Elway's short-lived path in baseball.
One of the first is about when Elway's Granada Hills team faced off against future eight-time MLB All-Star Darryl Strawberry and Crenshaw High School in the city's high school playoffs. When the starting pitcher struggled, the team's coach decided not to go to the pitcher warming up in the bullpen — instead, he walked over to the kid manning third base.
"The coach called his toughest player, the quarterback who also batted .551, out to the mound," The Athletic's Alec Lewis writes. "Elway threw 4 2/3 innings, allowed three hits and secured the title."
In college, Elway famously continued to play baseball, eventually becoming a promising prospect that caught the eyes of scouts for the Yankees.
Like those scouts, his coach at Stanford saw greatness in his future even if he opted to play baseball.
"I've never seen an athlete with his arm," Mark Marquess told Lewis.
Thankfully, Elway chose football and wound up using that amazing arm of his to power the Broncos to two Super Bowl titles.
Below the Fold
Election Day is just five days away! The Denver Post’s Ryan O’Halloran spoke to Alexander Johnson about how he’s approaching the election. "When you go into the [voting booth], you need to have done your research and study the people in the state because there are different levels to the system," Johnson said.
