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Five MLB players who could turn their hidden talents into second careers

Five MLB players with strange hidden talents

By Gemma Kaneko

Now that we know Mookie Betts is a champion bowler (well, depending on how his PBA tour performance goes), we're curious about the other MLB players with secret careers. OK, maybe they're not actual jobs, per say, but we're pretty they can put together solid backups when their Major League days are over. For example, there's ... 

1. Michael Cuddyer, magician

Michael Cuddyer has been performing on the big league stage for 15 years, so we're pretty sure he'd be comfortable switching to a Vegas stage to open for, say, David Copperfield. Check out those tricks (sorry - illusions):

OK, maybe less "Vegas" and more "children's birthday party," but Cuddyer's working his way up. In an interview with Newsday, he said that David Blaine was his favorite magician and that he hoped to learn from him:

Carig: You've been doing magic since you were about 11. And you've called David Blaine your favorite magician. What would you try to learn from him?

Cuddyer: Everything. Everything that he would like to teach. He's the best. He's awesome. You'd be learning from the best.

He's got plenty of experience - just watch him stun a young(er) Denard Span back in 2008, when they were both playing for the Twins:

2. Craig Breslow, doctor

As a relief pitcher for the 2013 Red Sox, Craig Breslow won a World Series ring. As a college graduate, he also has a degree in molecular biophysics and biochemistry. From Yale. Yes, he double-majored in two incredibly hard subjects at a school that only has a 6.3 percent acceptance rate. Oh, and when he was released by the Brewers in 2004, he applied to NYU Medical School … and got in.

However, he chose to pursue baseball instead. But if he decides to apply again, we're pretty sure he can just use his career ERA in place of an MCAT score. Or not, because while an overall 3.31 ERA is pretty respectable, according to the Sporting News, Breslow got a 34 on his medical school admissions test. The average score is about 25.

Breslow also likes to do his own taxes:

"I submitted the IRS Form 1023 myself during Spring Training. The 1023 is a comprehensive document which files for tax deductibility (for a nonprofit organization). (I filled it out) after being largely unable to find an accountant with the time to do this during tax season."

So he's got becoming a CPA as a backup option if the whole super-smart doctor thing doesn't work out.

3. David Ortiz, politician

Big Papi is retiring at the close of the 2016 season, and we know just what he should do: Run for political office. He's great at giving speeches and he actually came in third in Boston's 2013 mayoral race. Sure, "third" meant "560 write-in votes," but it's still third place in a major election! Besides, his campaign materials would be excellent:

hope

4. Ross Ohlendorf, Secretary of Agriculture

When a constitutional exception is made specificially so Ortiz can be elected president of this great nation, he might as well nominate Ross Ohlendorf to be his Secretary of Agriculture. Just like Breslow above, the Rangers reliever is also an Ivy League grad. He went to Princeton, where he wrote a senior thesis so respected that it got him an Associate Membership in Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society. Other Sigma Xi members include Nobel Prize in Physics winner Richard Feynman and co-discoverers of the structure of DNA, James D. Watson and Francis Crick.

But his real qualifications for the job have to do with the way Ohlendorf spent his 2009 offseason. Then a Pirate, he had an eight-week internship with the Department of Agriculture. He even caught a first pitch that current Secretary Tom Vilsack threw at PNC Park and complimented him on his arm: 


We feel like this warrants a very positive letter of recommendation. That's how you become part of the president's cabinet, right? 

5. Adam Wainwright, wedding singer

According to Matt Carpenter , Adam Wainwright "thinks he can sing." Thanks to the magic of the internet, we don't have to take his word for it:

That's basically a family band right there. Don't tell us you wouldn't hire them to sing "Shout" at your wedding. They could probably handle "Kiss from a Rose," too, if you want to slow things down a bit.

Bonus! George Brett, landlord

Brett isn't an active player anymore and definitely has another career now (he's the Royals' vice president of baseball operations), which is why this is a bonus instead of no. 6. But it's weird and very worth it -- when he signed a contract extension with KC in 1984, he became part-owner of an apartment complex. According to Mental Floss:

At the time, Avron Fogelman co-owned the Royals. Fogelman had made his fortune as a lawyer and real estate baron in Memphis, so when the team needed a little extra incentive to get Brett to sign, they offered the third baseman a piece of one of Fogelman's developments. Brett's agent/brother Bobby negotiated the deal; he referred to the 1,100-apartment complex as "a nice little kicker."

Just imagine calling your landlord to check on your plumbing and having this guy show up:

pinetar

OK, George, we're sorry, we should have tried to fix it ourselves first!