Which MLB players would make the best Winter Olympians?
After four years of sitting, waiting and wishing, the Winter Olympics are upon us -- and with Opening Day still a bit under two months away, that means it's time to watch some cold hipster sports like curling, moguls skiing and the biathlon.
While we've seen some baseball players in the Olympics before, most don't get a chance to compete at the Winter Games. That's a shame. Here are some Major Leaguers we think, if given the opportunity, could at least compete for the gold at the Winter Olympics.
Bradley definitely seems to be doing some type of skiing here, though which brand of skiing exactly is unclear. It's somewhere in-between freestyle moguls and ski jumping. Forget it, let JBJ do both, he's got the athleticism.
The D-backs' bullpen -- Bobsleigh
We've seen bobsleigh teams from untraditional locales before in the Winter Games (Jamaica obviously, and there's a Nigerian team this year!), so why not Arizona. Now sure, a series of folding chairs may not be the safest way to navigate an icy downhill track at 85+ miles per hour, but these dudes are fast learners.
A Cuban athlete has never participated at the Winter Games, but we think Tigers shortstop Jose Iglesias has the potential to change that. Iglesias is already one of the most elegant and graceful fielders in baseball, so one would think that such a skillset would translate directly to the ice. Also, he can wear his batting helmet just in case he ever falls.
The Biathlon is an extremely random sport. It's half cross-country skiing and half high-precision shooting with a rifle; essentially that final scene from that Mark Wahlberg movie "Shooter." A lot of big leaguers spend their free time out in the bush hunting, but the video above shows these three former Tigers teammates taking some pretty insane shots out in the middle of nowhere. All they need to do now is learn how to ski.
Curling is a sport that requires precision, patience, experience, grace, poise, a strong lower half and a careful touch. Nuf said. #Bart
