"Curveball got me" - When 'Fantastic Mr. Fox' actor George Clooney revealed a surprising flaw that halted his professional baseball dreams
George Clooney's credentials as one of the world's best actors are beyond question. Clooney, who has won four Golden Globes and two Academy Awards, is unlikely to pursue a career outside of film.
However, one does not have to go back that long to locate a period when Clooney's priorities were quite different. However, according to the star himself, acting was where his skillset really resided.
Raised in Augusta, Kentucky, George Clooney was a promising baseball star at Augusta High School in his youth. His love of the sport moved a young Clooney to try out for a place on the Cincinnati Reds, who played just across the Ohio River from Clooney's school in 1977.
Clooney attempted to gain a spot as a pitcher for the Reds twice in the late 1970s. Although he initially showed promise, it soon became clear that the then-17-year-old would not be heading to the show anytime soon. In a late 2023 interview with Deadline, George Clooney offered some brutally honest self-reflection.
"No, I just lacked skill. I had everything else, Clooney said. "Curveball got me. I remember I went out and basically they just care about speed and arm."
At the time of Clooney's attempts to make the team, the Reds were one of the most talked-about baseball teams in the world. Spurred on by legendary bats like Pete Rose and Johnny Bench, the Reds defeated the New York Yankees to win the 1976 World Series, just one year before Clooney's efforts.
Joey Votto makes a George Clooney-inspired free agent pitch
2024 will be the first season in nearly two decades in which veteran first baseman Joey Votto will be absent from the lineup.
Below is the tweet where Votto hilariously asked George Clooney to save him while comparing free agency to the movie Gravity.
In the nearly half-century since Clooney first tried to make inroads with the Reds, the team has only won one World Series. However, with a plethora of young talent like Spencer Steer, Hunter Greene, and Elly De La Cruz now in the mix, that might well change.