“I made money, but I wanted to play baseball” – Actor Kurt Russell once admitted his real passion was on the diamond, not the red carpet

Kurt Russell may be known for his acting, but in hindsight, he always wanted to be a ballplayer. Baseball was very close to his family, as his father, Neil Oliver Russell was a ball player and instilled the same love for the diamond in Kurt.

The senior Russell played two seasons with the Carrollton Hornets in the Georgia-Carolina League. He was also friends with professional players, including Joe DiMaggio and Lefty Gomez.

“He loved passing on his knowledge of the game,” Russell said about his father in 2019. “Baseball was what we were going to do. That was it. We had a batting cage in our backyard. In fact, that was our backyard.

“For my family, baseball was a year-round thing. Acting was a business for me like it was for my dad. I made money, but I wanted to play baseball. That was the pursuit.” (via MiLB.com)

Russell joined Northwest League Class A Short Season Bend ahead of the 1971 season. He joined the Double-A El Paso team in 1973 but got injured.

Kurt Russell loved playing but had to give up due to injury

Playing for El Paso in 1973, Kurt Russell flourished, hitting .500 in one of the weeks. However, one double play that injured him for good.

“I loved playing in El Paso. That was a great place to play, and I was off to a really hot start,” Russell said. “I was trying to turn a double play at second base and a runner came in high and hit me hard. The pain in my right arm was pretty bad.”

He tore his rotator cuff and was subsequently released from El Paso in May. Later, he played for the Portland Mavericks, whose owner was his father for about a year.

As life would have it, Kurt Russell instead found success in acting. His work in Tombstone, Backdraft and Escape from New York made him well-known in the entertainment world.