Hockey is back!
(Crickets)
Well, anyway, there have been far fewer two-sport athletes in baseball involving hockey than there are basketball or football. In fact, there has been a grand total of one player who has spent time in the Major Leagues and the NHL. That player is Jim Riley, who spent some brief time with the St. Louis Browns and Washington Senators in the 1920s and spent a brief time with the Chicago Black Hawks (note the space) and Detroit Cougars (not yet the Red Wings) in the 1926-1927 season. Here’s what his top league statistics looked like:
In MLB:
| Year | Age | Tm | Lg | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | SO | TB | GDP | HBP | SH | SF | IBB | Pos | Awards | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1921 | 26 | SLB | AL | 4 | 12 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .000 | .083 | .000 | .083 | -78 | 0 | 0 | 0 | /4 | |||||
| 1923 | 28 | WSH | AL | 2 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .000 | .400 | .000 | .400 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | /3 | |||||
| 1931 | Did not play in major leagues (Did Not Play) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 Yrs | 6 | 17 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | .000 | .176 | .000 | .176 | -52 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||
| 162 Game Avg. | 162 | 459 | 378 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 81 | 81 | .000 | .176 | .000 | .176 | -52 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||
| WSH (1 yr) | 2 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .000 | .400 | .000 | .400 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||
| SLB (1 yr) | 4 | 12 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .000 | .083 | .000 | .083 | -78 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||
In the NHL:
| Season | Age | Tm | Lg | GP | G | A | PTS | GC | +/- | PIM | EV | PP | SH | GW | S | S% | TOI | ATOI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1926-27 | 31 | TOT | NHL | 9 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 14 | |||||||||
| 1926-27 | 31 | CBH | NHL | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||
| 1926-27 | 31 | DTC | NHL | 6 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 14 | |||||||||
| Career | NHL | 9 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 14 |
Of course, Riley also played in the minor leagues in both sports. You can find his baseball minor league stats over at Baseball Reference, and you can find his hockey stats over at hockeydb.com.
Now, although Riley is the lone man to have played in both MLB and the NHL, he is not the only player who played both sports. Not even close. Take a look after the jump for other connections between America’s pastime and Canada’s pastime:
The Baseball Continuum 