Last night, the World Wrestling Entertainment Corporation announced that “Macho Man” Randy Savage will be their headline inductee for the Hall of Fame class of 2015. I still have a hard time not saying “World Wrestling Federation”. Macho Man was one of my favorite wrestlers growing up along with The Ultimate Warrior.

Unlike the Baseball Hall of Fame, there is no writer vote, and no ballots to look at. It all depends on whether Vince McMahon and the inductee are on the same terms. As much as people groan (like myself) about the Baseball Hall of Fame, at least there is some transparency in the process. There is no way of knowing who is on the list to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame (unless you are an insider). To me, Macho Man is easily a 1st-ballot Hall of Famer. There is no reason Koko B. Ware was inducted before the Macho Man.

Like Ron Santo, Macho Man will be inducted posthumously, as he unfortunately died in 2011. At least, The Ultimate Warrior was there in person for his induction last year, before he passed on. So Macho Man finally gets in, and it was long overdue.

Before Savage made his mark in wrestling, Randy Poffo (his real name) played professional baseball. During a span of 4 years, Poffo had played for the St. Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds in the minor leagues. In 1971, when Poffo was 18 years old, he won a job with the Cardinals after trying out. No, he wasn’t drafted.

In 1973, Poffo played for the Orangeburg Cardinals in the Western Carolinas League. That team was managed by Jim Piersall. Macho’s baseball career was at a crossroads after three years in the Cardinals organization (via the blog WhiteSoxCards.com):

[quote]“Randy suffered a setback when he developed a severe muscle tear and ligament separation in his throwing arm. Instead of retiring, this right-hander taught himself how to throw southpaw.”[/quote]

That is pretty cool. There are also stories of how Macho used to make makeshift rings in the clubhouse and wrestle anyone who would dare, as told by former teammate Tito Landrum.

Even though Poffo never made it beyond the Class A Florida State League, he had several teammates who made it to the majors: Larry Herndon (his roommate), Mike Vail, Cardell Camper, Mike Potter, Angel Torres, Dan Larson, Don Werner, Mike Armstrong, Manny Sarmiento, Paul Thormodsgard, Jerry Mumphrey and the already named Tito Landrum.

From WhiteSoxCards.com, “In 1974, he caught on with the Reds organization. His power numbers went up, but his OBP and batting average dipped down. He played mostly DH again and occasionally in the outfield or at first base. He was third in the league in RBI that year. The Reds eventually released him. The White Sox gave Randy a shot in Spring Training (in 1975). The Sox chose to go a different way.”

Randy hit .254 in his minor league career with 16 triples and 16 home-runs, and he stole 21 bases and drove in 130 runs in 869 at-bats.

Although he never made it to the big leagues, Randy went on to become one of the best and most entertaining professional wrestlers in WWE history. His match with Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat at WrestleMania 3 is regarded as one of the all-time greats.

Even after his retirement, Randy still liked baseball. Here is a screenshot of him at Port St. Lucie, Florida to watch the New York Mets during a Spring Training game in 2011:

Congratulations to the “Macho Man” Randy Savage on being the newest member of the WWE Hall of Fame… Randy was a baseball lifer!