Wrestling icon Hulk Hogan says baseball was first love

CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP) - Hulkamania could’ve run wild on a baseball diamond if it weren’t for a stinking injury, brother.

Hulk Hogan said Friday the national pastime was his favorite sport growing up but he turned to wrestling after suffering a broken arm.

“I played full-time baseball until my final year of high school. I pitched and played third base,” Hogan said before the Philadelphia Phillies hosted the Pittsburgh Pirates in a spring training game on Friday. “I broke my arm playing third base. It was the best thing that ever happened to me because I segued into wrestling. I was a huge wrestling fan, too. Once my arm wasn’t what it was, I was chasing the wrestling dream around and it finally happened but baseball was the first love.”

Hogan said he got hurt when he threw underhanded to first base after charging a slow grounder.

He ended up becoming a wrestling icon, putting the first WrestleMania on the sports map in 1985.

Hogan, the 64-year-old celebrity whose real name is Terry Bollea, visited the Phillies for the first time on Friday, spending time chatting with Phillies manager Gabe Kapler, coaches and players.

He posed for pictures and signed autographs for fans, but turned down a reporter’s invitation to arm wrestle.

“Anytime I do that, I get beat,” he joked.

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