I suppose that had we not even researched the matter, we could’ve figured out that Trump would have a record of bragging that he could have been a pro baseball player, played guitar with Bruce Springsteen or been an astronaut because greatness comes out in everything and if there’s anything we know about Trump’s it’s that he embodies greatness, in his mind.

Indeed there are many instances of Trump talking about his ability on the diamond.

According to Slate:

Trump, who played first base, wrote that “being a pro was in the equation” until he attended a tryout with “another young kid named Willie McCovey.” Apparently, the sight of the future Hall of Famer in action convinced him to give up baseball for good. In a 2010 interview with MTV, Trump said, again, “I was supposed to be a professional baseball player,” this time adding a flourish: “Fortunately, I decided to go into real estate instead.” Three years later, Trump inflated his claim on Twitter, pegging himself not just as a pro prospect but the best player in the state.

I played football and baseball, sorry, but said to be the best bball player in N.Y. State-ask coach Ted Dobias-said best he ever coached.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 3, 2013

Well that is pretty high-level stuff, if it actually happened, but he wasn’t done:

To biographer Michael D’Antonio, Trump went further still, arguing in 2015 that he’d been the best athlete in every sport at the New York Military Academy. He added that he’d decided against a baseball career because “in those days you couldn’t even make any money being a great baseball player.”

No one mentioned to him that one can only play baseball until 30-35 and then go on and do other things? Nor the fact that even back then baseball players made awfully good money (if they were as good as he says), especially if they have dads giving them millions.

We see problems with this story, namely, that it’s told by Donald Trump:

What I have been able to find is box scores from some of Trump’s games, and the picture they paint of the player is not pretty.

As for Willie McCovey, he was eight years older than Trump. When Trump was a senior in high school, McCovey was in his fifth year in the major leagues and already an All-Star.

So, there’s one major lie down.

And here is the conclusion by the guy that Slate got to cover Trump stats published in the papers:

“There’s no chance,” said Law, who once worked in the front office of the Toronto Blue Jays assessing high school players. “You don’t hit .138 for some podunk, cold-weather high school playing the worst competition you could possibly imagine. You wouldn’t even get recruited for Division I baseball programs, let alone by pro teams. That’s totally unthinkable. It’s absolutely laughable. He hit .138—he couldn’t fucking hit, that’s pretty clear.”

It is just like anything else. He will lie today about the greatness he displayed yesterday. He will lie today about the greatness he will display tomorrow, he will lie, lie, lie, and then lie some more. That is fundamentally who Donald Trump is and was – always.

****
Peace, y’all

Jason
[email protected] and on Twitter @MiciakZoom