Before All Elite Wrestling World Trios champion Anthony Bowens was a five-tool player in the wrestling ring, he was a five-tool player on the baseball diamond, and he is getting back to his hardball roots this weekend.
Bowens will play his first baseball game in a decade on Sunday as part of the San Fernando Valley Baseball League’s Valley Boys squad. The groundbreaking out gay wrestler made the announcement via social media Saturday, urging fans of baseball and The Acclaimed alike to turn out in Encino, Calif., for his return.
Unfortunately, the game got rained out.
While Bowens is known today mainly for his in-ring antics, much of his athletic foundation lies in baseball. He played for 11 years, including manning the outfield for Nutley High School in Nutley, N.J., and both Seton Hall University and Montclair State University.
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He wrapped up his college baseball career with three home runs, nine stolen bases, 25 RBIs and a .686 OPS percentage.
He has stayed around the sport during his wrestling career, guesting on MLB Network’s “MLB Central,” taking batting practice at his alma mater, having custom “Scissor King” and “Scissor Me” baseball bats made to meld his two passions and using one of those bats in a hilarious YouTube collaboration with baseball YouTuber “KingofJUCO” Eric Sim.
One look at his numerous batting practice videos proves Bowens still has it in the batter’s box, so seeing him dig in once again will surely be a highlight, and there will absolutely be some scissoring going down as well.
