Starting with Friday’s opening of Seattle Kraken rookie camp, attention will be focused on fresh-faced prospects who hope to make it to The Show.
So for one day, let’s look in the opposite direction, to a player born 131 years ago – and yes, there’s a big Seattle hockey connection.
Jim Riley, born May 25, 1895, is the only athlete ever to play both Major League Baseball and in the National Hockey League. Not for long, mind you – six MLB appearances, nine in the NHL – all in the 1920s.
While playing in the Pacific Coast Hockey League, a few months before the NHL came into existence, Riley won a Stanley Cup as a member of the 1917 Seattle Metropolitans. In that first of two initial seasons with Seattle, Riley, a winger, scored 11 goals with 5 assists in 24 regular season games.
The Bayfield, New Brunswick native would have his sporting career interrupted in 1918 by World War I. After reaching the rank of sergeant in the Canadian Army, Riley returned to play five more seasons for the Metropolitans.
He played 153* career games for Seattle, 6th most in Metropolitans history. (*Other sources say 155.) He’s third in career goals (90) and 4th in points (115).
He only left town when the franchise folded, because “the owners of the newly built Olympic Hotel told the University of Washington that they needed the Seattle Ice Arena as a parking garage.” The entire PCHL dissolved soon after.
Seattle Ties Helped Land Two NHL Jobs
Riley’s NHL career, confined to the 1926-27 season, was made possible by a pair of Seattle hockey pals. Former Metropolitans coach Pete Muldoon was now at the helm of the Chicago Blackhawks. Riley came aboard, skating in three games.
He then caught the eye of former Seattle teammate Frank Foyston. A trade brought Riley to Foyston’s Detroit Cougars (later renamed the Red Wings). As a bonus, four former Metros were already playing for the Cougars. The 5-foot-11, 180 pound forward was credited with two assists and either 10 or 14 PIMs for Detroit.
Imagine Playing For Kraken AND Mariners
During spring and summer months, Riley would turn his sporting attention to baseball as an infielder. In fact, his first pro team in 1916 was the Tacoma Tigers of the Northwest League. That’s why he joined the Metros up the road in Seattle that winter.
In 1921, at the age of 26, Riley was called up to play four games at 2nd base with the American League’s St. Louis Browns. Two years later, he would play a pair of games at 1st base for the AL’s Washington Nationals. Riley’s six-game MLB stat line: 17 plate appearances, zero hits, three walks, one run scored, and four errors in the field.
That doesn’t mean he wasn’t talented. The left-handed hitter batted .300 or better in six different minor league seasons, including .329 with 111 RBI for Dallas of the Texas League in 1926.
The Sporting News, “The Bible of Baseball,” once wrote, “Jim Riley, the famous Seattle hockey star, is the Babe Ruth of the (Pacific Coast International League) circuit. Also, at the keystone bag he has no peer.”
‘Gretzky’ On The Mound
Could Riley’s achievement have been equaled? Here are just some examples of players who came close.
- 12-year major league pitcher Kirk McCaskill was drafted by the Winnipeg Jets and played one season in the AHL.
- Clark Gillies and Bob Bourne of the Cup-winning Islanders both played in the low minors of the Houston Astros’ system.
- Bruins legend Milt Schmidt declined a 1938 invitation from the St. Louis Cardinals.
- “Lou Boudreau of the Cleveland Indians was so impressed with (Gordie) Howe’s hitting that he tried to sign him to a contract.”
Atlanta Braves Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Glavine says in high school, he was a better hockey player. In June, 1984, he was drafted by both the Braves and L.A. Kings.
Two Cy Youngs and a plaque in Cooperstown later, it’s clear Glavine made the right choice. Still, his hockey pedigree was well known in the Atlanta clubhouse. “The guys used to joke with me,” Glavine told NHL.com. “One of the guys who did it the most was Dale Murphy. He used to call me Gretzky.”
Earlier Kraken:
— The Craziest Canucks-Kraken Hockey Drive
— Impressive Showings Lifted Kraken Goalie Prospect To KHL Starter
