Growing up in Lowell, Mass., I was a huge Tom Glavine fan. Tom grew up in Billerica just a few minutes away from my house and was on TV all the time as a pitcher for the Atlanta Braves. They were “America’s Team” and always on TBS.
The Braves were the only other team you could really follow at the time, other than the Red Sox, for someone who was looking to consume as much baseball as possible. An awesome pitcher by all accounts, Tom amassed 305 career wins, 10 All-Star appearances, and topped it off with induction to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
But the thing about him that fascinated me was the same week Glavine was drafted 47th overall by the Atlanta Braves, he also was drafted 69th by the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings.
Glavine made it seem possible to be exceptional at multiple things. I was a kid who loved baseball and hockey, and his story drove me to be as good as I could be at both for as long as I could.