First Love

Jeff Samardzija has taken the first step towards becoming the next Drew Henson. Err, I guess that wasn't exactly a compliment, was it? Anyway, Samardzija has agreed to a $10 million, five-year deal with the Chicago Cubs. Said Samardzija: "Baseball is my first love. I played it my whole life." He has no plans to return to football.

So, I've got a question. How many athletes who are considered serious prospects at both football and baseball choose the right sport? If you're considering money it would seem football is the way to go, but baseball is probably safer, unless you get hit in the face with a 90+ mph fastball. Henson managed to wash out of both sports. Kirk Gibson was an All-American WR at MSU, but it's hard to imagine that he would have had a better career in football, or an achievement like his homerun in the '88 World Series. Deion Sanders played both sports well but didn't make a real impact in baseball. Any others?

UPDATE: Ump's comment is too good and long to leave in the comments section, so I'm reproducing it here:

ump said:
Jordan had mental issues with his mid-life crisis. His father was murdered and that screwed him up a little, but I can't blame him for that. So, we can't really talk about him, also because I think I could have suited up in the Minors and struck out less times than him. I could at least have bunted one of those three strikes.

Bo: He, like Deion, didn't make as much of an impact in baseball. But, I still saw some impressive stuff: Running up the outfield fence after catching a fly ball on the run because he couldn't stop his momentum so he just ran up the wall. Or, the time the umpire wouldn't grant him a timeout while he held his right hand up but kept his left on the handle as the pitch was coming. Needless to say, the pitch traveled 400 feet the other direction.

Donovan McNabb: Basketball would have probably led to easier injuries to rehab, but I doubt he would have been a starter.

Charlie Ward: Won the heisman, but maybe he could see the writing on the wall and didn't want to be the next "Heisman winner who sucked in the pros." Didn't want to be the next Gino.

Antonio Gates: I think he made the right choice. Then again, he may have turned out to be a brute in the paint like a Charles Barkley. If I remember, Charles wasn't exactly towering over anyone.

John Elway: Did he play college Baseball?

I can't remember, but it seems like John Smoltz or Tom Glavin or someone like those guys was really good at Hockey. I could be confused with some other guy. I thought there was some MLB pitcher good at hockey.

Stack's reponse:
1. Jordan: Can't believe I didn't think of him.

2. Bo: Another great example. He might have been one where doing both was the right decision, if his health had held up.

3. McNabb: Football had to be the right decision.

4. Ward: Yeah, he saw the writing on the wall.

5. Gates: He's changing the way people think about the TE position, even more than Tony Gonzalez. Definitely the right decision.

6. Elway: He played baseball, he used it as leverage at the draft when he was selected 1st overall by the Baltimore Colts and managed to get traded to Denver. Again, right decision.