The inside story of Tom Selleck's extremely brief MLB career

The year was 1991. The U.S. was at war with Iraq, Reggie Miller made a lot of free throws, and Tom Selleck was a baseball player.

Yes, you read that right — in the spring of 1991, the mustachioed actor donned a Detroit Tigers uniform for three very-real weeks of MLB spring training. Katie Strang has the inside story for The Athletic, and in a story published late Thursday she detailed Selleck's stint in the clubhouse. Selleck was preparing for a star turn in the film Mr. Baseball and wanted to be able to authentically channel a true power-hitter, so as a lifelong Tigers fan, he arranged to join the club for work that spring.

Selleck took batting practice — including hitting a bomb off then-Tigers pitcher Mike Henneman, who told Strang that he still plans to get Selleck back for that indignity — and he endured the usual rookie hazings of shaving cream in the ball cap and skin salve in the shoes. But one particularly painful prank remains a surprisingly fond memory for Selleck, he told Strang:

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Um, sure! Read more at The Athletic.