The world mourns the loss of another icon. Hulk Hogan, the larger-than-life personality, someone forever etched into the fabric of professional wrestling, has regrettably passed away at the age of 71. Emergency services responded to a call from his Florida home and reported a cardiac arrest. The WWE world, fans, and the generations who grew up watching him fight and chanting “Hulkamania” are now remembering the man.

But few remember that before the red and yellow, before the ripped tank tops and the flexing biceps, Hulk Hogan almost became a…New York Yankee! Yes, he would have rocked the pinstripes instead.

You see, back in the day, he wasn’t the Hulk Hogan you now know—he was Terry Bollea. He was a young third baseman from Tampa. And make no mistake, he had a terrific swing and a dream that was etched into the fabric of pinstripes. But it all came tumbling down.

Terry was a force in the field, and even he acknowledged his power. “I was a fat kid growing up, but I hit more home runs than anyone in West Tampa Little League. When they put up an electric scoreboard, I hit one over the lights.“ Hulk Hogan once said. So his bat was booming, and scouts from both the Cincinnati Reds and New York Yankees had come calling. Baseball was his absolute life, not wrestling or the run. He even claimed to throw a 90 mph fastball, and that screamed future pro, right? But then the tragic moment changed his fate.

While he was playing first base, Terry made a routine underhanded toss, and it ended up in a disaster. He broke his arm! Hulk Hogan later admitted that, “I was playing third base. The bases were loaded. I moved in on the infield. The guy stepped outside the box and hit one off the handle. And as it dribbled down the third base line, I ran in — this was the bottom of the seventh inning and the score was 0-0 — and I picked it up. As I threw underhanded to first base, I broke my arm. My arm was never the same.” So, just like that, his MLB dreams just vanished. But giving up was not in the cards, and when destiny came knocking, he just took a different path. One that has ring ropes and screaming crowds instead of the dugouts and dust.

That freak accident transformed Terry Bollea into Hulk Hogan, the face of WWE and the heartbeat of WrestleMania. Ironically, though, his once dream team would cross paths with him yet again after decades. But not really in the way he wanted. He launched Real American Beer at Yankee Spirits! And one word to describe his life would be “wow” because, sure, he didn’t make it to the majors, but he still went on to become one of the biggest names in the game.

The madness that linked Derek Jeter and Hulk Hogan in a week!

Derek Jeter and Hulk Hogan, two icons of their world, probably never thought that they would be headline partners for the same off-the-field saga. But back in 2010, their lives collided in the most unexpected ways—through a rogue paparazzi and a privacy-invading incident that made huge waves in the sports/celebrity world.

It all started outside Jeter’s Florida home. As the Yankees legend enjoyed a quiet day with his family, freelance photographer Robert Martinez lurked near and snapped unsolicited photos. Jeter’s father, Dr. Charles Jeter, a New York Yankee fan and also a counselor, didn’t take the situation lightly. Reports say he confronted Martinez and jumped him, and injured him in the process. For someone Jeter said was “optimistic,” it must have taken a provocation of a certain level to reach that point. But the chaos didn’t end there.

Just a week later, Martinez came back, and this time it was at Hulk Hogan’s private wedding in Clearwater. The ceremony was happening peacefully in Hogan’s backyard when Martinez tried to sneak in from behind to get his shots. Then a shuffle broke out, and the couple had to take the vows amidst all the madness. Well, two incidents, though separate, painted a dire picture of how far paparazzi can go and how much less space public figures sometimes have.

The line between public and private moments continues to blur. And it’s not just from now; Jeter and Hogan got a taste of it more than a decade earlier.