Steve Renko Chooses White Sox?

Steve Renko was the quarterback for Kansas while Gale Sayers played there. Renko was drafted by the Oakland Raiders, but he had already been drafted by the New York Mets and chose to start a baseball career.
Renko never pitched for the Mets. He was traded to the Montreal Expos where he pitched for several seasons. Then he became a bit of a journeyman, pitching for the Chicago Cubs, the Chicago White Sox, the Oakland A's, the Boston Red Sox, the California Angels and the Kansas City Royals. If you don't stay with one team your entire career, I always thought it would be cool to pitch for a bunch, especially all over he country, like Renko did.
I didn't have a lot of time to talk to Renko when I met him. The crowd of people to meet him was unbelievable. Even he was shocked at the masses.
I wanted to talk to him about his time at Kansas. I also wanted to talk about his being one of a few pitchers with more than 125 wins and a record below .500 (134-146). Instead, I was only able to briefly talk about his fine hitting (a .215 career average).
Renko did make a point of saying that the Sox hat he wore was not indicative to him choosing the Sox over the Cubs. Apparently he did not realize the slight controversy that would cause.

Steve Renko and me in Willowbrook, IL-Spring 2008.