OK, who knew that the Macho Man was (briefly) in the Reds' farm system?
Poffo, a Columbus, Ohio, native, began his baseball career at age 18 in 1971 with the Cardinals' Rookie-level Gulf Coast League affiliate, where he went 18-for-63 with two homers in 35 games. He was reportedly signed after working out at a tryout camp.
He returned to the GCL in '72, batting .274 in 62 contests, and hit .344 in 25 games with the GCL Redbirds in 1973 before the Cardinals moved him up to Class A Orangeburg (S.C.) later that summer.
"He was a real nice guy," former Cardinals player development director Lee Thomas told the
Chicago Tribune in 1988. "He seemed like such a quiet guy at the time. We knew he was moving on to something else, we didn't know what."
St. Louis Minor League system administrator Paul Fauks said Poffo kept to himself.
"He didn't have much to say to anybody," he told the
Tribune. "He was just one of those kids trying to make it in baseball with very little chance."
"Savage" struggled a bit in the Western Carolinas League -- Orangeburg finished last, at 50-72, while the outfielder hit .250 in 46 games.
Former teammate and Cardinals Major Leaguer Tito Landrum remembers Savage building makeshift rings in the clubhouse and wrestling anyone who was willing.
The "Macho Man" spoke about his baseball baseball in 1988. "The way I explain it sometimes is this: I wasn't a bonus baby," Poffo told the
Tribune. "I bounced around the Minors in baseball and I bounced around in the minors of wrestling, too, before I got called up by the WWF. If I have one major attribute, it's my drive."
He joined the Reds in 1974 and spent his final season with the Tampa Tarpons in the Florida State League. He played against future Major Leaguers like Eddie Murray and Dennis Martinez with the first-place Tarpons, who went 68-64 but fell in the first round of the playoffs.
Poffo, according to Baseball Reference, was listed as a switch-hitter who mostly played the outfield but also caught one game and played first base five times in '74. He played alongside a few future Major Leaguers, including 14-year veteran outfielder Larry Herndon.
https://www.milb.com/milb/news/former-macho-outfielder-poffo-dies/c-19320366