Ex-NBA star Tracy McGrady hit hard in pro pitching debut
![Ex-NBA star Tracy McGrady hit hard in pro pitching debut Ex-NBA star Tracy McGrady hit hard in pro pitching debut](https://www.si.com/.image/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/MTY4MjU2NjU3NTQ2NjE4NzUz/ap905008975279jpg.jpg)
Two-time NBA scoring champion Tracy McGrady lasted less than two innings in his pro pitching debut. (AP Photo/Pat Sullivan)
![Two-time NBA scoring champion Tracy McGrady hopes to earn a spot with a independent baseball team. (AP Photo/Pat Sullivan)](https://www.si.com/.image/t_share/MTY4MjQ1ODA1MjM1MzE2NjM3/image-placeholder-title.jpg)
Tracy McGrady's professional baseball debut was nowhere near as impressive as his two NBA scoring titles and seven All-Star Game appearances.
McGrady, who played baseball until his senior year in high school after which he immediately began a 16-year NBA career, took the mound Saturday for the Sugar Land Skeeters, an independent-league team located in a Houston suburb.
The 34-year-old's pitching line courtesy of Mike Ashmore: 1 2/3 innings, 35 pitches (18 strikes/17 balls), 2 earned runs, 2 walks and he allowed a home run by Somerset Patriots shortstop Edwin Maysonet.
McGrady got the nod for the Skeeters -- who previously made headlines by pitching a 50-year-old Roger Clemens in 2012 -- after surrendering three hits in one inning against Alvin Community College in an April exhibition.