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Ex-NBA star Tracy McGrady hit hard in pro pitching debut

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)

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.

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