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An early brush with baseball success prepared _S.W.A.T._ star Shemar Moore, 54, for Hollywood longevity. “I pursue my acting career like an athlete. Like there's always room to grow,”

says Moore, whose 30-year career took him from _The Young and the Restless_ to _Criminal Minds_ to “No. 1 on the call sheet” on _S.W.A.T. _(Season 8 premieres Oct. 18 on CBS). “You can

always get stronger. If you lose, get back up and fight again.” Moore shares how he keeps in shape for the physically demanding role, the baseball career he almost pursued, and the actors

he’d like to share a screen with. _This interview has been edited for length and clarity._ IS WORKING ON _S.W.A.T._ AS PHYSICALLY DEMANDING AS IT LOOKS? It takes eight days to do an episode

and you're going to see car chases, foot chases, motorcycle chases, hand-to-hand combat, helicopter stunts, us propelling off of buildings, running up and down fire escapes, all this

stuff. ... I'm 54. I'm the oldest of the group now, outside of Patrick Saint-Esprit [70], who plays our commander, but he's not in the trenches with us. We work out to look

good, but we work out just so our body has the stamina to be able to do the job.   YOU HAD YOUR EYE ON ANOTHER PHYSICALLY DEMANDING PROFESSION BEFORE ACTING — PRO ATHLETE, RIGHT? My dream

before any Hollywood stuff was to be a professional baseball player. I was pretty good. I got looked at by Boston and Baltimore in high school. I was a pitcher. I was an outfielder. I could

run, I could hit. I threw pretty hard — ​I threw about 93 miles an hour. I was just naturally talented, but you know, if I had to do it all over again, I would have just picked one

position and got the proper coaching for it.  Shemar Moore stars as Sergeant II Daniel "Hondo" Harrelson on "S.W.A.T." Season 8 premieres Oct. 18 on CBS. CBS

ENTERTAINMENT DID BASEBALL PREPARE YOU IN ANY WAY FOR AN ACTING CAREER? That fear — my mother [Marylin Joan Wilson-Moore, who died at age 76 in February 2020] gave me a card that sits in my

office to this day — ”Leap and the net will appear.” I interpret that as be brave — if something scares you, run at it. Just have faith and jump. Try something. You don't know where

you're gonna land, but if you do it boldly, you'll land.