If this rugged and scruffy small-screen heartthrob seems exceptionally athletic, it may be due to his eight-year stint in the '80s as a minor-league pitcher for such outfits as the New York Yankees and the Texas Rangers. Fittingly, Patterson made his film debut as a baseball player in the 1994 comedy Little Big League, and also found work as a Hollywood stuntman. But TV would turn him into a star, and after catching viewers' attention in steamy guest spots on Seinfeld (as a "sponge-worthy" date), Will & Grace and other sitcoms, he landed his seminal role as Lauren Graham's outspoken on-again off-again better half on Gilmore Girls. Although his character was originally only supposed to appear in the pilot, he earned many fans with his manly good looks and blunt tongue, and ended up sticking around for the long haul.