Who is the Greatest Athlete of All-Time?

[hogfan064]

Babe Ruth was hitting homeruns in much larger ballparks as well.  Ballparks have shrunk over the years.  Noone would ever come close to 600 HRs in those big ballparks. 

Ali has to be considered as one of the greatest.  This guy was in incredible shape and was very fast.  He was way ahead of his time.

[snag]

Kurt Rambis

[twistitup]

Daly- gotta be big John!!

[whatsshakinbacon]

Daly- gotta be big John!!

John's going straight to the John Kruk Hall of Fame.

Bacon out...

[Hawgz4Life]

Too many great ath-a-letes to pick one, but if I have to, I'm going with Thorpe.

[Lando Calrissian]

Petyon Hillis!

[razorback3072]

Jim Thorpe hands down.  The man did it all and never got the recognition he deserved. 

[NaturalStateReb]

Gary "Peanut" Adams.

[EastexHawg]

1. Babe Ruth
2. Michael Jordan
3. Wilt Chamberlain
4. Jim Brown
5. Jim Thorpe
6. Wayne Gretzky

I think Babe Ruth is easily the dominant figure in the history of American sport.  The guy more than doubled the existing home run record for a season (27)...a record that had stood for over 30 years.

Not only that, but the player who held the record of 27 homers in a season (Ned Williamson) played for Chicago in an incredibly small ballpark:

"Beginning in 1878 Chicago's National League ball club played in Lakefront Park. The distances to the fences at the park were remarkably short: 196 feet to right, 252 feet to right-center, 300 feet to left-center, and 180 to left. In fact, the park was so small that special ground rules were used each year calling for balls hit over the short fences to be counted as doubles, not home runs ... each year, that is, except for 1884. Not surprisingly, the Chicago ball club led the league in doubles every year from 1879 to 1883. Indeed, in 1883, Williamson slugged 49 doubles, a single-season record at the time. No doubt Ned was heavily aided by the Lakefront Park ground rules. In 1884, the special ground rules were suspended and the Chicago club clouted 142 home runs. This more than quadrupled the old major league record for home runs by a club in a single season (set the previous year by Cincinnati of the American Association with 35). Each of the top four home run hitters of 1884 were members of the Chicago ball club."

The park I played Dixie League baseball in as a 16-17 year old was bigger than that.

Babe Ruth was also the best lefthanded pitcher in the American League before he became a full time outfielder.  He won 23 games one year...while leading the American League with a 1.75 ERA...and 24 the next year.  He has one of the best winning percentages in major league history (.671), and his career ERA of 2.28 is 15th all-time.

[LA HAWG]

George Muresan

[chillinhoggie]

1Bo Jackson
2Jim Thorpe
3Edwin Moses
4Jim Brown
5 MJ or the Great One
No particular order

[Mark_Freeman]

Dowell Loggans

HAHA, Amen Brotha! thats gonna make my day!

[HogInaStrangeLand]

Applaud for Aaron....(he gets overlooked so much in baseball....)

...the thing that i believe makes him better than ruth was that ruth played when players were relatively undeveloped as athletes and dominated scrubs.  by the time hank came around, the game had evolved significantly, became more competitive and required a higher amount of skill, and he dominated in these conditions.

Totally disagree.

The Babe changed baseball.  He one year had more homeruns than two other major league players combined.  In another year, he had more homeruns than any other team but one...if memory serves me correctly.  He was so far ahead of his time.  Hank had monster years at the plate.  You can say that Hank was a better fielder...that COULD be true.  However, I have heard many baseball analyst say that Babe would have been a HOF pitcher had he not been moved to the outfield for his bat.  Check his pitching stats...they were great.  You can only say that about one guy in each sport...one that changed his game.  Gretzky (sp?) in hockey.  Babe in Baseball.  I believe it was Dr. J in basketball (remember I am talking about changing the game...), although Jordan perfected it and did Dr. J better than Dr. J.  In Football, it was Johnny Unitas (sp?).  Now, obviously, this is all my own opinion.  To say any of those was the greatest of all time....I don't know.  I really believe it had to be Jordan or Ali.  Both of those guys were true athletes and the greatest.

Ruth got a candy bar named after him, Aaron got the award for the all-around best player named after him...maybe there was a reason.  Ruth was like Ali, extraordinary but they get called 'The Greatest' because they had media circus's around them.

For all of those thinking Ali is the greatest, sorry but look at what kind of damage he sustained...he had something remarkable, but athletes don't take that kind of damage.  Rocky Marciano won, undefeated, he took the damage he had to to win, it didn't have lifetime results like Ali. 
Again, Roy Jones Jr. moved through 5 or 6 weight classes....he didn't even fight at his ideal body weight for the majority of his latter career. 
Sorry folks, Ali wasn't the greatest, extraordinary but not the greatest...ask Frazier.

[HogInaStrangeLand]

Ruth?
Homeruns doesn't equate to best athlete.

Pitching and homeruns doesn't equate to best athlete.

Get real.  He had to hit it over the wall because he couldn't friggin run.
Sorry but an 'ATHLETE' should at least be able to outrun the average mailman..(no offense to any postal carriers out there.)

[12under]

tony siragusa

[hogsNbeer]

George Herman "The Babe" RUTH.... No doubt...

[FLKeysGuy]

I'm not sure anyone was as competitive, achieved as much success, or inspired as many kids to play sports as Michael Jordan. 

[Jerry Swinefeld]

Dick Button

[staffhog]

Jim Thorpe all the way.

[pfrg999]

I can't decide between Yinka Dare and Manute Bol...they were just amazing.

Dont forget Larry Satchell

and Robert Reid, Jesse Pate, George Mureson, Tony Mandarich, just a few....Oh Lee Wilson....

[HogInaStrangeLand]

How about that Hot Dog eatting Japanese dude...

[Ugly Uncle]

Ruth?
Homeruns doesn't equate to best athlete.

Pitching and homeruns doesn't equate to best athlete.

Get real.  He had to hit it over the wall because he couldn't friggin run.
Sorry but an 'ATHLETE' should at least be able to outrun the average mailman..(no offense to any postal carriers out there.)

Not to say he was a speedster...But...

Babe Ruth did have 123 stolen bases in his career.  He also had 136 triples.

Those aren't great numbers, but they aren't bad either. Early in his career he wasn't "slower than your average mailman"  He was a good athlete.

[12under]

How about that Hot Dog eatting Japanese dude...

KOBAYASHI!

[pfrg999]

Ruth?
Homeruns doesn't equate to best athlete.

Pitching and homeruns doesn't equate to best athlete.

Get real.  He had to hit it over the wall because he couldn't friggin run.
Sorry but an 'ATHLETE' should at least be able to outrun the average mailman..(no offense to any postal carriers out there.)

Batting - 342 BA. 714 HR  2211 rbi  123 Stolen Bases , 2873 hits  .968 fielding....326 BA 15 HR 33 RBI  in post season play....
Pitching  - 94-46 2.28 era,  448 SO, 107 CG  (3-0 0.87 era in the postseason)

Couldn't run   123 sb,  Uhh 75% of the time he hit wasn't a home run... 506 doubles, 136 triples, 1011 singles

That is an athlete
Those are stats of an athlete....

[ThunderHog]

Jesse Owens
//http://espn.go.com/sportscentury/features/00016393.html

[Ugly Uncle]

Anyone have the stats on Edwin Moses?  Didn't that guy win every race he was in for like 10 years?

[Lando Calrissian]

Kareem Reid!

[HogInaStrangeLand]

STEALING BASES
Babe Ruth... 51.3% (123-for-240)   2nd WORST of all times (200 min attempts)
Hank Aaron  77%   (240-for-313)

RUTH                            (2217)
Batting - 342 BA. 714 HR  2211 rbi  123 Stolen Bases , 2873 hits  .968 fielding....326 BA 15 HR 33 RBI  in post season play....(10 SERIES TOTAL)

AARON
Batting   305      755 HR  2297 rbi 240 Stolen Bases, 3771 hits  .982 fielding...362 BA 6 HR
16 RBI in post season play (3 SERIES TOTAL)

Aaron did play 1 more season than Ruth, but Aaron outshined in SB, RBI, HR, Hits, Fielding and post-season play on average.

I also contest that the level of competition was much higher for Aaron than for Ruth.
Admittedly Aaron didn't pitch, so that throws out the pitching stats.


I'll even give you Ruth's an Athlete (though athletes don't usually misjudge their own speed so badly in action.)

Baseball does not test stamina to the same degree as many other sports.  I would not consider any body the best athlete who just played one sport, especially baseball.

[dj shanon "Notshavin" smeya]

Tonya Harding

[pfrg999]

STEALING BASES
Babe Ruth... 51.3% (123-for-240)   2nd WORST of all times (200 min attempts)
Hank Aaron  77%   (240-for-313)

RUTH                            (2217)
Batting - 342 BA. 714 HR  2211 rbi  123 Stolen Bases , 2873 hits  .968 fielding....326 BA 15 HR 33 RBI  in post season play....(10 SERIES TOTAL)

AARON
Batting   308      755 HR  2297 rbi 240 Stolen Bases, 3771 hits  .982 fielding...362 BA 6 HR
16 RBI in post season play (3 SERIES TOTAL)

Aaron did play 1 more season than Ruth, but Aaron outshined in SB, RBI, HR, Hits, Fielding and post-season play on average.

I also contest that the level of competition was much higher for Aaron than for Ruth.
Admittedly Aaron didn't pitch, so that throws out the pitching stats.


I'll even give you Ruth's an Athlete (though athletes don't usually misjudge their own speed so badly in action.)

Baseball does not test stamina to the same degree as many other sports.  I would not consider any body the best athlete who just played one sport, especially baseball.

I don't think that Ruth was better than Aaron....You can't throw out the Pitching stats.... That shows that Ruth was an Athlete... But all in all Aaron was a Better Player I was just answering that Ruth was not an athlete... This will get some people Ruth and Aaron were Better athletes than [CENSORED] Barry Bond is... (hate Him)

[pfrg999]

Tonya Harding

+1 for that....

[HogInaStrangeLand]

//I don't think that Ruth was better than Aaron....You can't throw out the Pitching stats....
//That shows that Ruth was an Athlete... But all in all Aaron was a Better Player I was just
// answering that Ruth was not an athlete... This will get some people Ruth and Aaron were
// Better athletes than [CENSORED] Barry Bond is... (hate Him)

Yeah, I agree Ruth can very easily be considered an athlete...just not the GREATEST...
that was my contention.
Aaron, can probably not be considered the GREATEST athlete either, but he poses a better argument than Ruth I believe.

[HogInaStrangeLand]

Tonya Harding

nah, she uses the Designated Hitter rule, so I think that throws her out of contention.

[whatsshakinbacon]

Tonya Harding

nah, she uses the Designated Hitter rule, so I think that throws her out of contention.

ROFLMAO

That merits a bump

Bacon out...

[chillinhoggie]

Anyone have the stats on Edwin Moses?  Didn't that guy win every race he was in for like 10 years?

Edwin Corley Moses (born in Dayton, Ohio August 31, 1955) is an American track and field athlete who won gold medals in the 400-meter hurdles at the 1976 and 1984 Summer Olympics. Between 1977 and 1987, Moses won 107 consecutive finals (122 consecutive races). He set the world record in his event four times. In addition to his running, Moses was also an innovative reformer in the areas of Olympic eligibility and drug testing.

[pfrg999]

//I don't think that Ruth was better than Aaron....You can't throw out the Pitching stats....
//That shows that Ruth was an Athlete... But all in all Aaron was a Better Player I was just
// answering that Ruth was not an athlete... This will get some people Ruth and Aaron were
// Better athletes than [CENSORED] Barry Bond is... (hate Him)

Yeah, I agree Ruth can very easily be considered an athlete...just not the GREATEST...
that was my contention.
Aaron, can probably not be considered the GREATEST athlete either, but he poses a better argument than Ruth I believe.

I agree.... Nolan Ryan... would be up there also...

[pfrg999]

Anyone have the stats on Edwin Moses?  Didn't that guy win every race he was in for like 10 years?

Edwin Corley Moses (born in Dayton, Ohio August 31, 1955) is an American track and field athlete who won gold medals in the 400-meter hurdles at the 1976 and 1984 Summer Olympics. Between 1977 and 1987, Moses won 107 consecutive finals (122 consecutive races). He set the world record in his event four times. In addition to his running, Moses was also an innovative reformer in the areas of Olympic eligibility and drug testing.

He was awesome... Loved when he ran with his shades on...

[chillinhoggie]

He really was AWESOME   If he was more diversified he might be my #1. Few people have ever dominated their sport/event like that guys did.

[chillinhoggie]

That guy I mean

[HogInaStrangeLand]

Yeah, Nolan Ryan dominated what he did.

Also, Moses was unreal...

I always like to see great athletes contributing to their sports after they finish competing.

[chillinhoggie]

Yeah, Nolan Ryan dominated what he did.

Also, Moses was unreal...

I always like to see great athletes contributing to their sports after they finish competing.

I'm not much of a baseball fan (unless it's the HOGS)   But Nolan Ryan was a straight BadA**! Seriously didn't he drop a no-hitter when he was like 40? Not to mention Robin Ventura.

[HogInaStrangeLand]

44 I believe.

born in 1947.  Threw No-hitter in 1991.

That's sick

[pfrg999]

44 I believe.

born in 1947.  Threw No-hitter in 1991.

That's sick

I loved the Robin Venturs Pic when Nolan was wailing on him while he had him in a head lock and the Caption Read... "Ryan threw a six hitter"

Nolan was amazing... age 46 threw a complete game and was throwing 95 mph in the bottom of the 9th...

[HogInaStrangeLand]

honestly, I don't know how his shoulder withstood that much torque over those many years.

[hogtheball]

Carl Lewis...Lewis was more dominant than Moses at more than one track event.  He went over a decade without being beat in the long jump and won 9 gold medals in 4 olympic games. 

[chillinhoggie]

44 I believe.

born in 1947.  Threw No-hitter in 1991.

That's sick

I loved the Robin Venturs Pic when Nolan was wailing on him while he had him in a head lock and the Caption Read... "Ryan threw a six hitter"

Nolan was amazing... age 46 threw a complete game and was throwing 95 mph in the bottom of the 9th...

I guess we know who's on the list for "best arm" of all time

[razorback3072]

honestly, I don't know how his shoulder withstood that much torque over those many years.

he had the best mechanics of any pitcher I've ever seen.  He threw with his legs and that's where he generated all his power.  Watch tapes of his games and look how low he gets.  His right knee always had dirt on it from dragging it on the mound during his delivery.  when he threw his 7th no-no, his first fastball in the 1st inning was around 96.  His last one in the 9th was 97.  He pitched in four different decades.  the man was a stud. 

[HogInaStrangeLand]

Yeah Nolan gets my vote for BEST ARM.
Of course that is just one arm, what about the other?

[LDP3]

Has anyone said Dave Winfield?  He was drafted by MLB, NFL, and NBA teams.  Bo Jackson  in my opinion is the best, but I think Dave should be considered.

[Hawgballer]

To me a great athlete is someone who can play more than one sport....to me Jordan will go down as the all time best basketball player...but athlete??  Bo Jackson is the first to come to my mind...he was a badass in both football and baseball.

I agree.  Bo Jackson would top my list.

No need to continue reading.....Bo Jackson.