who do you think is the greatest athlete ever?

[robinhoodnik]

......even a Seniors' type would be cool - Schumacher v Jordan v Gretzky v Lemieux v Zidane v Lennox Lennis etc etc.....

Yeah, but if Schumaker came within a foot of Gretzky they probably hand him a penalty of some sort.

[Reade]

Deion was never really all that good at baseball.

And Bo was.

[Reade]

Bo: Year Ag Tm  Lg  G   AB    R    H   2B 3B  HR  RBI  SB CS  BB  SO   BA   OBP   SLG *OPS+  TB   SH  SF IBB HBP GDP 
+--------------+---+----+----+----+---+--+---+----+---+--+---+---+-----+-----+-----+----+----+---+---+---+---+---+
 1986 23 KCR AL  25   82    9   17   2  1   2    9   3  1   7  34  .207  .286  .329   66   27   0   0   0   2   1
 1987 24 KCR AL 116  396   46   93  17  2  22   53  10  4  30 158  .235  .296  .455   94  180   1   2   0   5   3
 1988 25 KCR AL 124  439   63  108  16  4  25   68  27  6  25 146  .246  .287  .472  108  207   1   2   6   1   6
 1989 26 KCR AL 135  515   86  132  15  6  32  105  26  9  39 172  .256  .310  .495  124  255   0   4   8   3  10 MVP-10,AS
 1990 27 KCR AL 111  405   74  110  16  1  28   78  15  9  44 128  .272  .342  .523  142  212   0   5   2   2  10
 1991 28 CHW AL  23   71    8   16   4  0   3   14   0  1  12  25  .225  .333  .408  107   29   0   1   1   0   3
 1993 30 CHW AL  85  284   32   66   9  0  16   45   0  2  23 106  .232  .289  .433   94  123   0   1   1   0   5
 1994 31 CAL AL  75  201   23   56   7  0  13   43   1  0  20  72  .279  .344  .507  116  102   0   2   2   1   2
+--------------+---+----+----+----+---+--+---+----+---+--+---+---+-----+-----+-----+----+----+---+---+---+---+---+
 8 Seasons      694 2393  341  598  86 14 141  415  82 32 200 841  .250  .309  .474  112 1135   2  17  20  14  40

Not really great numbers
 
Sanders:Year Ag Tm  Lg  G   AB    R    H   2B 3B  HR  RBI  SB CS  BB  SO   BA   OBP   SLG *OPS+  TB   SH  SF IBB HBP GDP 
+--------------+---+----+----+----+---+--+---+----+---+--+---+---+-----+-----+-----+----+----+---+---+---+---+---+
 1989 21 NYY AL  14   47    7   11   2  0   2    7   1  0   3   8  .234  .280  .404   92   19   0   0   1   0   0
 1990 22 NYY AL  57  133   24   21   2  2   3    9   8  2  13  27  .158  .236  .271   42   36   1   1   0   1   2
 1991 23 ATL NL  54  110   16   21   1  2   4   13  11  3  12  23  .191  .270  .345   68   38   0   0   0   0   1
 1992 24 ATL NL  97  303   54   92   6 14   8   28  26  9  18  52  .304  .346  .495  130  150   1   1   0   2   5
 1993 25 ATL NL  95  272   42   75  18  6   6   28  19  7  16  42  .276  .321  .452  104  123   1   2   3   3   3
 1994 26 TOT NL  92  375   58  106  17  4   4   28  38 16  32  63  .283  .342  .381   89  143   2   2   1   3   5
         ATL NL  46  191   32   55  10  0   4   21  19  7  16  28  .288  .343  .403   93   77   1   2   1   1   4
         CIN NL  46  184   26   51   7  4   0    7  19  9  16  35  .277  .342  .359   84   66   1   0   0   2   1
 1995 27 TOT NL  85  343   48   92  11  8   6   28  24  9  27  60  .268  .327  .399   93  137   3   2   0   4   1
         CIN NL  33  129   19   31   2  3   1   10  16  3   9  18  .240  .296  .326   64   42   2   2   0   2   0
         SFG NL  52  214   29   61   9  5   5   18   8  6  18  42  .285  .346  .444  111   95   1   0   0   2   1
 1997 29 CIN NL 115  465   53  127  13  7   5   23  56 13  34  67  .273  .329  .363   80  169   2   2   2   6   4
 2001 33 CIN NL  32   75    6   13   2  0   1    4   3  4   4  10  .173  .235  .240   21   18   2   0   0   2   2
+--------------+---+----+----+----+---+--+---+----+---+--+---+---+-----+-----+-----+----+----+---+---+---+---+---+
 9 Seasons      641 2123  308  558  72 43  39  168 186 63 159 352  .263  .319  .392   89  833  12  10   7  21  23

[Biggles]

Lack of adequate formatting FTL.

[boomboom]

Lack of adequate formatting FTL.

fixed.

[boomboom]

Bo Jackson: 1989- 32home runs and 24 stolen bases... athelete no? also I think he had the alltime best yards per carry for the Raiders in 1 season.

If he didn't hurt himself before his prime, he would have been an animal for he begining of the steriod era.

But he had his hip replaced, which is not only a killer in Football, but in Baseball as well.

Also if you look at his 1990 Season, In only 111 games it was his best season...he was only basically 28 when his career was over, he held on for a few more seasons...he didn't make it past 32.

One **** of a running back.

[boomboom]

And Bo was.

In his Era, he was. It wasn't like the late 90's where the power explosion haddened. He played in the 80's.

Jim Rice would be little less then great if he played now, yet in the 80s, there wasn't another hitter people feared more.

[ohms_law]

If he didn't hurt himself before his prime, he would have been an animal for he begining of the steriod era.

The only thing is, since we're talking about the "best athletes", injury hampered or injury prone individuals are pretty much automatically disqualified in my view. I mean, there are tons of athletes that could have been completely dominant if only they didn't get hurt...

In his Era, he was. It wasn't like the late 90's where the power explosion haddened. He played in the 80's.

Jim Rice would be little less then great if he played now, yet in the 80s, there wasn't another hitter people feared more.

Totally agree.

[dps]

wasn't Kirby Puckett the first athlete to get a big money contract? ($3 million per year if I remember correctly)

Well, the answer to that would depend largely on your definition of "big money", but I think that the really big contracts for athletes in team sports came in earlier in basketball than in baseball.

[Wassit3]

And why the %$#@ is Minnesota Fats on that list?

lmao just to throw a curve ball in there my good man

[sreeja]

In my opinion Mohamed Ali was the greatest athlete for ever.

[Wassit3]

In my opinion Mohamed Ali was the greatest athlete for ever.

not a bad choice but Marciano had a better record....

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

went w/ bo jackson, for pure, raw athleticism it's tough not to go with bo

I agree. Extremely fast, strong as an ox, good vertical, he could do it all.

[Biggles]

I agree. Extremely fast, strong as an ox, good vertical, he could do it all.

Except hockey.

[Reade]

http://www.historicbaseball.com/play...ield_dave.html

Dave Winfield, some interesting stuff