3 greatest U.S. athletes in World History

[Bully13]

Babe Ruth: nobody ever seperated themselves from the rest of the pack like Ruth in MLB. go look at the stats. when he would hit 50 , runner up would hit 30. the stats were like clock work year after year. his lifetime slugging percentage is 57 points higher than runner up Ted 17ing Williams.

Muhammad Ali: all out badass. backed his loud mouth with punishing blows. so entertaining. he was my boxing hero when I was in the 6th, 7th and 8th grade. didn't know politics back then. only knew I really enjoyed his show and loved watching him fight. hate his politics now but will always respect him as a truly elite athlete.

Tiger Woods: what he did before his crash was a 10 year run that was simply Ruthian. I never liked him for the fist pumps that I felt were over the top. I always liked the guys that showed more respect for their fellow players but that's just me. when he's not playing, I don't pay attention. when he is, I pull for the others. the guy has revolutionized golf's audience.. golf owes a lot to tiger woods. .

I think these 3 made more world attention than any other. are there any others?

[FlabLoser]

Bo Jackson.

[gravedigger]

Jim Thorpe.

[Todd4State]

I LOVE Ruth. I did a 35 page research project on him in college.

But I'd have to say Michael Jordan over Tiger Woods.

[Bully13]

I LOVE Ruth. I did a 35 page research project on him in college.

But I'd have to say Michael Jordan over Tiger Woods.

I respect the Michael Jordan introduction. total badass. world attention he did receive. would love to read your project on Ruth Todd. I've never bought or worn an athlete's jersey other than my my Yankee # 3 Jersey. it bears no man's name. nor does it need to. it's simply # 3 with pinstripes. I'm not a yankee fan. I was always a Mets fan due to the Jax mets in Jackson that were transfrerred to Flushing. I was fortunate to have been at game 7 when the Mets beat the Sox. I now also pull for the ranger because I live in Ft Worth and I like Mitch Moreland. But it kills me to get these evil looks from people here when they see me wearing pinstripes. it's only because of my love for Ruth. it has nothing to do with team loyalty.

[Coach34]

Meh on Tiger. He is awesome, but he came along at a good time in golf- when there really wasnt a good top group of HOF level golfers. He has to win a major by next year or he will fall behind Jack's pace.

Ali/Mike Tyson (Tyson was more dominant than Ali at one time)
Thorpe
Ruth
Jack/Tiger
Bo Jackson
Herchal Walker


I hate Ali lost a couple of years in his prime and was unable to fight because of the political crap- he was dominant.

[War Machine Dawg]

hate Ali lost a couple of years in his prime and was unable to fight because of the political crap- he was dominant.

Here's something for discussion: If Ali had gotten to fight those years in his prime, would he have taken the last 2-3 fights of his career that put him over the edge? Part of me says yes, part of me says no. I lean towards yes because Ali always wanted to fight.

[CadaverDawg]

Where would a guy like Bruce Jenner appear on your list of greatest athletes ever?

I'm not a big Track and Field guy, so I typically don't even think of athletes like Jenner.

[Coach34]

Here's something for discussion: If Ali had gotten to fight those years in his prime, would he have taken the last 2-3 fights of his career that put him over the edge? Part of me says yes, part of me says no. I lean towards yes because Ali always wanted to fight.

A big reason he fought was because he needed the money. Fighting the government and everything cost him alot.

[Coach34]

2 of the biggest shame's in sports were Ali and Ted Williams losing years in their prime. Ted Williams lost 2-3 years of his prime fighting in the war.

[messageboardsuperhero]

Williams missed three full years (right after his .400 season in '41) in his twenties fighting in WWII, then missed the better part of two more years in his early thirties fighting in Korea. All in all, he lost more like 4-5 years off of his career. They don't make too many like Ted Williams, that's for damn sure.

[Bully13]

Williams missed three full years (right after his .400 season in '41) in his twenties fighting in WWII, then missed the better part of two more years in his early thirties fighting in Korea. All in all, he lost more like 4-5 years off of his career. They don't make too many like Ted Williams, that's for damn sure.

good point. if you don't love ted williams, you don't respect baseaball.. your just total runnin' on full ****tard. .

[War Machine Dawg]

A big reason he fought was because he needed the money. Fighting the government and everything cost him alot.

Which is kinda the point of my question. For argument, let's say he had 3 big time fights in that span. He'd have made a killing, so there's no need for him to take those last few fights, monetarily. It's an interesting idea to kick around.

Sorry for the thread-jack.

[TexasDawg]

Bo Jackson was the most athletic human being ever in my opinion. All star in two sports. Simply remarkable.

[Dawg61]

Tiger Woods, MJ and Phelps are my top 3.

[FlabLoser]

Anybody who doesn't mention Bo Jackson never got to see him play.

[msstate7]

Bo Jackson.

It's really a shame he got hurt. If he hadnt, there would be no argument

[Will James]

Talking just absolute physical dominance, not championships or anything, just the individual....

Football- Bo Jackson... Honorable mention to Megatron and T.O.

Baseball- Ted Williams. Greatest ever... On the mound Randy Johnson and Clayton Kershaw (too soon? I think not)

Hoops- King James

Golf- Tiger

Nascar- Jimmie

[Will James]

Ted Williams has the highest walk percentage of any qualified hitter in MLB history, per fangraphs.

He had a CAREER .482 On Base Percentage, also tops of any hitter.

It would be even higher if those prime years weren't taken away by Nazis and Commies. He may even have the home run record.

He is a sabermetric Frankenstein. The ultimate offensive weapon.

[messageboardsuperhero]

It's crazy thinking that Kershaw is only 25. He's accomplished so much already in his career and is just absolutely dominating this year.

Kershaw currently has a sub 2 ERA and a whip of 0.87 with over 150 K's already. Just incredible.

[messageboardsuperhero]

Ted Williams has the highest walk percentage of any qualified hitter in MLB history, per fangraphs.

He had a CAREER .482 On Base Percentage, also tops of any hitter.

It would be even higher if those prime years weren't taken away by Nazis and Commies. He may even have the home run record.

He is a sabermetric Frankenstein. The ultimate offensive weapon.

His 1941 season is the best non-steriod offensive season in MLB history IMO.

Williams hit .406 with an OBP of .553 and an OPS of 1.287. He also hit 37 home runs, had 147 walks, and only 27 (!!!) strikeouts. We will never see anyone else come close to having that type of year again. AND he didn't even win the MVP in '41. DiMaggio had the 56 game hit streak that year, so he won it. Williams was terribly robbed.

[FlabLoser]

Joe DiMaggio probably got MVP for tagging Marylin Monroe.

[Will James]

Ted Williams has the record for On Base Streak at 84! But nobody ever talks about that.

[FlabLoser]

Ted might be the only athlete who head was preserved in cryogenic storage in hopes of cloning technology. Let's clone him 9 times and field a team.

[Biguglyjoe]

1) Bo Jackson

2) Mark Allen- TriAthlete
Ironman results
YEAR RACE POSITION SWIM BIKE RUN RESULT
1995 Ironman World Championship, Kona, Hawaii, USA 1st 51:50 4:46:35 2:42:09 8:20:35[4]
1994 Ironman World Championship, Kona, Hawaii, USA DNC --- --- --- ---
1993 Ironman World Championship, Kona, Hawaii, USA 1st --- --- --- 8:07:46[5]
1992 Ironman World Championship, Kona, Hawaii, USA 1st --- --- --- 8:09:08
1991 Ironman World Championship, Kona, Hawaii, USA 1st --- --- --- 8:18:32[6]
1990 Ironman World Championship, Kona, Hawaii, USA 1st --- --- --- 8:28:17[7]
1989 Ironman World Championship, Kona, Hawaii, USA 1st --- --- --- 8:09:14[8]
1988 Ironman World Championship, Kona, Hawaii, USA 5th --- --- --- 8:43:22
1987 Ironman World Championship, Kona, Hawaii, USA 2nd --- --- --- 8:47:30[9]
1986 Ironman World Championship, Kona, Hawaii, USA 2nd --- --- --- 8:36:04
1985 Ironman World Championship, Kona, Hawaii, USA DNC --- --- --- ---
1984 Ironman World Championship, Kona, Hawaii, USA 5th --- --- --- 9:35:02
1983 Ironman World Championship, Kona, Hawaii, USA 3rd --- --- --- 9:21:06
1982 Ironman World Championship, Kona, Hawaii, USA DNF --- --- --- ---

3) Ali

[M.Fillmore]

People forget that Ruth was dominant on the mound. Ruth also had a lifetime batting average of .342.

[Will James]

batting average

Blasphemy.

Ruth has the highest wOBA ever. He is 1A in my book for sure. Wish we could see them in action against today's arms though. Aroldis Chapman vs Babe Ruth. I'd predict a K.

[M.Fillmore]

I'll freely admit that batting average is overrated, but it is not "blasphemy". A .342 lifetime is impressive anytime, anywhere.

Also hitters back then didn't have the helmet protection nor rules protection from high close shaves dished out by pitchers. Sal "The Barber" Maglie didn't get that nickname at beautician school.

[maroonmania]

Williams missed three full years (right after his .400 season in '41) in his twenties fighting in WWII, then missed the better part of two more years in his early thirties fighting in Korea. All in all, he lost more like 4-5 years off of his career. They don't make too many like Ted Williams, that's for damn sure.

Which reminds me of my favorite line from "Fever Pitch" when the disheartened Red Sox fans, on the night after going down 3-0 to the Yankees in the ALCS, see Sox players Johnny Damon, Trot Nixon and Jason Varitek out happily wining and dining and exclaim "“Ted Williams would roll over in his freezer if he saw this!”

[Political Hack]

Bo and Jim.

Otto Graham should be on the list. I've never understood why his greatness isn't more celebrate.

[bobcat91]

Olympians Owens and Phelps should be in the conversation.

[Will James]

Olympians Owens and Phelps should be in the conversation.

Meh I disagree on Phelps in this discussion.

[Political Hack]

Owens definitely deserves a mention.

[bobcat91]

Meh I disagree on Phelps in this discussion.

Multiple world records and most medals in history. This is about greatest US athlete. He has the bling to be in the discussion