Top 100 Athletes of the 20th Century

[Star]

5 tool baseball players are the best all-around athletes. Babe Ruth was not only head and shoulders above his peers as an offensive player, he was also an all-star defensive player, add to that, that he was one of the greatest pitchers of his time and my vote for greatest athlete of the 20th century goes to Babe Ruth-----goes to Babe Ruth, with apologies to Jordan, Thorpe, Didrikson-Zaharias, Ali, and Louis.





Top 100 Athletes of the 20th Century

The top athletes of century as voted by a 16-member panel assembled by The Associated Press, with first place votes in parenthesis, points based on 100 points for a first place vote through one point for a 100th place vote:

No. Athlete (1st place) Pts

1. Babe Ruth (5) 1551
2. Michael Jordan (4) 1524
3. Jim Thorpe (3) 1471
4. Muhammad Ali (2) 1462
5. Wayne Gretzky 1368
6. Jim Brown 1333
7. Joe Louis (1) 1327
8. Jesse Owens 1307
9. Babe Didrikson Zaharias (1) 1254
10. Wilt Chamberlain 1235

11. Willie Mays 1182
12. Jack Nicklaus 1167
13. Ted Williams 1124
14. Ty Cobb 1115
15. Pele 1095
16. Bill Russell 1071
17. Lou Gehrig 1064
18. Hank Aaron 1044
19. Joe DiMaggio 1031
20. Martina Navratilova 1026

21. Carl Lewis 1009
22. Gordie Howe 988
23. Sugar Ray Robinson 949
24. Larry Bird 945
25. Ben Hogan 937
26. Oscar Robertson 929
27. Red Grange 905
28. Walter Payton 882
29. Jackie Robinson 875
30. Rod Laver 863

31. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 837
32. Magic Johnson 835
33. Arnold Palmer 814
34. Sandy Koufax 792
35. Mickey Mantle (tie) 785
35. Mark Spitz 785
37. Joe Montana 772
38. Jack Dempsey 765
39. Bobby Orr 729
40. Jackie Joyner-Kersee 685

41. Billie Jean King 683
42. Walter Johnson 671
43. Sammy Baugh 621
44. Rocky Marciano (tie) 596
44. Johnny Unitas 596
46. Stan Musial 589
47. Bobby Jones 572
48. Rogers Hornsby 567
49. Honus Wagner 560
50. Jerry Rice 552

51. Pete Sampras 550
52. Nadia Comaneci 547
53. Bill Tilden 537
54. Don Hutson 533
55. Chris Evert 509
56. Cy Young 508
57. Julius Erving 488
58. Tiger Woods 483
59. Roger Bannister 471
60. Jerry West 451

61. Rafer Johnson 447
62. Maurice Richard 440
63. Eric Heiden 437
64. Lawrence Taylor 418
65. Jean-Claude Killy 416
66. Edwin Moses 415
67. Nolan Ryan 403
68. Steffi Graf 392
69. Paavo Nurmi 386
70. Bobby Hull 378

71. Bob Mathias 376
72. Christy Mathewson (tie) 371
72. Bronco Nagurski 371
74. Elgin Baylor 353
75. Sam Snead 345
76. Sonja Henie (tie) 344
76. Wilma Rudolph 344
78. Dick Butkus 340
79. Bob Cousy 326
80. Willlie Shoemaker 325

81. Secretariat 311
82. Cal Ripken Jr. 308
83. Althea Gibson 302
84. Mark McGwire 301
85. John McEnroe 300
86. Otto Graham 298
87. O.J. Simpson 294
88. Pete Rose 290
89. Roger Staubach 289
90. Don Budge 266

91. Eddie Arcaro (tie) 262
91. Juan Manuel Fangio 262
93. Henry Armstrong 259
94. Mario Lemieux 250
95. Sugar Ray Leonard 246
96. Mario Andretti 233
97. Emil Zatopek 232
98. Josh Gibson 223
99. Warren Spahn 220
100. Roberto Clemente (tie) 215
100. Bob Gibson 215

 

[OKTexas]

You know it's bs when they list Woods and not Palmer, when Woods is chasing Palmers records.

 

[bobcollum]

There's a freaking horse on the list.

 

[ginscpy]

ALi is so ovewrrateed is ts pathetic .................................

Hid behind rope-a-dope.

(and to think I was rooting forhim in Ali-Fazirer 1 on March 1971)

 

[TruthSeeker56]

Secretariat is ranked at 81. I would rank Secretariat in the top 25, easily.

Golfers are FRINGE athletes, at best. Tennis players aren't far behind.

At least they didn't list any BOWLERS.

 

[Star]

Romney can't even get "great athletes" right, and the person that moved this thread from "Politics" to "Sports" ain't payin' attention.


Mitt Romney: Jack Nicklaus is the 20th century's greatest athlete - Sporting News


Mitt Romney, the GOP presidential candidate for the upcoming 2012 election, made waves by dipping his toes into the world of sports earlier this week during a campaign stop in Westerville, Ohio.

Romney, according to CNN.com, called golf legend Jack Nicklaus "the greatest athlete of the 20th century."

Mitt Romney and Jack Nicklaus meet the crowd at a campaign stop in Ohio. At the stop, Romney called Nicklaus the greatest athlete of the 20th century. (AP Photo)​

Later, Romney poked fun at his personal athleticism -- or lack thereof.

"When I got the job to help organize the Olympic Winter Games in 2002, I knew that it was a bit ironic for a guy with such little athletic ability as myself to be able to be responsible for the largest athletic event in the world," Romney said. "My boys also saw the irony in it."

Nicklaus is a native of Upper Arlington, Ohio and attended Ohio State University, hence his appearance on the campaign trail in his birth state. Romney's campaign had signs that said "The Golden Bear for Romney/Ryan," according to the Associated Press.

 

[Saigon]

Well, maybe my Top 10 would be:

1) Pele

2) Muhammed Ali

3) Maradona

4) Federer

5) George Best

6) Tiger Woods

7) Manny Pacquiao

8) Serena Williams

9) Jonah Lomu

10) Beckham

 

[Rocko]

Michael Jordan is the greatest athlete ever! No way you put a fat guy ahead of him!

 

[Papageorgio]

Michael Jordan is the greatest athlete ever! No way you put a fat guy ahead of him!

The poll is stupid, but Ruth #1, a horse on the list, a golfer in the top 10? Crazy.

 

[Vituperative]

Where's Anderson Silva on this list?????

 

[Synthaholic]

You know it's bs when they list Woods and not Palmer, when Woods is chasing Palmers records.

#33.

Damn, you wingnuts are dumb.

 

[Synthaholic]

They got Babe Ruth correct. He was worlds ahead of every other athlete in his time.

Jackie Robinson should be higher.

Roberto Clemente should be higher.

Henry Aaron should be higher.

Rickey Henderson should be on the list.

Mark McGwire should not.

All golfers, race car drivers, jockeys, quarterbacks and linemen, and boxers should be much lower.

Baseball (except pitchers), soccer, Olympic sports should be the highest.

Basketball, football, tennis fall in the middle.

 

[Paulie]

ALi is so ovewrrateed is ts pathetic .................................

Hid behind rope-a-dope.

(and to think I was rooting forhim in Ali-Fazirer 1 on March 1971)

That's your edited version of the post??

 

[Synthaholic]

ALi is so ovewrrateed is ts pathetic .................................

Hid behind rope-a-dope.

(and to think I was rooting forhim in Ali-Fazirer 1 on March 1971)

That's your edited version of the post??

 

[Mad Scientist]

Jim Thorpe could have gone pro in every sport he played, and he played them all. All the others listed were one or maybe two sport heroes.

 

[TheGreatGatsby]

Best baseball player of all-time: Babe Ruth
Best basketball player of all-time: Larry Bird
Best football player of all-time: Barry Sanders
Best hockey player of all-time: Wayne Gretzky
Best swimmer of all-time: Michael Phelps
Best track athlete of all-time: Carl Lewis (We all know Bolt is roided up)
Best boxer of all-time: Wladimir Klitschko
Best soccer player of all-time: Lionel Messi
Best golfer of all-time: Jack Nicklaus (Tiger roided too)
Best tennis player of all-time: Roger Federer

 

[Papageorgio]

Best baseball player of all-time: Babe Ruth
Best basketball player of all-time: Larry Bird
Best football player of all-time: Barry Sanders
Best hockey player of all-time: Wayne Gretzky
Best swimmer of all-time: Michael Phelps
Best track athlete of all-time: Carl Lewis (We all know Bolt is roided up)
Best boxer of all-time: Wladimir Klitschko
Best soccer player of all-time: Lionel Messi
Best golfer of all-time: Jack Nicklaus (Tiger roided too)
Best tennis player of all-time: Roger Federer

Not with you on Bird, I'd go with Jordan.
Boxer, not sure.
Soccer, Pele.

 

[alan1]

Michael Phelps?
The most decorated Olympian ever didn't make the list?

 

[TheGreatGatsby]

Best baseball player of all-time: Babe Ruth
Best basketball player of all-time: Larry Bird
Best football player of all-time: Barry Sanders
Best hockey player of all-time: Wayne Gretzky
Best swimmer of all-time: Michael Phelps
Best track athlete of all-time: Carl Lewis (We all know Bolt is roided up)
Best boxer of all-time: Wladimir Klitschko
Best soccer player of all-time: Lionel Messi
Best golfer of all-time: Jack Nicklaus (Tiger roided too)
Best tennis player of all-time: Roger Federer

Not with you on Bird, I'd go with Jordan.
Boxer, not sure.
Soccer, Pele.

Bird could dominate any aspect of the game and he made every team he was ever on, great. Jordan was the third best player on his college team. He came into the league and they let him go wild and put up stats for ticket sales. But he has losing seasons all 3 years before Pippen (probably the real most athletic player in the league) came to town. What did Bird do in the meantime? Won a couple championships, beat Jordan 14 straight times (including 2 playoff sweeps). And Bird had to win against dynasty level teams like the Lakers, Sixers, Rockets, and Pistons. All's Jordan ever did was beat watered down teams led by the 80s A minus stars with David Stern's help.

You want to compare Bird and Jordan when they were at the end of their careers. Coming off two acl tears and a back condition that would have had every other player retiring, Bird led his team to 50 wins and he was still on verge to take out the Bulls if his back hadn't flared so bad that he was missing playoff games. Jordan in his last two years; two more losing seasons and no playoffs on 41 percent shooting. Bird never had one season like that. Jordan had freaking 5 of them. Sound great to you? He's a corporate illusion for obvious reasons; and like everything it comes down to money; not the truth.

As for boxing, I was considering Lennox Lewis and then I remembered Vlad Klit. LL actually beat VK; but that was b/c of a fluke cut that got worse throughout the fight. VK was actually ahead on the score card and in fact he's never finished a fight not ahead on the scorecard. Lewis didn't want any part of a rematch with that beast. He retired after that.

 

[Papageorgio]

Best baseball player of all-time: Babe Ruth
Best basketball player of all-time: Larry Bird
Best football player of all-time: Barry Sanders
Best hockey player of all-time: Wayne Gretzky
Best swimmer of all-time: Michael Phelps
Best track athlete of all-time: Carl Lewis (We all know Bolt is roided up)
Best boxer of all-time: Wladimir Klitschko
Best soccer player of all-time: Lionel Messi
Best golfer of all-time: Jack Nicklaus (Tiger roided too)
Best tennis player of all-time: Roger Federer

Not with you on Bird, I'd go with Jordan.
Boxer, not sure.
Soccer, Pele.

Bird could dominate any aspect of the game and he made every team he was ever on, great. Jordan was the third best player on his college team. He came into the league and they let him go wild and put up stats for ticket sales. But he has losing seasons all 3 years before Pippen (probably the real most athletic player in the league) came to town. What did Bird do in the meantime? Won a couple championships, beat Jordan 14 straight times (including 2 playoff sweeps). And Bird had to win against dynasty level teams like the Lakers, Sixers, Rockets, and Pistons. All's Jordan ever did was beat watered down teams led by the 80s A minus stars with David Stern's help.

You want to compare Bird and Jordan when they were at the end of their careers. Coming off two acl tears and a back condition that would have had every other player retiring, Bird led his team to 50 wins and he was still on verge to take out the Bulls if his back hadn't flared so bad that he was missing playoff games. Jordan in his last two years; two more losing seasons and no playoffs on 41 percent shooting. Bird never had one season like that. Jordan had freaking 5 of them. Sound great to you? He's a corporate illusion for obvious reasons; and like everything it comes down to money; not the truth.

As for boxing, I was considering Lennox Lewis and then I remembered Vlad Klit. LL actually beat VK; but that was b/c of a fluke cut that got worse throughout the fight. VK was actually ahead on the score card and in fact he's never finished a fight not ahead on the scorecard. Lewis didn't want any part of a rematch with that beast. He retired after that.

If you take out Jordan, then I go with Magic, Bird was sheer desire.