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Greatest athlete in Boston history
craig44
Posts: 10,558 ✭✭✭✭✭
in Sports Talk
I got this idea from another thread. We have done Rushmores before, but this one is more difficult. Who, in Boston history, is the cities best athlete? Here are a few of my ideas by sport:
Baseball: Williams, Yaz, Foxx, Boggs, Clemens, Pedro. I am leaving out Grove, only had a few great seasons with Boston. Same with Ruth
Basketball: Russell, Bird, Havelicheck, Pierce
Football: Tommy (come on, did you expect anyone else?)
Hockey: Orr, Bourque.
you all know who I am choosing, who do you guys think is the greatest?
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
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I'd say Bill Buckner ;-)
Pablo Sandoval?
Pablo may be second, right after Carl Crawford
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
Tom Brady
Larry Bird
Big Papi
Bobby Orr
which one is the best?
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
I am, of course, choosing Tommy.
I think a case could be made for Larry, Bill, Orr and Ortiz.
thanks @perkdog I totally brain-farted on Ortiz.
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
Paul Revere - equestrian
Greatest athlete in Boston history would be Bill Russell for me. We all know how great he was on the basketball court but while in college he was also rankled as a top 10 high jumper in college.
Eric
Erikthredd’s MJ Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/publishedset/395035
Erikthredd’s Nike Air Jordan Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/basketball/key-card-sets/nike-poster-cards-michael-jordan-1985-1992/alltimeset/408486
Babe Ruth if his time with Boston counts.
Coin collecting interests: Latin America
Sports: NFL & NHL
Brady is my #1 without any hesitation
I didnt add Babe because He didnt play nearly as long with Boston as he did with NY
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
I never have liked the Celtics so I am biased, but I think Russell was overrated. The guy was a great defensive player who could control the middle for the great Celtics teams.
Offensively, he wasn't that good. His foul shooting wasn't much better than Wilt Chamberlin who was notoriously bad. He also was not a great shooter in general. I was saw him miss a dunk shot. He hit the iron and the ball ended up a mid court.
Russell was the perfect player for the powerful Celtics teams of the late 1950 and '60s, but if he had been with another, weaker team, he might not have been as impressive.
As for the Best Boston athlete, it has to be Tom Brady. He was great for many years in a sport that has short careers. Second was Ted Williams who was an outstanding hitter for over 20 years. He would have put up even better numbers had it not been for his forced military service. Getting called up for the Korean War was really unfair.
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. i don't agree with yours and I'll leave it at that.
Eric
Erikthredd’s MJ Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/publishedset/395035
Erikthredd’s Nike Air Jordan Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/basketball/key-card-sets/nike-poster-cards-michael-jordan-1985-1992/alltimeset/408486
@dallasactuary and @thisistheshow welfare check
jim rice
Got to give a shout out to Tony Demarco, the "Boston Bomber", he was tough as nails, had bricks for hands. His two wars of attrition with Carmen Basilio are legendary, a true pleasure to watch him fight.
Boston has an incredible Mt. Rushmore, probably the greatest with GOAT candidates in every sport. For the life of me, though, I don't know how any name other than Ted Williams even enters anyone's mind on the baseball side.
Williams
Bird
Brady
Orr
For some reason, I always liked saying the name Randy Vataha. So I'll throw his name in the ring for football.
Also, Rocky Marciano was from just outside Boston, so there's another GOAT candidate from another sport.
Bobby Orr
Terry Bradshaw was AMAZING!!
Ignore list -Basebal21
Agreed about Williams, Ofcourse he was better than Big Papi but he is legendary with Boston fans for 2004
now you have gone and done it
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
This guy had a pretty good run in Boston.
Oops, nevermind, Craig already mentioned Pedro!
Mike Eruzione
Doug Flutie
Phil Esposito
Johnny Kelley
Not the greatest, but a few names that Boston was proud to have and we rarely hear of.
You left out Tris Speaker as a baseball candidate. If he played his entire career with Red Sox he surely would have been their second best player all time behind Mr. Ballgame.
As it was he wouldn’t take a pay cut after the 1915 season so he went to Cleveland and became top 3 player in their franchise history.
So a few years after the Sox made the Speaker blunder they out did themselves with the Ruth blunder.
Speaker was still in his prime from 1920-26 and of course Babe was on his way to becoming GOAT.
Speakers stats from 1920-26 when he should have been with the Sox……. .363 BA .455 OBP 159 OPS+
Ruth from 1920-26 when he also should have been with Boston……
.362 BA .500 OBP 219 OPS+
What a great combo to start a juggernaut with if only the Sox owner wasn’t so cheap.
But to answer the question, Ted Williams for me. Because he retired 63 years ago and there has been absolutely no hitter to come along that has been nearly as good at the plate.
In football Mahomes and Josh Allen have a better skill set than Brady simply by being mobile and not a human statue. That’s just to name a couple. Craig says what about all the super bowls? Well why do you never give any credit to the defense? Was that Brady that made that pick to end that one SB?
Also have to mention Sandy Saddler, one of the greatest featherweights of all-time. He was 5'9", freakishly tall for the weight, vicious as hell, one of the hardest punchers in boxing history. His main goal was to seek and destroy, and of Saddler’s 144 victims, only 36 of them saw the final bell and those that did appeared to be nothing less than broken and beaten. Some consider Willie Pep to be the greatest featherweight that ever lived and Sandy Saddler brutalized him in their three fights, two of which Saddler won. The photo on top is Sandy Saddler, and the photo on bottom is Willie Pep's face after one of their fights.
If Marciano was from Boston I would've put him as the greatest. Pound for pound the best fighter ever.
Terry Bradshaw was AMAZING!!
Ignore list -Basebal21
No DD, you go ahead and mention Pedro!! He was a fantastic pitcher for us. He is on the shortlist of most dominant pitchers of all time. It always felt like an event around here on his day to pitch
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
The list of players more "athletic" than Tommy is a long one. The list of players "better" than Tommy is a short one. As in zero.
And you are correct about Speaker. a great player. I brain farted that one.
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
Marciano was from Brockton, MA, just 25 miles south of Boston...therefore, he was from Boston.
Is Brockton considered Boston? They are two different counties.
Marvelous Marvin Hagler is also from Brockton.
Terry Bradshaw was AMAZING!!
Ignore list -Basebal21
The best athlete in baseball was probably Jimmie Foxx. He was the complete player.
I'm surprised no one knows about his abilities.
Williams a better hitter, but not athletically .........and Ortiz? Please.
Brady the best athlete? Isn't running a big part of being an athlete? You guys have GOT to stop worshipping him! I'll take Gronkowski, the guy was a stud!
Bird in basketball. Did everything well.
Orr in hockey. Did everything well.
Unless I misread the OP, it said athlete.
Doug Flutie
Tom Glavine - from Billerica (Middlesex County; same as Boston) - drafted ahead of Brett Hull and Luc Robitaille in the 1984 NHL draft.
I would argue that Tom Brady cannot qualify as a Boston athlete, since he's not from there, and he never played there (he played in Foxborough, which is also in a different county from Boston).
Steve
Athlete.
Other than Ainge, has anyone else who played in Boston manage to play professionally in two sports? Not that, that automatically makes one a better "athlete" than a single sport player.
(Although, I will never forget seeing Dr. J strikeout, rather feebly, in a slow-pitch celebrity softball game at the Vet in the mid 80s)
Gene Conley played for the Boston Braves, Red Sox, and Celtics. He was with the Braves when they won the 1957 World Series, and he was with the Celtics when they won the NBA championship in 1959, 1960 and 1961.
Steve
Randy Vataha was drafted by the New York Yankees.
Tim Tebow was a FAR better raw "athlete" than Tommy. He could run faster, bench press more, probably throw it further, jump higher.
who was the better QB?
Bo Jackson was a much better raw athlete than ted williams. who was the better player?
It is not about pure raw athletic ability. it is about production.
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
Well, it does say "athlete" not "player".
The best athletes are not always the best players. Randy Moss was possibly the most gifted athlete I've ever seen, but I wouldn't rank him above several wide receivers who were better football players.
Set aside Tebow and replace him with Elway or perhaps Steve Young, both better athletes than Brady.
Maybe the OP can elaborate on what he wanted............or not.😁