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Professional athletes who peaked at the beginning of their careers
galaxy27
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i'm utterly disgusted with Jordan Spieth right now, and this topic crossed my mind
he was 21 when he rose to #1 in the golf rankings
since that time, a decline..........and it's picking up steam. i love the guy, but he's nothing more than a JAG on tour now.
can you guys think of other athletes who reached the summit early on, then drove down the mountain?
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Billy Butler was never a superstar but between ages 23-26 his OPS was a very good .854 and then he was done as a player at age 30.
Galaxy… something kind of ironic… Speith and Duval both finished 10 over and Duval also peaked early at the beginning of his career. Fairly similar although I think David was a little older than 21 when he started.
@Darin
when you tie David Duval in the year 2026, it's time for wholesale changes
Trouty hasn't been able to do anything since the Royals destroyed him in the playoffs, and Denny punked him out on the radio, and Yordano told Trouty to look at the scoreboard next time before Trouty decides to act a fool.
Ángel Berroa. ROY for the Royals one year and just not much after that
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such a great question!!! one I will be thinking about today.
the first guy who comes to mind is Doc Gooden. mind blowing his first few seasons, then he was a shell of himself by his mid 20s
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
another guy who may be a "hot take" is HOFer Al Kaline. I believe his best seasons were something like age 20-21. he had a few more great seasons in his mid 20s, then he was still really good, but less than great I would say.
he built his main HOF resume by his mid 20s.
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
Joe Charboneau. 1980 ROY in the AL. Out of the league by 1983.
Jeremy Lin.
Not a bad choice. Injuries and age derailed him but his play also just simply dropped off after 1962.
another guy I was thinking of was one of my favorite players growing up, Dan Marino. the guy was a prodigy through the 86/87 seasons, then his play dropped off. there are reasons, the marks brothers were getting older, lack of run game etc. but the stats dont lie. he was not the same player after age 25 or so
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
roger maris is another one. after the 61 season, he was not the same.
what could have been had he been able to play at a high level through his late 30s?
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
Mark Fidrych. Poster child of this thread.
Couldnt disagree more on that one. Hes a HOF 9 time Pro Bowl QB back when the Pro Bowl actually meant something. Just cus some of his teams sucked doesnt mean he fell off a cliff
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NHL
Alexander Daigle
Draft: 1st overall in 1993
Liberty Seated Half Dollars
roger maris is another one. a> @Basebal21 said:
you are free to disagree, but look at the statline. after age 26, Dan was not the same. and that was well before the achilles injury. he was still very very good, but not the same as those first 4-5 seasons.
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
NFL
Ickey Woods
He was a prowl bowler at 26, 30, 31, 33, 34.
Led the league in passing yards at 31.
His TDs went down yes but his teams also got significantly worse and an argument can be made its more impressive to do it on a bad team than a good one.
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td down, int up, RAT down
what is most telling are that his rates got worse as his volume got lower. it should be exactly the opposite.
are you actually using "all star game" selections to rate how productive a player was?
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
NFL - Herschel Walker comes to mind & probably could have played in the NFL at 18, as he was already fully, naturally developed. A big what coulda been had he entered the 1983 NFL Draft.
MLB - Fred Lynn - hard to top his ROY/MVP year but 1979 he was also great. Another what if had Boston just simply kept him -- he never wanted to leave. I don't think they got much in return for the likes of him/Fisk/Eck.
Erik
From age 31-35 Marino's QB rating was 88.7. Team went 41-23 with him as a starter.
From age 24-26 Marino's QB rating was 88.7. Team went 27-17 with him as a starter.
He was basically just as effective as he was when he was younger.....except for the one big year. So you guys are kinda both right if looking at his big year and saying he never re-produced that all time season.
except, the prompt from the OP was "professional athletes who peaked at the beginning of their careers"
in your example, you cut out the "beginning of" dan marinos professional career which is the point of this prompt. and also his best "rate" seasons.
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
That is a great example and the one that comes to mind for myself too. He wasn't just a one year wonder good. He should have won the Cy Young in 1984, and then 1985 was as historic as they come. He was looking like a Mt Rushmore type player.
I agree that the PB doesnt really mean much now a days. but it did when he did.
TDs are going to go down and INTs are going to go up when your receiving core get worse. Same thing has happened to Mahomes.
Its literally basically every football player if were just going off one career year
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Totally off… especially saying his HOF resume was built by his mid 20’s.
I looked up Kaline when a few guys were saying he peaked early, I didn't think that was the case
Rick Ankiel comes to mind as a pitcher where he forgot how to throw strikes in the playoffs. Had some good years as a hitter coming back so not sure he qualifies.
Walker Buehler before injuries started getting him. Same with Dustin May before his second TJ
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I think @craig44 is alluding to the thought that was once out there, regarding Kaline, which was based on the combination of his hit totals, HR, RBI, and batting average that he achieved at age 20 and 21 that he never matched again.
His age 20/21 season average was 197 Hits, 27 HR, 115 RBI, and a .327 batting average, which includes his only 200 hit season, and only batting title.
After that, Kaline only achieved 100 RBI one other time with 101, and his next best three hit seasons were 190, 172, and 170.
We see that his OPS and OPS+ were certainly on par or even better in some later seasons, but the thought was more of an old school stat type thought, especially in regard to his 200 Hits and his lone batting title.
two decades of consistency on offense and elite defense. he only lacked a few monster seasons to have a Mantle aura... he sure had the name for a legend. Easily top 10 all time RF... but what could have been if his career wasn't over before it began... right?
where is dallas to tell people they're hallucinating when they are.
I think Al Kaline is the greatest MLB player of all time.
My opinion has nothing to do with me owning this card, and trying to bump up the value. 😂
I’m taking Galaxy’s question literally…. who reached the summit early on and then drove down the mountain.
In that context I just don’t think Al Kaline is even close. Marino either.
Fidrych, Charboneu, Billy Butler fit perfectly.
Don’t know if I spelled Charboneu correctly… I had it where I thought it looked right then auto correct changed it to Chardonnay. 😩
it's difficult to find examples of guys who maxed out talent-wise at or near the beginning of their careers, followed by a slow, steady, yet precipitous decline over a number of years (because they managed to hang around)
when there are spikes, it's usually the other way around (later in careers)
Super Joe!
2025 SEC bowl record 4-10
SEC bowl record vs BIG TEN last two years 2-8
that is why i called Kaline a "hot take"
HOF player. started out amazingly well. especially for a 20-21 year old. i would say that he never recaptured that same spark. he had a couple of other really good seasons, one i think when he was about 25?
all of his black ink was age 26 and before. thats right, Kaline only ever led the league in an offensive category from age 26 and younger. and most of it was age 24 and younger.
remember, the prompt is "athletes who peaked at the beginning of their careers" I would say that applies pretty well to Kaline
the opposite would be a guy like randy johnson or nolan ryan. or a guy like jim morris who didnt debut till age 35
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
That 64 Topps Giants set is one of my favorites! Overlooked by many and most cards with the exception of Mays, Mantle, and the short prints it is a very affordable set to collect. I actually met Mr Kaline in Lakeland about 20 years ago before a spring training game I was attending, got his auto! Real nice guy to the fans.
Without injury, unquestionably his 1962 season would have been his best. He played that year at a near 50 homers and 145 RBI pace.
yes, it may have been his best season, but... it wasnt.
he got injured.
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
Kaline was a class act.
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