Three favorite athletes?

After posting in the Biggest Upsets thread I got to thinking about my three favorite ballplayers:

Mookie Wilson
Thurman Munson
Roberto Clemente

These certainly were not the best ballplayers ever for sure. They were just guys who were active back when I used to watch sports on TV a lot.

Mookie was always smiling, he ran hard as hell to first base, and he hit some triples.  He always seemed to get on base when the Mets were desperate for a run. He never hit 300 (career BA 274) but he had 71 triples and 327 stolen bases.  I admit he wasn't that great, I just liked him.

Munson was a leader and a great captain. He busted his butt all the time. But the thing I liked most about Thurman was that when you were DESPERATE for a run, and you had a man on second, there was nobody better at putting the bat on the ball and dropping it into center field.  They guy delivered, and he hit in the post season. He batted 292 lifetime in 11 seasons (a catcher!) and 357 in the post season.

Roberto had all kinds of great numbers. His lifetime BA was 317, and he led the league in that stat four times. He won the Golden Glove the last 12 years of his career/life. (He was kind of a whiner too.)  But the Clemente moment I remember the most was in the 1971 World Series. A ball was hit very deep to right, he played it off the wall on one bounce, then turned and fired to third without even looking. The ball went into the third basemen's glove on a single bounce. The runner was safe, but I was absolutely stunned by the throw.

I'll throw it out to all sports - who are your three favorite athletes of all time?  Why?

Great call on Thurman!  I still remember watching the Yankee game w/ my dad after Thurman's service.  Game started late and Bobby Mercer (Thurman's great friend) hit one down the left field line to drive in the winning run!  Big celebration @ home plate!!


Mine:

Mark Bravo - he carried Ronny Lot for 15 yards on Monday Night Football!!  He was real quiet (like me) and let his play do all the talking!!!

Bodie Miller - he rips it!

Bernie Williams - like Thurman he delivered huge in the post season!  Class act!  

O, and I love ELI!!

Micky Ward--toughest s.o.b ever put on this earth. Ward vs. Gatti trilogy best 3 fights in pro boxing, imo.

Larry Bird--corn fed white boy who rocked the NBA

Bode Miller---watching him ski is like watching water pour out of a glass....what he can do on skis is unmatched by anyone.

campgottagopee wrote

is like watching water pour out of a glass.....

umm...  is that like some kind of drinking game at hunt camp?  HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHAHAHAAA

Lawrence Taylor - Just the athlete, not the man. What he did on the field, was simply amazing. The game of football literally changed because of what he could do. Offensive play calling had to be changed to account for him, the rules of the game were ultimately changed because of him, he was remarkable.

Harry Carson - A class act, on and off the field. There have been very few inside linebackers in the history of the NFL who could stop the run up the middle like he could. When he hit you ... you were down, end of story. Ray Lewis is the "modern" version of Harry Carson.

John Elway - The "original" Michael Vick, only better. I used to love to watch him play.

Derek Jeter. Baseball immortal. Class act.

Tiger Woods. Best golfer (at least for gen x and beyond)

Bo Jackson. Pure athlete.

It still winter I like baseball but pitchers and catchers haven't even reported yet gotta say Gretchen Bleiler, Hannah Teeter & Kelly Clark what those girls do in the pipe is sweet!

Just three???  That doesn't even cover all major sports

Jeter is far and away No. 1 for me -- before that it was Mantle, Munson and Mattingly
My daughter has my permission to marry Jeter -- Even her fiance understands

Willis Reed -- tho' I always loved watching Bird, Magic and Jordan, despite all they did to kick the Knicks' butts

Mike Bossy -- but Bobby Orr was the best ever, even tho' he was on the hated Bruins

Lawrence Taylor -- what needs to be said about the best linebacker EVER!

Muhammed Ali -- RIP Angelo Dundee, without whom Ali never would have been the Greatest of All Time

Spongeworthy wrote

 
Muhammed Ali -- RIP Angelo Dundee, without whom Ali never would have been the Greatest of All Time

Truth!!

1. Willie Mays --

2.Walter Peyton

3.Lindsey Vonn

no explanations needed, they all simply produced prodigious results