Friday Fire: Which Athlete Has the Biggest Impact On Their Respective Sport?
This cat right here is my pick for the best athlete in sports. LeBron and Kobe are monsters and obviously so is Tiger, but Manuel Aristides Onelcida Ramirez scares the shit out of every single opposing fan and player when he steps into the on deck circle. Pitch to him with the game on the line and you might get fired. His 28 homers in the postseason are 1st all time–ahead of Bernie Williams (22) and Mr. October, Reggie Jackson (18). As a Yankee fan, I’m glad he got the hell out of dodge. His trade was one of the dumbest moves in sports history because it transformed Big Papi (though he is injured) into Robin without Batman’s protection.
If you change “athelete” to feared hitter in the Major League Baseball, you’d have a point. For my money, no baseball player can enter the conversation of “best athlete” unless they are a 5-tool player. Manny is not now, nor has he ever been a 5-tool player.
Further, while he has more post-season homers than Reginald Martinez Jackson, Mr. Ramirez had the benefit of additional series and games due to changes in format. When it comes to post-season homers, Reggie! Reggie! Reggie! still sets the bar (pun intended).
For the moment, I’m going to go with Usain Bolt. He has strength, speed and endurance. He has tremendous height, length and grace. His talents would “translate” wonderfully into any number of sports. I can see him as a small forward, a centerfielder or a wide receiver. Right now, he’s merely the fastest human to clock a recorded time in the history of the world.
I guess as a sports writer, I sometime fail to state the obvious. I’ll change the question.
Temple great choice by the way.
Thanks bruh.
Jackie Roosevelt Robinson.
Current player MF.
Best overall athlete currently? I’d go with Usain because he could probably play football, basketball, and defensive centerfield at a high level.
The game changer currently in their respective sports? Tough one. Manny in MLB with Pujols a close second. I would have said Garnett in the NBA but since he has his title now he may not be hungry anymore so I’ll go with Bean Bryant because he’s still the most cold-blooded player in the LIG. In the NFL, I’ll take Reggie Bush on offense and Albert Haynesworth on defense.