Your Five Favorite Athletes of All Time

[Audiodrama]

1. Tom Brady

2. Josh Beckett

3. Jon Lester

4. Kevin Garnett

5. Tim Wakefield

Yup, I'm from Boston.

[koizim]

1. Tom Brady

2. Josh Beckett

3. Jon Lester

4. Kevin Garnett

5. Tim Wakefield

Yup, I'm from Boston.

This isn't a criticism of your choice here, but I'm just wondering why, with all of the great sports figures in Boston, both past and present, you'd have a guy who's been in your city/on your favorite team for only four seasons as your second favorite athlete ever. Mind you, I'm not attacking your pick, but I am curious as to that choice.

[oddball]

1. Wayne Gretzky

2. Magic Johnson

3. Larry Bird

4. Eric Dickerson

5. Dale Murphy

[scottysprings]

1. Mariano Rivera - By far my favorite athlete to watch. Whenever I'm at a Yankee game I hope for the Yankees have a 3 run lead going into the top of the ninth just so I can see Mo pitch.

2. David Cone - My favorite baseball player as a kid. I looked up to him as an awesome pitcher, especially after his perfect game, and wore his #36 on my little league jerseys.

3. Wayne Chrebet - Whenever I watched Jets games in elementary school, depending on what the team wore, I wore my corresponding white or green Chrebet jersey.

4. Mike Mussina - My favorite Yankee ever since I saw him pitch with the pinstripes on. Applauding him at the Stadium after his last home start was one of my most memorable sports moments.

5. Joe Mauer - I was a catcher throughout little league and travel ball and Joe Mauer, when he first came up in 2004, seemed like the epitome of the baseball player I always wanted to be.

For me, a player's personality and character are just as if not more important as their performance on the field. I like the guys who seem like genuine good guys and are passionate about what they do. Honorable mentions go out to Bernie Williams, Jorge Posada, and C.C. Sabathia.

[wdm1219inpenna]

Lou Gehrig. A classy and courageous man. It was because of the movie "Pride of the Yankees" that I saw back in 1974, that I first became a Yankees fan. I no longer am a fan of the Yankees, but had been from 1974 until A-Rod came on board, that's when I stopped rooting for the Yankees.

Jim Abbott. What he overcame just to perform in the Majors was astounding enough, but that he threw a no-hitter on top of it, again, really awesome to me.

Jackie Robinson. All he had to endure, he showed tremendous class, courage, and grace. He was also a tremendous athlete, and not just at baseball either.

Lawrence Taylor. The only non-baseball fave for me. When I was rooting for the Giants, up until the whole Eli fiasco a few years ago at the draft (yes I know they won a Super Bowl with Eli), It was obvious that the original "L.T." changed the game with his defensive skills and prowess.

Bucky Dent. An unusual choice perhaps, but he is my #1. As I mentioned earlier, I watched "Pride of the Yankees" in the summer of 1974 with my father, who was also a Yankee fan. My dad passed away in July 1978, when he was 43, and I was 11 (I'm 43 now). So often, when we'd watch games together on WPIX and the Yankees were trailing, I'd get discouraged. He'd often remind me that the 7th inning was the Yankees' inning. When Dad died, the Yankees were 14 games out, then they tied Boston and had to play that 1 playoff game. Yankees trailing, 7th inning, I was feeling sad, then Dent came up, hit the home run, and at that moment, I knew my father was indeed in Heaven. And in spite of what Tom Hanks said in "A League of Their Own", there is crying in baseball. I wept when he hit the homer, and wept when they won that ballgame. The ALCS & even the World Series seemed to be anti-climactic, although the Yankees were down 2 games to 0 to the Dodgers, and came back to win it. Little did I know then that it would be 18 years before they would win it again.

Great topic! Thank you for allowing me to contribute.