After further consideration.......................................
The best athlete to ever wear number 8 has been amended from Troy Aikman to Yogi Berra. After the feedback and a more, ahem, objective look at the stats and accolades, Yogi's MLB career was indeed impressive. A World Series Championship Ring for each finger? C'mon, that is just awesome. That's part of why Yogi was named the best MLB athlete to wear number 8.
And I will state once more, I am not a Yankee fan. They just put up some of the best numbers.........objectively.
Did you know............that Yogi's real first name is Lawrence?
I believe that Yogi has more World Series rings than any other baseball player in history. I think that Troy is a good choice but Yogi would have been best.
ReplyDeleteSteve Young. Or Igor Larionov could work here, too, if you wanna give it a little international flavor.
ReplyDeleteNo love for Cal Jr.???
ReplyDeleteKB will probably be up there soon... needs more credit
ReplyDeletecal ripken jr.?
ReplyDeleteYou have to consider the great Yaz. Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski.
ReplyDeletei love troy and the 90s cowboys... but ya... its gotta be 1. cal ripkin jr, 2. yogi, 3 troy
ReplyDeleteYou know, I just can't believe Cal wasn't a "NUFF SAID" pick for this.
ReplyDeleteSteve Young was easily the better quarterback, even without considering his scrambling ability. This Super Bowl as the measure of an NFL player stuff is ridiculous.
ReplyDeletecome on! It's gotta be Cal! You can't even convince me that Aikman is the best #8 in football. Steve Young has a higher passer rating and completion %, 67 more TD passes, 34 more rushing TDs, and 34fewer INTs. Even with out the games streak Cal is the man.
ReplyDeletethis has to be Cal Jr. or maybe Steve Young. Troy won because he had the best running back and one of the best wide receivers to play the game not to mention his TE also. Cal played for a long time through injuries. he played shortstop and 3rd base, his numbers were consistent year in and year out and he wasn't always on the best teams, but he still showed up. he is the true professional athelete that any team owner, general manager, skipper, or teammate would want to play with or for.
ReplyDeleteSteven Gerrard. And as a Liverpool fan, I wouldn't even consider Rooney or Lampard.
ReplyDeleteArchie Manning: Pro Bowl QB on simply horrible teams, and father of two Super Bowl QB's!
ReplyDeleteLove dem Saints.
Alexander Ovechkin who is currently hands down the best player in the NHL even over Crosby will absolutely take this once he's old and experienced enough.
ReplyDeleteCal the Iron Man
ReplyDeleteAlex Ovechkin... couple of years he will deserve to be the greatest athlete on number 8
ReplyDeleteOvechkin is easily one of the top 5 pure athletes in the world right now, I really enjoy watching him play (and Im not a huge hockey fan or even from DC).
ReplyDeleteWith that said, he has a very long road (and career) ahead of him to join these ranks of great 8's. He will have to challenge the thought that Gretzky was the best ever (or to come).
I can't believe people would question Gehrig at 4, as I don't believe there should be a question about #8 Cal Ripken. This one seems a no brainer - No disrespect to Aikman, or any of the other notables.
#8....Dale Earnhardt.
ReplyDeleteTroy Aikman was better than Steve Young. Young was plugged into a stat machine based on high percentage passing and was surrounded by great players for almost his entire career. Aikman was drafted by the worst team in the NFL and immediately thrown to the wolves. In the second half of the 90s his team was in decline and I remember perfect pass after perfect pass bouncing off the chest of no name receivers. Having grown up watching Elway, Marino, Montana, Young, and Aikman play, to me it's clear that Aikman's passes were consistently the most precise and accurate of the bunch. Plus the guy was lights out in the playoffs. Good choice.
ReplyDeleteYogi Berra is the first person that comes to mind
ReplyDeleteJoe Morgan was the best second baseman ever!!
ReplyDeletecowboy fans are completely redic he wasnt eventhe best 8 in football!! cal gets my vote follow by steve young!
ReplyDeleteYaz!
ReplyDeleteSteve Young in football, Yogi in baseball would both have been far better choices for best athlete to wear the number. Aikman was great but not the best athlete to wear 8.
ReplyDeleteNo mention of Kobe ver. 1.0
ReplyDeleteI guess you guys didn't read this and understand it. Troy was always dead on. If he had Jerry Rice (and I love Irvin) your silly comments would not be on here. Because Aikman would have a ring for every finger.
ReplyDeleteOf course he had a great TE because he didn't have a great #2 WR except maybe 1-2 years. I could have played TE with those accurate passes.
"Troy Aikman was better than Steve Young. Young was plugged into a stat machine based on high percentage passing and was surrounded by great players for almost his entire career. Aikman was drafted by the worst team in the NFL and immediately thrown to the wolves. In the second half of the 90s his team was in decline and I remember perfect pass after perfect pass bouncing off the chest of no name receivers. Having grown up watching Elway, Marino, Montana, Young, and Aikman play, to me it's clear that Aikman's passes were consistently the most precise and accurate of the bunch. Plus the guy was lights out in the playoffs. Good choice"
Has anyone really looked at Cal Ripken's statistics? He wasn't that great a player ... he is so overrated because of the "iron man streak" when the fact of the matter is that he should have benched along the way towards the end and the manager was handcuffed by his persona and the reputation of the streak. It was embarrassing how much love and attention Ripken was shown the year he went in the Hall of Fame when a far superior player went in alongside him in Tony Gwynn - who has the numbers, character, leadership, and personality that should've made him stand out far more. I defy you to compare their numbers and not come away shaking your head with how great Tony Gwynn was.
ReplyDeleteAs far as #8, I've got no problem with Yogi, Aikman, or Steve Young.
Cal Ripken was special for his fielding percentage at a position dominated by players faster than he was. He also got to a higher percentage of balls than anyone else because of his uncanny ability to position himself in the right spot for each batter. Now compare his offensive statistics to other shortstops of his era. He was head and shoulders above all other shortstops offensively and he did it before A-Rod and his steroids inflated numbers. And then there was the streak, but everyone already knows about that. EVERYONE who's ever heard the name Cal Ripken knows exactly who he his and why he's famous. He may not be better than Yogi Bera, but he deserves to be in the discussion.
ReplyDeleteRipken had every bit of character, leadership, and personality that Gwynn had. Comparing Ripken's offensive stats to Gwynn's is like comparing apples and oranges; although Ripken won 8 Silver Slugger awards compared to 7 for Gwynn. Ripken won two MVP awards. Gwynn? His two best finishes in mvp voting were 3rd and 6th place. If Gwynn was superior in some ways, then Ripken was superior in others. When inducted, both players deserved every bit of the love and attention that they received.