The three-time MVP and eight-time All-Star is our choice for the best professional athlete to ever wear the number 39. In a mere ten seasons for the Dodgers, Roy Campanella amassed 242 home-runs with a .276 batting average. Not too bad for an all-star caliber catcher. Campanella, who was the first catcher to break baseball's color barrier, was enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1969. (photo courtesy of roycampanella.com)
Dodgers
Baseball
39
what about the dominator, dominik hasek?
ReplyDeletebest goalie in NHL history gets left off
If this website is updated and new players are selected in 15 years when Willie Parker retires, he has this spot pretty much reserved.
ReplyDeleteLarry Csonka!
ReplyDeleteIt's Larry Csonka - but don't ask a Dallas fan to put him there.
ReplyDeleteDominator all the way!
ReplyDeleteThe Dominator belongs here.
ReplyDeleteShould be Dominik Hasek. There are an awful lot of people who consider him the best goaltender of all time.
ReplyDeleteHe was consistently the best goalie in the league until his late 30's. Led the NHL in Save Percentage on a yearly basis, usually by a mile. In 1997 Hasek was the first goaltender to win the MVP award since 1962, and did it again the next year, a feat that may never be duplicated. Both years he was voted as the MVP by both the professional hockey writers, and the NHL players.
Hasek consistently dominated the likes of Patrick Roy, Martin Brodeur, and Ed Belfour for the Vezina trophy (best goalie award). He dragged the 1999 Sabres to the finals almost single-handedly, only to lose in game 6 on a goal that should have been waived off. He was the MVP of the 1998 Olympics, again almost singlehandedly upsetting Canada in the semis and shutting out Russia in the finals.
And he did all that while playing on some terrible Buffalo teams that were almost entirely devoid of talent outside of Hasek. When he was finally traded to a good team, he won the championship and set a new NHL record for playoff shutouts in his first year there (at age 37).
And something that's often overlooked:
Due to the Cold War and the chaos surrounding the fall of the Eastern Bloc, Hasek didn't get a chance to show his stuff as a starter in the NHL until age 29. He was piling up Czech and European best goalie awards long before he was able to come to North America.
Look over his career, and then consider that he did all of that at an age where many professional athletes are on the decline. Not to belittle Campanella's plight in any way, but Hasek lost more NHL seasons to politics than Roy did MLB seasons.
All that is why Dominik Hasek is the best #39 ever.
Hands down...."The Cobra" Dave Parker
ReplyDeleteI'm a cowboy fan but I would certainly give Czonca consideration for #39. But Willy Parker? Please
ReplyDeleteToss-up between Campy and Csonka. Tough call. People advocating for Hasek are those kids who don't think the earth existed before they were born. Good player, but doesn't belong in the same company with Roy and Larry.
ReplyDeleteI've got to go with The Dominator. Hasek was the most amazing goalie in history. I'm a big fan of baseball history, and Campanella was one of the 5 best catchers of all time, but Hasek carried his teams and was better than the goalies everyone talks about most(Roy, Brodeur). Plus, he was only about 160 pounds. Put their numbers against their peers' and it's Hasek by a nose.
ReplyDelete