How many people really consider being a decathele. I think the decathletes are often the track and field people who weren't great at anything. If you are really good at say the 400 meters, I think I would just focus on that and not become a decathlete. Furthermore, how many people could be good at decathalon and no know it. If you are incredibly fast in the 100 meters it is easy to figure out, but the best decathelte could just be playing football.DTMwood said:
derKaiser said:
"Kid" said:
This may tick you off, but I hardly think that baseball requires one to be such a great all around athlete. You're talking about a game that lasts a few hours, but in which most of the players spend the vast majority of that time either sitting on the bench or standing in the field waiting for something to happen. Heck, only the pitcher and catcher on each team are "actively" involved for half of the game. I think that the fact that at 40 he's still having an impact on the sport is proof that the baseball isn't nearly as athletically demanding as other sports.Triodelover said:Well, this will tick a lot of folks off, but the only multi-dimensional athlete on that list is Barry. In fact, I would argue that baseball is our only sport that requires excellence in multiple areas to be considred a "great".
Bonds is a five-tool player. In his prime he could hit, hit for power, run, field and throw. Many forget that he started as a center fielder, one the two most demanding defensive positions on the diamon (shortstop is the other).
At 40, he isn't the defensive star he once was, and his speed on the basepaths has been diminished, but then that 's not as valauble askill as it was when he came up in '86. But he has demolished the single-season records for OBP, OPS, slugging percentage, walks and homers. He will very shortly be the third man to hit 700 career homers. At 40, his OBP is .612 (the MLB record is .585 and it's Barry's), he's slugging .828, a tad below his own record of .863. Going into tonight's game he's walked 198 times, which ties his own single-season record. No other athlete alters the strategy of the game he plays the way Barry alters a baseball game.
One could reasonably argue that his skills are the result of winning the gene pool, because his remarkable visual acuity and hand/eye coordination are largely responsible for the above records and his amazing control of the strike zone. But nonetheless, he's in uncharted waters. We've never had a ballpalyer - even the Babe - who was this old and we are still unable to define a career peak. He does what Ted Williams called the hardest thing in sports - hitting a pitched ball - better than anyone alive and anyone I've ever been fortunate enought to see. I'm old enough to have seen Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, Hank Aaron, Frank Robinson in their primes, and Teddy Ballgame in his twilight years. Barry is simply the best.
The rest of your list are One-Note Johnnies. Does this mean he is the greatest American athlete? I'm not sure that's something that can be easily defined. But I do know he dominates his sport, even at 40, in ways none of the others dominated theirs, even in their primes.
Yes, I'm a huge baseball fan.
I have to agree on the whole Barry Bonds (and most baseball players). yes Bonds used to be good defensively but those skills faded as he became more of a power hitter. As as being an athlete just ask John Kruk. I am not saying Bonds isn't an athlete but as far as physical conditioning LA is far suprerior and Bonds probably has well I can't even think of something to compare his hand co-ord and reaction times to.Shreklookalike said:
http://www.velonews.com/diaries/rider/articles/6872.0.html
derKaiser said:
Triodelover said:Well, this will tick a lot of folks off, but the only multi-dimensional athlete on that list is Barry. In fact, I would argue that baseball is our only sport that requires excellence in multiple areas to be considred a "great".
Bonds is a five-tool player. In his prime he could hit, hit for power, run, field and throw. Many forget that he started as a center fielder, one the two most demanding defensive positions on the diamon (shortstop is the other).
At 40, he isn't the defensive star he once was, and his speed on the basepaths has been diminished, but then that 's not as valauble askill as it was when he came up in '86. But he has demolished the single-season records for OBP, OPS, slugging percentage, walks and homers. He will very shortly be the third man to hit 700 career homers. At 40, his OBP is .612 (the MLB record is .585 and it's Barry's), he's slugging .828, a tad below his own record of .863. Going into tonight's game he's walked 198 times, which ties his own single-season record. No other athlete alters the strategy of the game he plays the way Barry alters a baseball game.
One could reasonably argue that his skills are the result of winning the gene pool, because his remarkable visual acuity and hand/eye coordination are largely responsible for the above records and his amazing control of the strike zone. But nonetheless, he's in uncharted waters. We've never had a ballpalyer - even the Babe - who was this old and we are still unable to define a career peak. He does what Ted Williams called the hardest thing in sports - hitting a pitched ball - better than anyone alive and anyone I've ever been fortunate enought to see. I'm old enough to have seen Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, Hank Aaron, Frank Robinson in their primes, and Teddy Ballgame in his twilight years. Barry is simply the best.
The rest of your list are One-Note Johnnies. Does this mean he is the greatest American athlete? I'm not sure that's something that can be easily defined. But I do know he dominates his sport, even at 40, in ways none of the others dominated theirs, even in their primes.
Yes, I'm a huge baseball fan.
Triodelover said:Well, this will tick a lot of folks off, but the only multi-dimensional athlete on that list is Barry. In fact, I would argue that baseball is our only sport that requires excellence in multiple areas to be considred a "great".
Bonds is a five-tool player. In his prime he could hit, hit for power, run, field and throw. Many forget that he started as a center fielder, one the two most demanding defensive positions on the diamon (shortstop is the other).
At 40, he isn't the defensive star he once was, and his speed on the basepaths has been diminished, but then that 's not as valauble askill as it was when he came up in '86. But he has demolished the single-season records for OBP, OPS, slugging percentage, walks and homers. He will very shortly be the third man to hit 700 career homers. At 40, his OBP is .612 (the MLB record is .585 and it's Barry's), he's slugging .828, a tad below his own record of .863. Going into tonight's game he's walked 198 times, which ties his own single-season record. No other athlete alters the strategy of the game he plays the way Barry alters a baseball game.
One could reasonably argue that his skills are the result of winning the gene pool, because his remarkable visual acuity and hand/eye coordination are largely responsible for the above records and his amazing control of the strike zone. But nonetheless, he's in uncharted waters. We've never had a ballpalyer - even the Babe - who was this old and we are still unable to define a career peak. He does what Ted Williams called the hardest thing in sports - hitting a pitched ball - better than anyone alive and anyone I've ever been fortunate enought to see. I'm old enough to have seen Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, Hank Aaron, Frank Robinson in their primes, and Teddy Ballgame in his twilight years. Barry is simply the best.
The rest of your list are One-Note Johnnies. Does this mean he is the greatest American athlete? I'm not sure that's something that can be easily defined. But I do know he dominates his sport, even at 40, in ways none of the others dominated theirs, even in their primes.
Yes, I'm a huge baseball fan.
