1. Welcome to SportsJournalists.com, a friendly forum for discussing all things sports and journalism.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register for a free account to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Access to private conversations with other members.
    • Fewer ads.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

Kerry Wood -- Greatest what-if ever?

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by Unibomber, Jul 8, 2006.

  1. Football_Bat

    Football_Bat Well-Known Member

    One you would never think of because of how spectacular he was when he played but ....

    [​IMG]

    The Kid. The Thumper. The Splendid Splinter. Teddy Ballgame.

    521 HRs and 525 career doubles. A .344 career BA. Last man to top .400 in a season.

    But here's the kicker:

    Missed all or the most part of 5 of his prime seasons because of service to his country during WWII and Korea. Only 2,654 career hits because of that.

    I just wish I was alive to see him play.

    Tell me Grandpa Spnited, what was Teddy like? :D
     
  2. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    If Tyson hadn't gone to jail, I think he would have become the most dominant the heavyweight ever... Instead, he's still one of the best, but not in the class of the true elite like Ali, etc...

    Brien Taylor belongs on this list... So does Bo Jackson, who I definitely think is the best athlete I've ever seen...
     
  3. Huggy

    Huggy Well-Known Member

    For a banger, Tyson had good boxing skills (as did George Foreman) and showed that on his way up and early in his first reign as champion (watch his clinical destruction of Tyrell Biggs - supposedly the Ali to his Frazier) when Kevin Rooney was in his corner. He could string fast, hard punches together better than any heavyweight since Joe Louis.

    Mr. Friend O' beat me to it with Tony Ayala, a highly-ranked, undefeated, 19-year-old bad-ass junior middleweight who went to jail for sexual assault in 1983. Plenty of potentially great matchups for him around that weight in those days against Benitez, Duran, Leonard, Hearns, Davey Moore, maybe even Hagler. Got out and made a comeback in 1999.
     
  4. Harry Agganis

    http://www.agganisarena.com/about/arena/harry.html

    First round pick of the Cleveland Browns but he decided to play baseball for the Red Sox instead. Spent 15 months in the military and died at age 26 during his second season with the Sox.
     
  5. FileNotFound

    FileNotFound Well-Known Member

    Good thread. I submit for consideration Tim Richmond. Could make the car do pretty much whatever he wanted it to do. Seven wins, 17 top 10s and third in the Winston Cup standings in '86, his third full season and his first with a decent equipment. Could have been the Jeff Gordon of his time. Died of AIDS in '89.
     
  6. playthrough

    playthrough Moderator Staff Member

    Good one. I think he was also an Indy 500 rookie of the year. I forget where I saw a retrospective of his life (espn classic?), but the stories of his prowess in a car and with the ladies were equally numerous.
     
  7. I would also like to add linebacker Clayton Weishuhn of the Patriots to the list. Nobody tackled like Weishuhn - he made Steve Nelson look average before he blew out his knee.

    While we are talking about knees - I agree with adding Gord Kluzak to the list but what about Bobby Orr? Imagine what his final numbers would have been like with two healthy knees.
     
  8. Moderator1

    Moderator1 Moderator Staff Member

    I was fortunate to get to know Tim Richmond during his rise - those who know his history and know me will figure out why - and you are correct in that he was a fine guy, fine driver and he loved the trappings that came with being a superstar. Loved 'em to excess, unfortunately. He had it all. Ability, charm, you name it.

    I walked into his hauler one time for a scheduled interview to find three young things in various states of undress sitting in the little lounge. As I was saying whoops and excuse me, Tim walks in behind me. He surveys the scene and says, "Shit, I thought you were at 3." Nope, 2. "Can you come back?" No problem.

    He also called one time from far far FAR away and said, "That picture you guys ran of me today? How about burning it?" How the hell did you see it? His mom had apparently picked up a copy somehow and relayed to Tim that he looked like shit.

    Miami did a story some time after his death centered around one of the women who'd been infected by Tim. The point of it being there was a growing line of young women following him to the grave. Not sure the story ever came close to quantifying a number. Sad stuff nonetheless. He had it all.
     
  9. Trey Beamon

    Trey Beamon Active Member

    Ki-Jana Carter -- Seemed ready to become the league's next great RB, then blew out knee in preseason of his rookie year.

    Hank Gathers -- His numbers were probably inflated playing at LM, but still...

    Lyman Bostock -- In four seasons, Bostock was a .311 hitter for the Twins and Angels. Then in Sept. 1978 (from Wikipedia)...

    After eating a meal with a group of people, Bostock got in the back seat of his uncle's car. As the vehicle crossed the intersection of 5th and Jackson streets, a car pulled up along side them. The driver got out and fired one blast of a 410 gauge shotgun into the back seat where Bostock was sitting. The shooter, Leonard Smith, did not even know Lyman Bostock. His lethal wrath was intended for his estranged wife, Barbara Smith, who was along with the group as a guest of Bostock's uncle, Thomas Turner, who happened to be her godfather. The blast missed the woman but struck Bostock in the left temple. He died two hours later at a Gary hospital. It was later discovered that Bostock had known the woman in the car for a total of twenty minutes.

    Just horrible...
     
  10. friend of the friendless

    friend of the friendless Active Member

    Sirs, Madames,

    A Jeopardy form to this--using "what if" in question form might be appropriate.

    For hockeyphiles: What if Bryan Fogarty had never touched a drop?

    For horse-racing types: What if Sham had come along one year earlier or one year later? (For the record, in defence of Sham, he did finish ahead of Secretariat once.)

    For a ton of Olympic athletes: What if African nations hadn't boycotted in '76? What if a US-led confederation of like-minded nations hadn't boycotted in '80? What if the Soviet Bloc hadn't responded in kind in '84?

    For ring types: What if Teofilo Stevenson had been allowed to turn pro?

    For soccerphiles: What if the United Kingdom entered a single team in the World Cup (like it does in the Olympics and in other sporting milieus)?

    And everyone has questions, nobody answers.

    (For the record, Fogarty would have been a decent defenceman but no Bobby Orr, Sham would have easily won two legs of the Triple Crown, Filbert Bayi vs John Walker would have been the race of '76 and one of the greatest 1500m in Olympic history, Stevenson would have been lit up by Larry Holmes, and George Best wouldn't be compared to Pele but Pele would be compared to George Best.)

    YHS, etc
     
  11. Huggy

    Huggy Well-Known Member

    Was never a big fan of Stevenson (a guy who could bang but was too mechanical for my liking) and I agree with Mr. Friend O', he would have been dismantled by Holmes (no shame in that - Holmes was the best heavyweight of my lifetime). I wonder what would have become of Barcelona super heavy champ Roberto Balado who died in a car accident.

    Three-time Olympic heavyweight gold emdalist Felix Savon of Cuba is another intriguing "What if?"
     
  12. beefncheddar

    beefncheddar Guest

    Having seen him in the minors, I'll submit Josh Hamilton. He may not be the head of the class, but he's pissed away an AWFUL lot of talent.
     
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page