regardless of sport/era who is your hero

Mar-----they were my Dodgers long before that scoundrel  Walter
O'Malley moved them to LA.  He secured his spot in HELL with that move.
It has been a long time since Walter went to his reward so he must be burned to a crisp by now.

 
That's okay.  My Dodgers were Don Drysdale, Jim Gilliam, Pee Wee Reece, Larry Sherry, Maury Wills and Duke Snider.
 
They haven't been my Dodgers since those years.
 
 

Marlene,
 Although I don't usually respond to Baseball 'heros', if you will add Sandy Koufax to your list, I'll co-sign it !
 
Ancient One... I suppose you could think of the 'eternal damnation' to be likened to 'GOOD BBQ' 
Low and Slow !!

 Sir Mayor----I second the Koufax nomination.  Sat behind 1st Base in Shea when a kid had to be thrown out on the mound to oppose Koufax.  Go as far as you can go Tug and then we will send in another reliever -----McGraw pitched a 9 inning shut out ( I think ) at any rate he beat Koufax and I was exhausted.  Every pitch was a potential homer that never happened.
 
Low and Slow for O'Malley----absolutely turn the spit slowly and make sure he suffers to the MAX.
 
Hey Mar----dem dare guys were good in brook-a-lean before dey got to LA.  Snider and I yusta have talks in center field.  He was on the field I was in the first row of the bleachers.  --- you missed Campy----Roy  Campanella a great catcher and hitter and 3 time MVP was in that terrible accident the winter the Bums moved west.  -----

Michael Hoffman----I am sorry to have to correct you but it was "Damn Yankees" starring Gwen Verdon not Damn Dodgers.  Horace Stoneham saw that Walter (the Horrible)  O'Malley was gonna make big bucks so he took
your beloved Giants and Wonderous Willy to the land of Fog and Chippino
and Di Maggios.   I hope he is on the next spit to O'Malley. 

Al, you are so right.  How could I possibly forget Sandy!?
 
I think Campy was before my time.
 
 Damn Yankees!  One of my favorite movies.

I have to admit I always liked waiting to see if Willy Mays would steal another base.  He was great.
 
 

Johnny Bench...he let me (I was about 40 then), hug him and I knew he was the real deal ...I felt honored to know he was exactly as I dreamed he was and not some a-hole egomaniac like some pros can be...
 
Larry Czonka...nuff said...
 
Paul Warfield...He let me try on his 1972 super bowl ring he had on...I swear, the heavens opened up and "I SAW THE LIGHT"....
 
and lastly...
 
Dan Marino... being a pure football fan and watching him play, was one of the most euphoric eras in my life...I am glad to say I saw a great player
 
Honerable Mention... Roberto Clemente ...baseball genious

mar52

Al, you are so right.  How could I possibly forget Sandy!?

Sandy Koufax preceded me as an architecture student at the University of Cincinnati. His talents took him into another direction.

the ancient mariner


Michael Hoffman----I am sorry to have to correct you but it was "Damn Yankees" starring Gwen Verdon not Damn Dodgers.  Horace Stoneham saw that Walter (the Horrible)  O'Malley was gonna make big bucks so he took
your beloved Giants and Wonderous Willy to the land of Fog and Chippino
and Di Maggios.   I hope he is on the next spit to O'Malley. 

Your feeble attempt to divert attention from the fact that the Dodgers were, are, and always shall be damned notwithstanding, I sympathize with your feelings about Walter O'Malley. I know how sad it must be for you to have your Dodgers playing in some ravine out west while my Giants still proudly play in the Polo Grounds.

In your beloved Polo Grounds walk the ghosts of King Carl Hubbell, Prince Hal Schmaker, your hero Mel Ott, Bill Terry, Hoyt Wilhelm, Harry "The Horse" Danning, Buddy Kerr, Jo Jo Moore, Eddie Stanky, Whitey Lockman, Sal Maglie, Alvin Dark, Monte Irvin, Freddie Fitzsimmons, and some others including a guy named Thompson who will live in infamy for one little poke in 1951. 
 
I don't go back to Christy Mathewson's day, or Fred Merkle's and Casey Stengal's ----I just mentioned some I saw "up close and in person".  There were some great teams, some great players, and, Michael,  as long as there are memories there will always be a Polo Grounds and an Ebbet's Field.
 
Even saw Vince Lombardi vs Marshall Goldberg.

Jackie Mitchell, the girl who struck out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig back-to-back.  

Ah, ancient one -- memories.
 
And don't forget Johnny Mize.

MIZE THE GREAT PINCH HITTER----GREAT HITTER PINCH OR OTHERWISE.
 
Bill Terry was manager---the Dodgers were coming into the Polo Grounds in last place---the Giants were in first---the Cards one game out. 
A reporter asked Terry if he was concerned with Brooklyn and he answered "Brooklyn ? Are they still in the league?"
The Dodgers won 3 and the Cards won the pennant and Terry was fired. 
 
 

Jackie MItchell obvisiously was using an over-sized ball, or was using a spit ball, or was pitching with some strange motion or was closer to the plate or something.  Something underhanded was going on----that's for sure. 
 
I batted against Roy Stephenson, a member of the softball Hall of Fame.
I was up once-----3 pitchs that I never saw.  All I heard was the ball hit the catcher's mitt. and the Ump's YER OUT !!!!
Say La vee !!!!

No, there was nothing underhanded or unusual regarding the Jackie Mitchell accomplishment.  It was unspeakably underhanded, however, for baseball commissioner Landis to immediately declare women unfit to play such a strenuous game.

the ancient mariner


MIZE THE GREAT PINCH HITTER----GREAT HITTER PINCH OR OTHERWISE.

Fifty one homers in '47.

Ancient One, did you ever attend a Jack Johnson fight?

the ancient mariner


Being a Brooklyn Dodger fan since birth----
rooting for a team that finished last every year was tough  And then---
Along came Branch Rickey and he brought baseball and the Dodgers into the 20th Century.  He brought in Jackie Robinson, much to the chagrin of many.   Jackie was a pleasure to watch (at least 25 times in person) and read about.  He did it all on the field, and did, indeed, change history. 

Branck Rickey was great but I much prefer Lime Rickey and Branch water, not together though!

Michael, Mize tied with Kiner that year---correct?
Now on to the Chairman of the Bar-B-Q World----nope
Jack Johnson was B/4 my time---Bee-leave it or not, Ripley.
 
I did however shake the hand of Babe Ruth, Jack Dempsey and Jack Sharkey.  Also Jackie Kennedy Onassis.  and Jack Warhop, who pitched the first home run ball to Ruth---Jack was a Chankee back then and Ruth just a lefty pitcher with the Red Socks.
 
Hey man, like I got around. 

the ancient mariner


Michael, Mize tied with Kiner that year---correct?
I did however shake the hand of Babe Ruth, Jack Dempsey and Jack Sharkey.  Also Jackie Kennedy Onassis.  and Jack Warhop, who pitched the first home run ball to Ruth---Jack was a Chankee back then and Ruth just a lefty pitcher with the Red Socks.

I think you're right about Mize and Kiner blasting 51 each. But, as Kiner was a Pirate, who cared.
 
I got to meet Babe Ruth at Yale Field when he was there to present his autobiography to Yale, and gave it to the captain of the baseball team. He said hello to a bunch of us kids and even signed some autographs for us. He died a few months later.
 
By the way, I learned some time later -- around 1988 -- that the captain of that team was some guy named George H.W. Bush.
 
My father introduced me to Jack Dempsey at his, Dempsey's, restaurant. He had huge hands.