Feb. 27 Prominent Sports Figures

Sports Figures

Cassius Clay (My grandpa boxed in Michigan and Cassius, how my grandpa knew him, was my grandpa's all time favorite. Both suffered with Parkinson's Disease)

Muhammad Ali (1942-2016) was an American former heavyweight champion boxer and one of the greatest sporting figures of the 20th century. An Olympic gold medalist and the first fighter to capture the heavyweight title three times, Ali won 56 times in his 21-year professional career.

*****

Willie Mays (One of my mom's favorite baseball players)

Willie Howard Mays Jr., nicknamed "the Say Hey Kid" and "Buck", is a former center fielder in Major League Baseball. Regarded as one of the greatest players ever, Mays ranks second behind only Babe Ruth on most all-time lists, including those of The Sporting News and ESPN.

*****

Maury Wills (Another favorite of mine & my Mom's)

Maury Wills of the Los Angeles Dodgers sliding into third base ahead of the throw to the St. Louis Cardinals; Ken Boyer in 1965. His base running helped bring the Dodgers four pennants and three World Series championships.

Maury Wills of the Los Angeles Dodgers sliding into third base ahead of the throw to the St. Louis Cardinals’ Ken Boyer in 1965. His base running helped bring the Dodgers four pennants and three World Series championships.

Maury Wills, the star Los Angeles Dodger shortstop who revived the art of base-stealing in the 1960s and became one of the most exciting ballplayers of his time, died on Monday night at his home in Sedona, Ariz. He was 89.

The chants of “Go, go, go!” resounded from Dodger fans when the slender Wills took a lead off first base. He was soon off and running — stealing second base, and sometimes third moments later, spurring the usually light-hitting Dodgers to scratch out enough runs to come up winners.

Wills had spent more than eight seasons in the minors when he joined the Dodgers in early June 1959. But he took over at shortstop and helped bring the team four pennants and three World Series championships.

Wills set a modern major league record when he stole 104 bases in 1962, eclipsing the record of 96 set by Ty Cobb in 1915 and transforming baseball from the power game that had prevailed since Babe Ruth’s heyday. He set the stage for Lou Brock of the St. Louis Cardinals, who stole 118 bases in 1974, and Rickey Henderson of the Oakland A’s, who set the current record with 130 steals in 1982.

The Seattle Mariners hired Wills in August 1980 as the third Black manager in major league baseball history, following Frank Robinson of the Cleveland Indians and Larry Doby of the Chicago White Sox. But Wills’s managerial tenure was brief and unsuccessful. He was later plagued by cocaine addiction.

In his base-stealing prime, Wills was adept at getting a quick jump off the bag, and he was a master of sliding under or around a tag. He took long leads and studied pitchers’ habits intently.

“Stealing is a matter of confidence, even conceit,” he told The New York Times in September 1962. “It’s more than getting a good jump, a big lead. It’s being in the right frame of mind. I run with the thought that the pitcher will make a perfect throw and the catcher will make a perfect throw and I’ll still beat them. I don’t have a doubt.”

A hardly imposing 5 feet 10 inches and 165 pounds, Wills, known as Mouse to his teammates, was a popular figure among Dodger fans in Los Angeles during the team’s first decade there after leaving Brooklyn.

Early in September 1962, while covering the race for California governor between the incumbent, Edmund G. Brown, and Richard M. Nixon, the Washington columnist James Reston of The Times wrote, “If, after the season, Maury Wills were to run for governor, neither Brown nor Nixon would have a chance.”

*****

Hank Aaron, another favorite

Aaron, whose 755 home runs and 2,297 runs batted in are the most in major league history, was voted No. 14 among North American athletes of the 20th century by Sports Century's distinguished 48-person panel.

Signature game

April 8, 1974 -- Aaron was 15 months old when Babe Ruth hit the last of his record 714 homers. Thirty-eight years later, in the summer of '73, Aaron's chase to beat the Babe heated up. So did the mail. He received more than an estimated 3,000 letters a day. Unfortunately, much of it was hate mail, including death threats, sent by racists. The year ended with Aaron at 713 homers.

Hammerin' Hank was determined not to let the threats distract him from his quest. On his first swing of the 1974 season, he tied Babe's record in Cincinnati. Tonight at Atlanta Stadium, 53,775 fans - the largest crowd in Braves history - came out to witness history. Aaron didn't disappoint them.

In the fourth inning, on his first swing of the evening, he ripped a fastball from Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander Al Downing into the Braves bullpen, where it was caught by reliever Tom House. To everyone's relief, there were no shots fired from the crowd, nobody out to kill Aaron for besting Ruth - just cheers and adulation.

As Aaron rounded second base, two college students appeared and ran alongside him. He was mobbed by his teammates when he reached home plate.

Baseball had a new home-run king.

Odds and ends

Aaron grew up in Mobile, Ala., as a reserved kid who rarely got into trouble and had few friends.

Aaron credits his hauling ice as a 16-year-old for developing his wrists. He worked from 6 a.m. until 1 p.m. - for $2.25 a day.

After his numerous errors at shortstop and second base in the minors, the Braves moved Aaron to the outfield. He was dispatched to a winter-league team in Puerto Rico after the 1953 season.

In his major league debut in 1954 against the Reds, Aaron went 0-for-5, with two strikeouts.

Aaron wore No. 5 as a rookie, before he switched to No. 44 in 1955.

Even though he led the National League with 200 hits and a .328 batting average in 1956, he was pictured backward - hitting left-handed - on his 1957 baseball card.

Aaron's 1,000th hit was a single off Koufax in 1959. At 25, he was the second youngest to reach that plateau.

In 1963, Aaron was a 30-30 man, with 44 homers and a career-high 31 steals. He finished with 240 thefts in his career.

After the Braves clinched the N.L. West in 1969, Aaron celebrated with his teammates. Somehow, he got home, but he didn't have a key. With the door locked, he tried breaking in through a window, and severely gashed his hand. Despite the injury, he batted .357 with three homers and seven RBI in 14 at-bats as the Braves were swept in three games by the Mets.

Tommie Aaron played with his older brother on the Braves in parts of seven seasons between 1962 and 1971.

On May 17, 1970, Aaron was the first player to compile 500 homers and 3,000 hits with an infield single off Cincinnati's Wayne Simpson at Crosley Field, where Aaron made his major league debut. At the time, only one other player had ever gotten 3,000 hits and 200 homers - Stan Musial (475 homers, 3,630 hits).

Aaron appeared in an early '70s Wheaties commercial in which he had trouble fielding balls and batting because he didn't eat the cereal.

In 1972, Walter Cronkite announced that Aaron had just become the highest paid player in baseball when he signed a three-year contract for $200,000 a season.

The Braves and Aaron would have liked Hank to sit out the first three games of the 1974 season, so he could tie and break the record at home. But Commissioner Bowie Kuhn ordered the Braves to play Aaron twice in Cincinnati. Kuhn did not attend the game when Aaron hit No. 715.

Aaron was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers for outfielder Dave May and pitcher Roger Alexander on Nov. 2, 1974.

Aaron's 755 homers came off 310 pitchers. Don Drysdale was his most frequent victim (17). Aaron hit his most homers in the first inning (124) and July was his most productive month (152). Exactly 400 homers were solo shots. Only once did he hit three homers in a game, in San Francisco on June 21, 1959.

Among Aaron's major league records is a dubious one - grounding into 328 double plays.

In 1982, he came within nine votes (out of 415) of being the first player to be unanimously elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Aaron has always been a frequent critic of baseball for not hiring more African-Americans as managers or in significant front-office positions.

*****

Wilt Chamberlain (One of my basketball favorites. Saw him several times, floor seats, at the Forum).

Wilton Norman Chamberlain was an American professional basketball player who played at the center position. Standing at 7 ft 1 in tall, he played in the National Basketball Association for 14 years and is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the sport's history.

*****

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. I also saw him play at the Forum

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is an American former professional basketball player who played 20 seasons in the National Basketball Association for the Milwaukee Bucks and the Los Angeles Lakers. During his career as a center, Abdul-Jabbar was a record six-time NBA Most Valuable Player.

*****

The 11 Most Influential Black Athletes & Coaches in Sports History

Stacy Mickles 02.26.23

February may be Black History Month, but it's always a good time to celebrate the accomplishments of African Americans throughout history. Here at FanBuzz, we would like to recognize 11 influential black athletes and coaches who made a huge impact on the sport they either played or coached in. Some of the names are familiar, but there may be one or two you may not recognize, and I hope that bringing them to light and giving them the recognition they deserve will give you a greater appreciation for what they accomplished.

Here is the list of the 11 most influential African American athletes and coaches in sports history. They are all absolute trailblazers.

11. Bill Russell

There will be a lot of talk about the late Boston Celtics legend Bill Russell at the 2023 All-Star Game in Utah and rightfully so. The 11-time NBA Champion Boston basketball team leader was also a five-time NBA MVP and a two-time NCAA Champion with the San Francisco Dons. A superstar on and off the court, Russell stood up for black athletes even after his days of collecting rebounds were over. The NBA legend refused to accept his Hall of Fame ring until the Springfield institution inducted Chuck Cooper, the first black payer to ever be drafted into the NBA. It only took 40 years, but Cooper got his induction and Russell finally accepted his ring. Across America, from Seattle to Chicago to Boston, Bill Russell's legend looms large.

10. Arthur Ashe

Arthur Ashe is not recognized enough for his accomplishments. He is the first and only African American man to win multiple tennis Grand Slam titles, winning the 1968 US Open, 1970 Australian Open and 1975 Wimbledon. He was also one of the first athletes to announce he was battling AIDS. His courage and guts remains one of the reasons he is a legend across the sporting world.

9. Michael Jordan

MJ makes the list because he was one of the first players in ANY sport to have his own shoe brand named after him and one of the first athletes of any kind to be a multi-millionaire. His Airness opened the door for many Black athletes with his multi-million dollar contracts, and he inspired an entire generation that built the NBA into the juggernaut league it is today. Even though he is retired, his shoes are still as popular as ever. The Air Jordan star worth a staggering $1.6 billion today.

8. Eddie Robinson

With 408 career wins and nine national championships among Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Robinson was one of the winningest coaches of all time in college football at Grambling State. Despite being at a small school, he sent several players to the NFL including Doug Williams, Buck Buchanan, Willie Brown and Charlie Joiner. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1997.

7. Frank Robinson

Frank Robinson was best known as a great outfielder for the Cincinnati Reds and Baltimore Orioles. Later, he would become the first African American hired as a manager in Major League Baseball. He wasn't all that successful as his tenure as baseball manager, but he opened the door for other Black managers like Dusty Baker and Cito Gaston, who became the first Black manager to win a World Series title in 1992. Needless to say, the late Frank Robinson earned his spot on our list of influential black athletes and then some.

6. Doug Williams

Doug Williams, for those of you who may not know or don't remember, was the first African American starting quarterback to win a Super Bowl. For years, a lot of Black quarterbacks coming out of college were told they weren't good enough or smart enough to play the position, but Williams changed all of that leading the Washington Redskins not only to the playoffs, but eventually to a Super Bowl XXII win in 1988. The football player's win proved that, yes, Black quarterbacks are indeed good enough and smart enough to play the position.

5. Serena Williams

The female tennis player with the most Grand Slam titles in this tennis era (23) is second only to Margaret Court, but she probably deserves a higher ranking here. Serena has been instrumental in pushing for higher pay for women in tennis, and she continues to play at a high level to this day while continuing to fight for the rights of others. Serena Williams is more than the best African American woman athlete of all time. She's an icon.

4. Jesse Owens

What Jesse Owens did in the 1936 Olympic Games proved that a Black man could not only compete with a white man, but can be better than him, too. Even more important, Owens did it all in Berlin, Germany, right in front Adolf Hitler. Owens won four Olympic gold medals and literally made Hitler and his theory that the Aryan race was superior look absolutely foolish on the international stage. The track and field athlete will forever be a legend.

3. Tiger Woods

There hasn't been a golfer before or since who had as much impact as Tiger Woods. Woods is second only to Jack Nicklaus in major wins on the PGA Tour and is one of the first Black billionaires. When Tiger is in the hunt, it is still must-see TV. Woods hadn't won a major in several years prior to capturing the 2019 Master's Tournament in an emotional comeback. He is still considered one of the best golfers, if not the best golfer, of all time.

2. Frederick Douglass "Fritz" Pollard

A lot of people know that Tony Dungy was the first African American coach to win a Super Bowl, but Fritz Pollard was the first African American to become a head coach in the NFL. Many may not know this, but Pollard was a star running back at Brown University and was their first African American player. Pollard did more than just play football, he was also the owner of his own team, the Brown Bombers, and started one of the first Black newspapers in the country with the New York Independent News. If it wasn't for Fritz Pollard, there would be no Tony Dungy.

1. Jackie Robinson

You probably already know Jackie Robinson was the first African American to integrate any professional sport when he joined the MLB in 1947, but he is No. 1 on this list because of all the racism he had to endure. He was insulted, harassed and taunted not only by fans, but by players and managers of other teams as well despite winning the 1947 Rookie of the Year and 1949 National League MVP awards. He could have easily fought back, but he didn't. Robinson became one of the greatest baseball players of all time and is a Hall of Famer. He endured and broke the sport's color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers so others could persevere, making him a pioneer of the American Civil Rights Movement and one of the most influential Black athletes.

Honorable Mentions

Muhammad Ali, boxer iconically known for his activism who needs little introduction

Althea Gibson, tennis player who was first Black woman to compete on the world tennis tour and first African American to win a Grand Slam title (1956 French Open)

Shani Davis, speed skater who was first Black athlete to win a gold medal in an individual events at the Winter Olympics

LeBron James, basketball player who has won four NBA MVP awards and is a 17-time All-Star

Jack Johnson, boxer and the first Black heavyweight champion

Wilma Rudolph, track and field athlete and three-time Olympic gold medalist known as "the fastest woman in the world."

Florence Griffith Joyner, sprinter and three-time Olympic gold medalist known for eclectic style and world record-setting speed

Joe Louis, boxer who had the longest single reign as champion in boxing history

Simone Biles, four-time Olympic gold medalist and most-decorated gymnast of all time

Jim Brown, NFL player and three-time MVP considered one of the greatest college and professional football players ever

Venus Williams, sister of Serena also considered one of the greatest tennis players ever for winning seven Grand Slam singles titles.

Barry Bonds, MLB player who holds the record for most career home runs (762)

Hank Aaron, MLB player who previously held the record for most career home runs (755)