Also Robin Roberts and Old Pete.
I hear you, but furt limited his choices to post 1970 Phillies.
Chicago Bulls
- Michael Jordan (we could stop here if you’d like :-).
- Scottie Pippen
- Bob Love
- Jerry Sloan
- Dennis Rodman
- Norm Van Lier
- Horace Grant
- John Paxson
- Artis Gilmore
- Bill Cartwright
Chicago Bears
- Walter Payton
- Gayle Sayers
- Sid Luckman
- Mike Singletary
- Red Grange
- Bronko Nagurski
- Dick Butkus
- Mike Ditka
- Gary Fencik
- Brian Urlacher
Bonus points if I could combine Dan Hampton & Steve McMichael into one defensive mega-beast I like to call Deve HamMichael.
Von Hayes over Pat Burrell? man! They were both hated in town (Although, Burrell picked up some love this year.) over the course of their careers, but I think Pat came through a lot more often. Just think of them as sort of comparable.
Von Hayes over Garry Maddox? I don’t know!
I forgot about Dutch! I loved him as a Phillie and I was glad he was able to get a ring with the Marlins.
No Jaws?
I don’t remember Eric Allen. But, looking him up reminds me of Seth Joyner. He was pretty great with the Eagles.
Not criticizing, just wondering.
D’Oh! I forgot about you, dude. Should have put “guys that nobody but RNATB knows.” Yeah, Marshall should be on there, and Mike Walker, too. Asante Samuel wasn’t as big a deal while here as he’s become in the NFL.
- St. Daunte
- 24K
- Little Joe
- Mike Walker
- Brandon Marshall
- Ryan Schneider
- Shawn Jefferson
- Tito Rodriguez
- Asante Samuel
- Cedric Gagne-Marcoux
Matt Prater would have made the top ten, but I ain’t forgiving that missed extra point…
San Diego Chargers All-Time Top 10
1> Dan Fouts
2> Ladainian Tomlinson
3> Lance Alworth
4> Charlie Joiner
5> Kellen Winslow
6> Fred Dean
7> Junior Seau
8> Ron Mix
9> Stan Humphries
10> Darren Bennett
I don’t think there is any doubt about my top 8. 6 are in the HOF and the other 2 are future HOF’ers. Although, I admittedly have never actually seen Ron Mix or Lance Alworth play; their reputation of those that have from Charger message boards, and their HOF status cements it for me.
The last two were more difficult… I had to give Stan Humphries his props as the QB of our only Super Bowl team. And Darren Bennett, a punter, is maybe an odd pick, there are probably players from different positions that people would put here… But Bennett excelled at his position for 10 years, and made the “All 90’s team”.
Old Five-For-One gets a bum rap – I ain’t gonna blame him because he was overhyped. He was clearly better than Bake McBride, and I’d argue pretty comparable in terms of contribution to Maddox. He was an above-average player for a lot of years. My memory was telling me it was ten years, but now that I’ve looked it up, it was only seven (that’s what happens when you think about upon the players of your youth late at night after beer, I suppose). So upon reflection and looking up the stats, yeah, I’d have to
Luzinski 10,
Boone 11,
Schilling 12 (his great years came in Arizona)
Pat Burrell 13
Maddox and Hayes 14.
Bake McBride isn’t in the top 25.
New York Yankees
- Babe Ruth
- Mickey Mantle
- Joe Dimaggio
- Lou Gehrig
- Yogi Berra
- Whitey Ford
- Mariano Rivera
- Don Mattingly
- Bill Dickey
- Derek Jeter
Almost made it: Goose Gossage, Reggie, Dave Winfield, Rickey, Spud Chandler, Bernie Williams, Thurman Munson
Yeah, and looking him up, I probably overrated him, too.
But my favorite all-time sports memories are from the 1993 Phillies. One was Pete Incaviglia, of all people, busting his ass to beat out an infield hit and start a ninth-inning rally.
Another was a meaningless game, where the Phils had like a six-run lead, two out in eighth inning. Rounding third on a soft single to right comes 240 pounds of Randy fucking Milligan. Throw comes in from Eisenreich, and damned if Dutch doesn’t stick out that knee – that surgically-repaired-umpteen-times, blow-it-again-and-your-career-might-be-done, don’t-be-stupid-about-this, we-have-a-big-lead knee – and fucking dare that sumbitch to come and get him. Milligan barrelled straight into that knee with a full head of steam.
It’s 2009, and Randy Milligan still hasn’t touched that plate.
240 pounds, full speed, and he moved Daulton about two inches. Catch, tag, end of inning.
I love Jaws, but outside of 1980, he was just OK. The Vermeil teams were much more about Wilbert Montgomery and the defense. Jaws would be at about 17 on my list, a spot behind Randall Cunningham.
And Seth Joyner was criminally underrated. If Buddy Ryan had chosen to use him the way the Giants used LT, he could have had 10-12 sacks a year.
Since the Reds aint been done yet
Cincinnati Reds
- Pete Rose
- Johnny Bench
- Joe Morgan
- Dave Concepion
- Tony Perez
- Tom Seaver
- Ted Kluszewski
- Frank Robinson
- Edd Roush
- George Foster
Pretty heavy on the Big Red Machine
If you went before 1970 the list would make no sense at all, of course, since you’d have to add not only Roberts and Alexander, but Chuck Klein, Sherry Magee, Del Ennis, Granny Hamner, and maybe others. Ed Delahanty, perhaps.
Thinking of all those Phillies - boy, that 1980 team could play some friggin’ defense, huh? Trillo, Schmidt, Maddox, Boone. Rose was no slouch at first.
Delahanty for sure; objectively, he’s top 5. Sliding Billy Hamilton might make the list if I wanted to go way back. That’s pretty much why I limited it to my lifetime; I’d put all of those except Hamner in the top 12 or so, and I didn’t want to have the list dominated by guys I’d never actually seen play.
OK, Houston Rockets starting 5:
C Moses Malone
PF Yao Ming
SF Hakeem Olajuwon
SG Calvin Murphy
PG Ralph Sampson
They’d just throw the ball to each other over the other player’s heads to get it up the floor. And Murphy would hide behind the other guys in hopes no one would notice him.
I included guys who I had never seen, but had heard a bunch about or had seen a movie based on their life. Just because they popped into my head. Although, I almost had Kruk on the list. 93 was such a great year for characters and I thought Kruk was the best of the bunch.
I think you are either overrating Hayes, or underrating Maddox. Defensive and consistency really make me rate Maddox far higher than Von Hayes. Hmm. I guess Maddox wasn’t as good as I remembered - looking at Baseball Prospectus. Still, he accumulated more hits, and had a better career batting average and slugging percentage. That added with his defense makes me put him above good old 5 for 1
Texas Longhorns
Scott Appleton
Tony Brackens
Earl Campbell
Bobby Layne
Colt McCoy
Tommy Nobis
Jerry Sisemore
James Street
Ricky Williams
Vince Young
I knew I didn’t walk alone on this one 
I am sure I will be only one, so here it goes:
in no particular order:
Kansas State Wildcats
Football
Kevin Lockett
Michael Bishop
Darren Howard
Gary Spani
Lynn Dickey
Darren Sproles
Jordy Nelson
Terrence Newman
Martin Grammatica
Veryl Switzer
Basketball
Michael Beasley
Mitch Richmond
Bob Boozer
Rolando Blackmon
Mike Evans
Jack Parr
Lon Kruger
Bill Walker
Steve Henson
Chuckie Williams
Mad, your list is exactly what mine would have been, to the man. 
Chicago Cubs (in alphabetical order. I’m **mostly **confining the list to players since the last World Series appearance in 1945):
Ernie Banks
Andre Dawson
Mark Grace
Gabby Hartnett
Fergie Jenkins
Greg Maddux
Ryne Sandberg
Ron Santo
Sammy Sosa (controversial)
Billy Williams
The difference in defensive value is pretty gigantic. They didn’t call Garry Maddox “The Secretary of Defense” for nothing; he was one of the best fielding outfielders in the game. I’d say Maddox’s 1976 was as good as any flashier-hitting-numbers Hayes year.