Posted By:
DJYeah, I was going to say Lygdamus as well! (what?)
You can't put a sprinter on the list. Sorry Jesse. Sorry Carl. Running fast for a hundred meters doesn't make you an athlete in my opinion. Might as well put Johnny Chan or Marshall Holman on that list then.
I do agree that some of the greatest athletes were some of the Negro League Baseball players like Josh Gibson but isn't it difficult to compare that era to today and especially the 1800's?
Sure Cap Anson was great but would he be Mark Lemke today? How would Barry Bonds fare in 1888? How would Cy Young fare today against these bigger, stronger athletes?
The thing is you never know and WILL never know therefore a debate will always continue. None of us on the Board has ever seen any of these legends in person but what we know is what others tell us and what the stats say.
I think we are much stronger and faster today than we were back then. We trumped Roger Bannister many times over.
Who knows.
DJ