Who are the best players that you have seen live in a game?

[oldjudge]

Baseball—Mickey Mantle, Ted Williams
Football—Lawrence Taylor, Walter Payton
Basketball—Bill Russell, Michael Jordan
Hockey—Bobby Orr, Wayne Gretzky

Bob-The only soccer game I’ve ever been to was Santos of Brazil against Milan at Yankee Stadium, so for me the soccer answer would also be Pele/Pele

[barrysloate]

Originally Posted by oldjudge

Baseball—Mickey Mantle, Ted Williams
Football—Lawrence Taylor, Walter Payton
Basketball—Bill Russell, Michael Jordan
Hockey—Bobby Orr, Wayne Gretzky

Bob-The only soccer game I’ve ever been to was Santos of Brazil against Milan at Yankee Stadium, so for me the soccer answer would also be Pele/Pele

Jay- I saw Pele play in person, but it wasn't soccer.

Every summer on the East End of Long Island there is a charity event called the Artists-Writers softball game. It's mostly celebrities now with only a limited number of real artists and writers playing.

In the early 90's we used to go every year to see it, and one time Pele was there playing. I don't think soccer skills translate that well to softball, since he did nothing remarkable batting or fielding. But at one point he walked right past me, which I thought was very cool. So I guess I can say I saw Pele play too, just the wrong sport.

[bobbyw8469]

Haven't seen many professional contests in person (only 2 - one NBA and one NHL), but I saw Allen Iverson come to town. He was AWESOME

[commishbob]

Originally Posted by oldjudge

Baseball—Mickey Mantle, Ted Williams
Football—Lawrence Taylor, Walter Payton
Basketball—Bill Russell, Michael Jordan
Hockey—Bobby Orr, Wayne Gretzky

Bob-The only soccer game I’ve ever been to was Santos of Brazil against Milan at Yankee Stadium, so for me the soccer answer would also be Pele/Pele

That must have been a cool event. My Pele game was when he was with the Cosmos at the Meadowlands. So he wasn't 'vintage' Pele but it was still great. I've seen Messi in his prime but I still have to list Pele as the best I've ever seen in person.

[darwinbulldog]

Originally Posted by commishbob

That must have been a cool event. My Pele game was when he was with the Cosmos at the Meadowlands. So he wasn't 'vintage' Pele but it was still great. I've seen Messi in his prime but I still have to list Pele as the best I've ever seen in person.

I think in a few decades the consensus will be that Messi was better than Pele. These things take some time.

[VoodooChild]

Sport --- First Game --- Any Game

Baseball : Jason Thompson (My favorite Pirate player as a little kid) , Frank Thomas (Spring Training game against the Pirates and had tickets right behind the plate. Dude is huge and hit a bomb that was so loud off the bat. I never heard anything like that before at a game.)

Football : Dan Marino (1981 Pitt vs. Army, I think he threw for 4 TD's and around 300 yds.), Troy Polamalu

Basketball : Curly Neal (Globetrotters) , Allen Iverson

Hockey : Mario Lemieux, Mario Lemieux (This one is easy. He's the most dominate athlete that I've seen in person in any sport.)

[triwak]

Baseball: Bob Gibson, Hank Aaron
Football: Len Dawson, Joe Montana
Basketball: Curley Neil & Meadowlark Lemon

[MooseDog]

My answers are based on my feeling of the "best" player and how they performed in the game(s) I attended, not necessarily best in popular culture. For example I saw Michael Jordan once, but he didn't have a very good game. I saw Mickey Mantle in his last season, but he was a shadow of what he was supposed to be.

Baseball Frank Robinson - Ken Griffey Jr

Football Ken Stabler - Emmett Smith

Basketball Meadowlark Lemon - Kevin Durant

Hockey Bobby Orr Bobby Orr/Mario Lemieux

That last one is a tough call. I saw them completely dominate a hockey game almost single-handedly, which is very tough to do in hockey. Then again, those games were against very poor Seals/Sharks teams.

[insidethewrapper]

Baseball: Kaline,Mantle, Bonds,Ryan
Basketball: Bird, Lew Alcindor
Hockey : Howe

[commishbob]

Originally Posted by darwinbulldog

I think in a few decades the consensus will be that Messi was better than Pele. These things take some time.

Could be. Of course 'best ever' is something we'll all see differently in every sport. That's part of the fun of these threads.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by darwinbulldog

I think in a few decades the consensus will be that Messi was better than Pele. These things take some time.

No World Cups. He won't eclipse Pele in my opinion. Plus Pele had more charisma, joie de vivre, flair, whatever you want to call it. Even if Messi technically is better, it won't matter.

[tonyo]

Hockey: Mario Lemieux, although props to Marian Hossa when he played for the Thrashers (who?)
Football: Jerry Rice saw him score 5 td's vs atl in 1990
Basketball: Michael Jordan, runner up saw Dominique go for 50 once
Baseball: So many, but at my first game in Cincinnati pick'em : Joe Morgan was my fav, Pete Rose, Bench,
Soccer Miguel Almiron