Best of Out-of-Shape Athletes

[Bear-Arms]

http://www.comcast.net/sports/fatathletes/slideshow/view/1/

 

[Don Wassall]

Not surprisingly there are multiple digs at Babe Ruth, not only Ruth being one of the named athletes but then having this description for John Daly: "This guy prides himself on being so out of shape, Babe Ruth is jealous."


Sonow Ruth is the fattest athlete of all time, which is why obese John Goodman was chosen to portray him in a movie a few years back. Yet Ruth was hardly obese. He had a naturally largeupper bodybut thin legs. But the media will never let him have his due, much like Ty Cobb has been demonized. Anyone from the days of "white supremacy" and before the integration of baseball (which has given us in the subsequent 60 years all of a half dozen or so really good black pitchers) is always going to be found lacking, or packing in this case.


Some names I expected to be included that weren't -- Krispy Kreme Sabathia, multiple batting champion Bill Madlock, and Mickey Lolich.

 

[GWTJ]

I don't have a problem with Ruth being on the list, but it seems like they put the list in order of best to worst. That puts Ruth next to last. What an insult! Ruth was one of the five greatest athletes of all time, in shape or out.

 

[guest301]

Warren Sapp would be one of my top picks. Nate the "Kitchen" Newton would also be right up there. I would say that roughly 70% of the black offensive and defensive lineman in the NFL should be on that list. The fat out of shape list, that is.Edited by: guest301

 

[Don Wassall]

The "fat" pictures of Ruth are from the end of his career when he was an old-looking 40 (and people aged noticeably quicker then than they do now), and even after his career when he made special appearances at various stadiums wearing his Yankees uniform. Ruth had a big round German face and was naturally husky and amazingly powerful, but out of shape and fat? Another media lie.

 

[guest301]

Stocky maybe, but being called fat is ridicoulous. Those pictures don't lie. Those pictures go against the grain of another lie, that Babe Ruth was black. Obviously not true.

 

[sport historian]

As I remember Robert Creamer's biography of Ruth made that point. Ruth was not fat and overweight at his peak.

 

[white is right]

Stocky maybe, but being called fat is ridicoulous. Those pictures don't lie. Those pictures go against the grain of another lie, that Babe Ruth was black. Obviously not true.

Spike Lee is a big advocate of that view. Ruth when he was skinny was clearly Germanic looking. As he got fatter his ethnic features diminished. The reason why the rumours popped up was because of his swarthy tans, combined with his (rare for those times) friendly posing and signing with black fans around the stadium.Edited by: white is right

 

[DixieDestroyer]

Not surprisingly there are multiple digs at Babe Ruth, not only Ruth being one of the named athletes but then having this description for John Daly: "This guy prides himself on being so out of shape, Babe Ruth is jealous."


So now Ruth is the fattest athlete of all time, which is why obese John Goodman was chosen to portray him in a movie a few years back.  Yet Ruth was hardly obese.  He had a naturally large upper body but thin legs.  But the media will never let him have his due, much like Ty Cobb has been demonized.  Anyone from the days of "white supremacy" and before the integration of baseball (which has given us in the subsequent 60 years all of a half dozen or so really good black pitchers) is always going to be found lacking, or packing in this case.


Some names I expected to be included that weren't -- Krispy Kreme Sabathia, multiple batting champion Bill Madlock, and Mickey Lolich.

Don, maybe I'm biased being a Georgian, but IMHO Ty Cobb is the greatest player to step on the baseball field (hands down)!

 

[Don Wassall]

Don, maybe I'm biased being a Georgian, but IMHO Ty Cobb is the greatest player to step on the baseball field (hands down)!

I give the overall edge to Ruth because of his power numbers. There's been nothing like him before or since. Just one amazing stat to think about -- in 1927 Ruth hit nearly one-seventh of the home runs hit in the American League that season. To match that feat today, even adjusting for the increased number of teams, a player would have to hit over 200 homers.


Add in that he is tenth all time in career batting average (.342), and that he was a top pitcher before switching to the outfield, and imo you have the most amazing athlete in American history, who hassince been reduced in the public mind to little more than a fat drunken womanizer by the fanatical anti-white forces that control the media.


But Cobb would be a pretty close second in my book.

Edited by: Don Wassall

 

[Bart]

Not surprisingly there are multiple digs at Babe Ruth, not only Ruth being one of the named athletes but then having this description for John Daly: "This guy prides himself on being so out of shape, Babe Ruth is jealous."

Let's read between the lines. What else is being inferred? If a fat out of shape white ball player could be considered the best of his time... what does that say for thequality and caliber ofthe Ruthian era sans the Negro?And how in hell did David Ortiz not make that list?

 

[Bear-Arms]

I don't have a problem with Ruth being on the list, but it seems like they put the list in order of best to worst. That puts Ruth next to last. What an insult! Ruth was one of the five greatest athletes of all time, in shape or out

There is no order from best to worst. No person in there right mind would rank Livan Henandez #4 ahead of George Foreman and Babe Ruth.

Stocky maybe, but being called fat is ridicoulous. Those pictures don't lie. Those pictures go against the grain of another lie, that Babe Ruth was black. Obviously not true.

I heard Ruth was big for his time but people have a different standard for what is considered out-of-shape today.

Spike Lee is a big advocate of that view. Ruth when he was skinny was clearly Germanic looking. As he got fatter his ethnic features diminished. The reason why the rumours popped up was because of his swarthy tans, combined with his (rare for those times) friendly posing and signing with black fans around the stadium.

I don't know when the rumors started, but if it happened back when, it was probably a common insult. His piggish nose didn't help matters.

 

[GWTJ]

I've always loved the Cobb vs Ruth debates. I admit I am a bigger Cobb fan than a Ruth fan. But they were so different in their styles that it might just be impossible for me to say Cobb was indeed better than Ruth.

When someone pointed out to Ruth that Cobb batted over .400, Ruth said" Hell, I could hit .600, but they pay me to hit those home runs."

When Cobb was asked if he was a better baseball player than Ruth, he said, "Yes, I do think I was a better ballplayer than Ruth. The record book bears that out. It says I was a better baseball player. I will go along with that."

I honestly think a lot of Cobb's incredible greatness has been overlooked. From 1910 to 1919, a ten year period, Cobb batted .390! When he left the game he held 90 records. If you go to the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, check out the records room. On the walls are lists of the all-time leaders in many different categories. Cobb's name appears at or near the top in almost every category. Even slugging %. It is amazing to see how well rounded Cobb's game was.

But what I find most appealing about Cobb was how he used his mind. Players and managers today still study his approach to the game.

For example, Cobb may be the only player in history to study Physiognomy and use it to his advantage.

No player, past or present, could find your weaknesses and use them against you as quickly as Cobb. Players from that era tell stories about the fear he could put into whole defenses.

Of course, Ruth's majestic, towering home runs and World Series pitching records probably trump most of what Cobb did in the majority of people's minds. And if greatness is judged by the people watching, than Ruth better fit the definition of greatness than Cobb.

 

[Solomon Kane]

great posts all...esp. on the ruth v cobb debates.

I wonder if cobb puts the opponent more on edge...after all, after a majestic ruth homer, the slate is clean. true you're two runs down but the slate is clean.

Pitch to cobb...(and its almost a foregone conclusion he will get on base somehow) and if he singles chances are good he'll stretch it in into a double. If he doubles chances are good he'll stretch it into a triple. then he's a threat to steal, including home of course...and he's working every verbal and physical angle to upset your rhythm and your equilibrium. And he's watching the pitcher, looking for telltale signs of a fastball, curve, pitchout, or pickoff. The infielders are worried about him...not only as a threat to steal, but that they'll receive those slashing spikes of his. Their minds are in three places at once, and so is the pitcher's, who will probably walk the next batter...

anyway...you get the idea...this guy makes things happen. there really has been no one like him (or ruth) since.