PGStaff posted:I think there are more great athletes in Football and Basketball. But there have been some of the most highly regarded HS Football players that are now playing professional baseball. However the highest ranked basketball players almost always stick to basketball, mainly because they concentrate on basketball year around.
IMO, NBA players, anyway many of them, are the best athletes in professional sports. I also agree that we (baseball) are very likely missing some black players that might have been the next Willie Mays, Henry Aaron, Barry Bonds type players. Baseball is a sport that requires years of learning. So does basketball. A great athlete can be an excellent football player in a short period of time.
I also believe there is more opportunity in baseball than any other sport. Baseball is a giant industry and many people and players that never made it to the top are making a living in baseball. I wish more young kids understood the opportunities available in baseball.
RJM, with all due respect, before calling Carl Crawford soft you should know his entire story. He grew up in poverty and was one of the best option QBs in Texas HS history, He was committed to U of Nebraska and was also recruited by top college basketball programs.
Baseball wasn't his best sport, but he had to sign because of the money. An unbelievable athlete that suffered through many injuries during a very lucrative career. He was one that made the right decision going with baseball. It is actually the great athletes that suffer the most by injury. Taking speed away from a great athlete can end a career. They didn't pay Carl all that money thinking he was soft.
Being a big fan of both football and baseball, I still wish baseball would get more of those great athletes playing those sports.
Crawford was soft relative to playing in a competitive, intense northeast environment with high expectations. He was always whining how the press treated him. The fans pulled for him until he was all whine and no production. He was still whining two years after he was traded.