Who did you idolize as a kid?

Baseball: Yaz and Rose - They got the most out of their ability by practicing and playing harder than anyone else.

Football: Larry Wilson and Pat Fischer - I was a defensive back in high school. These guys were intense. They were big hitters. They overcame not being as physically large as other players by playing larger.

Basketball: John Havlicek - He hustled and hustled and hustled and wanted the ball with the game on the line. As someone else uses as a byline, Hustle never had a bad day. Bill Russell is right behind him. It was always about the team.

Hockey: Bobby Orr - I grew up in New England. He was the favorite of every New England kid. Orr was way ahead of his time and the best. He was scoring 100-140 points pers season as a defenseman. He was also tough. No one messed with Orr. Keith Magnuson, the NHL tough guy at the time took a couple of runs at Orr. Orr destroyed him both times. After that no one messed with Orr.

Pete Rose

The baseball player I most wished I could play like was Joe Morgan. Kids all over Cincinnati had the wing flap when they batted.

Not trying to derail this thread at all, but the people I "idolized" were my parents and I mean that 100%. I still do today.

Baseball - Rose
Football - Pat Fischer
Basketball - John Havlicek

Rose because we played the game just like him. There was no other way to play it. All out, all the time. And I loved the Reds.

Football - Fischer because he was undersized and had no business playing in the NFL. But he wouldn't let that stop him. He was a big hitter and a fierce competitor. I loved watching him play. And I grew up a big skins fan. They were the team we got on Sundays here in NC on TV.

Havlicek - Because I loved the way Hondo played the game. And we have always been big Celtics fans.

Wow RJM what are the chances that we both would have the same 3 players? Pretty funny.

Jesus

Baseball- Mickey Mantle
Football- Joe Namath
Basketball- NY Knicks.

johnny bench #5

leroy jordan #55

Dick Butkus #51

Henry Aaron......I got his autograph in 1969 and its my most cherished item other than my son.

Mickey Mantle

And not so many years later, I actually had a chance to go to dinner with him and his oldest son, Mickey Mantle Jr. Both are gone now.

jemaz when I was a young kid my dad was stationed in LaPlatta MD. He took me to see the Yankees play the Senators and I got to see Mantle play later in his career. He hit a bomb and a ground rule dbl that night. It was a thrill I will never forget.

Baseball - Ken Griffey, Jr.
Mark Buehrle, Jon Garland, Paul Konerko

Football - Brian Urlacher

Basketball - Was a big Kirk Hinrich fan

Coach May:

My first Big League game was the Yankees at the Senators in July 1964 in what later became RFK Stadiium. I was 9 years old and I will never forget it:

The Yankees lineup:
Bobby Richardson 2B
Tony Kubek SS
Mickey Mantle RF
Roger Maris CF (yes, this is correct)
Tom Tresh LF
Joe Pepitone 1B
Elston Howard C
Clete Boyer 3B
Al Downing P

The Yankees won. I don't remember the score.

Don mattingly, Daryl strawberry, Eric Davis, kirby puckett.

Dale Murphy
Mike Schmidt
Darrell Green-Football

I like RJM grew up in New England and my list is very similiar, Yaz, Havlicek and Robert Gordon Orr. My favorite number to this day is #4 because of him.

I never idolized anyone, but I had my favorite players growing up in the three major sports. Of course, the majority of them played for teams in my area, with the exception of "Sweetness".

BASEBALL: Steve Garvey & Nolan Ryan

BASKETBALL: Magic Johnson

FOOTBALL: Walter Payton & Jack Youngblood

OMG the one - the only - Evel Knievel

Baseball - Ryne Sandberg because when we got WGN on TV it was either watch the Cubs or the Braves on TBS and they stunk a little bit more. Sandberg showed up, played everyday and produced. The brightest showmanship he ever had was a big smile when he and the team did well - none of this over the top look at me garbage. He was a professional.

Football - Walter Payton for a lot of the same reasons. Both were professionals on horrible teams. They could have pitched a fit and demanded trades but instead they shouldered the burden of being the face of an organization.

Basketball - nobody in the NBA because I hate pro basketball. College I looked up to Coach K and still do. He's the coach at a strong academic school and still wins, recruits kids with class / character, wins and does all of this the right way.

Hockey - ...............what's hockey??????

quote:

Originally posted by Coach_May:
Baseball - Rose
Football - Pat Fischer
Basketball - John Havlicek

Rose because we played the game just like him. There was no other way to play it. All out, all the time. And I loved the Reds.

Football - Fischer because he was undersized and had no business playing in the NFL. But he wouldn't let that stop him. He was a big hitter and a fierce competitor. I loved watching him play. And I grew up a big skins fan. They were the team we got on Sundays here in NC on TV.

Havlicek - Because I loved the way Hondo played the game. And we have always been big Celtics fans.

Wow RJM what are the chances that we both would have the same 3 players? Pretty funny.

My admiration of Fischer went back to when he was teammates with Wilson. The Cardinals thought he was aging prematurely in his late 20's due to his size and released him. They were wrong.

Growing up in Arizona during the early playoff years of the DBacks I loved Craig Counsell. Not a amazingly talented player but was always someone you could count on.

I didn't idolize these guys, or any other player for that matter, but these were my favorite players as a kid.

Basketball - Bill Melchionni - local kid went to Villanova then the Sixers and Nets of the old ABA

Baseball - Tony Taylor

Football - Daryle Lamonica

Hockey - Bobby Clarke

As a kid my first idols;

Baseball pitcher (The Chairman of the Board; Whitey Ford); I was a Left handed pither. The position player who I idolized and always wanted that number 6 when I played; Stan "The Man" Musial. As a teen, Roberto Clemente became my favorite to watch play!

Basketball; Jerry West, such a pure shooter. Later, as a teen, Maravich for his dedication and the things he could do with a basketball.

Football; early on as a kid it was all about Jim Brown and Unitas, my favorite of all time to watch was Marino; the best pure passer I ever saw!

Baseball-Mantle, Maris, Ford

Football-Y.A. Tittle

Basketbal- Pistol Pete

Tom Seaver
Fran Tarkenton (When he was a NY Giant)

Darrell Royal and the entire Longhorn defense "back in the day". I can remember watching those guys, playing as a team, hold the line. Loved watching Earl Campbell when I was a teenager.

Growing up in Fort Worth in the 60s and 70s, we didn't have much for baseball. It was all football in our house: Longhorns and Cowboys (Landry, Staubach, Garrison...)

BASEBALL- Brooks Robinson
FOOTBALL- University of Georgia football team
BASKETBALL- Pistol Pete

Nice topic.

Baseball - Reggie Jackson and Roberto Clemente
Football - Fran Tarkenton
Basketball - Lew Alcindor

DON MATTINGLY

Pele


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My favorite baseball player was, Walt "No Neck" Williams with the White Sox. I still don't know why

Baseball - Al Kaline, Carlton Fisk, Dwight Evans
Football - John Hannah (met him in a Stop & Shop as a kid)
Basketball - Havlicek, Larry Bird
Tennis - Mats Wilander, Chris Evert, John McEnroe (had drinks with him one time in NYC)
Horses - Secretariat (best athlete in the 20th century!)

Baseball- Sandy Koufax/Harmon Killebrew
Football- YA Tittle/Dick Butkus
Basketball-Dr. J(went to school with him)/Willis Reed
Hockey- NA
Wrestling- Dan Gable(and yes wrestling is a real sport)

quote:

Originally posted by fenwaysouth:
Baseball - Al Kaline, Carlton Fisk, Dwight Evans
Football - John Hannah (met him in a Stop & Shop as a kid)
Basketball - Havlicek, Larry Bird
Tennis - Mats Wilander, Chris Evert, John McEnroe (had drinks with him one time in NYC)
Horses - Secretariat (best athlete in the 20th century!)

Secretariat was once part of a trick sports trivia question. It could still be a question. I just don't know if the answer has expanded. At the time the question was: Name the only four sports personalities ever on the cover of TIME, Newsweek and Sports Illustrated in the same week. Answer at the time: Nadia Comenci, Hank Aaron, Joe Montana (two of the pictures were the Notre Dame team) and Secretariat. Everyone would try to think of four people rather than sports personalities.

#24 , the Say-Hey Kid, Willie Mays!

Jim Lefebvre. I was taking hitting lessons from his dad and he stopped by to give us autographs. He looked a bit different back then.

Fenway - When I was playing tennis in the Santa Cruz area Bobby Hansen used to bring Hank Pfister around to play on the courts at our local JC. A friend had a home in the hills behind the JC and in the early days McEnroe would warm up for the French on his Har-Tru court.

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chess-Boris Spassky
bowling-Earl Anthony
Poker-Doyle Brunson
Driving-Danica(but not for driving)
surfing-King Kamehaheha
High Jump-Dick Fosbury
Skiing-Jean Claude Killy
Boxing-Joe Frazier
Wrestling-The Destroyer(Fake Sport)
Golf-Arnie
Water skiing-Me, barefoot king

Steve Carlton. He never spoke to the media. When he pitched, nothing fazed him. He was in a trance. Amazing to watch.

I'll take Joe over Willie for shaving heroes. Recognize the unknown at the time actress?

there is only one individual in my life with that designation and that was my DAD !