NFT: Who is your NYC born athlete "Mount Rushmore"?

How about not knowing the extensive history of boxing in NY? Benny Leonard, Barney Ross, Gene Tunney and Jake LaMotta would all come ahead of Tyson on the NYC Born Mount Rushmore.

born around the corner from my grandfather on east 95th street and went to school with my great uncle Lorenzo who was the same age. His numbers speak for themselves. The iconic speech is the cherry on top.

...

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Whitey, a guy from Queens, has the record for the greatest # of career wins and was an huge NYC personality. The Chairman of the Board has got to make Rushmore.

Scooter, a Brooklyn fella, has often been underrated, particularly because people are unaware of his career achievements, 1950 AL MVP, 4-time All Star, 7 World Series Rings. He is also a wonderful and much-beloved NYC character.

Thank you, whoever mentioned ARod.

Can anyone name any other handball player who came out of NYC?

Lou was a New York-born saint. His accomplishments were amazing. Head over to BaseballReference.com and spend some time just reviewing his stats. Your jaw will be in your lap.

Just look at his Triples. Holy shit!

Carmelo?

Because his softball leagues are serious.

I immediately thought John McEnroe

Lifetime triple slash of .313/.412/.605, wOBA of .453 and a two-time MVP. Also was the first major league player to be drafted leading up to WWII, missing most of the 1941 season after being drafted in 1940. Discharged from the Army on December 5, 1941, he volunteered again a few days later after the attack on Pearl Harbor, again being the first major league player to do so. Also, while most baseball fans know the story of Sandy Koufax refusing to play on Yom Kippur, Greenberg did the same thing 30+ years earlier.

NICKY

was from The Bronx.

Ford or McEnroe. I love Rizzuto, but I'm not sure he should make the cut over a number of superior athletes.

And a source of ethnic & religious pride for me and my family. I know it meant a lot to my father, who was a sworn atheist, when Greenberg refused to play on Yom Kippur.

I'd add that they would need to have played in New York and won championships in NY. That would limit it to Koufax, Ford, McEnroe, LaMotta, Rizzuto, and maybe Dick McGuire.

I'd have to put McEnroe in for Tennis...but in terms of who you'd want etched in stone on a mountain, the Scooter cuts a more dignified image than that naughty Johnny Mac. I mean, there's McEnroe and there's Arthur Ashe...born in Richmond, but revered right here in NYC. Ashe just underscores that Johnny Mac isn't mountain-worthy. The other nominees are legends in their game.

around the block from the Testaverdes.

We don't have many sports legends to claim. He's ours! We put up a damned statue! (that is a really, really terrible statue. Seriously, look at this thing:)



He looks like he's threatening those kids, and they're raising their arms in self-defense.

The Babe
Jackie Robinson
Arthur Ashe/Billie Jean King
Dr. J/Bill Bradley
Jim Thorpe (NY Giants baseball)

So it has to be Kareem really do not see an argument even for anyone else.

A guy from nearby Summit, NJ who was one of the best all-around athletes ever is Willie Wilson.

with Boomer Esiason from East Islip, Long Island.

I agree with Kareem, as he is the first that came to my mind. But, to say there really isn't anyone else is way off. Gehrig, for example, is right there. He is an absolute legend not just in NY but MLB. He is one of the most underrated stars in sports, I think.

Willie Wilson? He was a good baseball player for a while. He was never a star.

Fly Williams

in 2002. Oh but I was born in Ann Arbor. Nm...

with Kenny Smith. He was an incredible athlete and a nice guy.

In comment 11645889 Stu said:

Quote:

Phil Rizzuto....

agree on Whitey and Phil but Dr J was not "NYC born" - he is from Hempstead on Long Island.

Bernard & Albert King

Sid Luckman Billy Cunningham

to just pick four. I would think two from baseball and two from basketball would be most appropriate for NYC. I guess we're leaving out coaches, even if HOF (Vince Lombardi and Red Holzman were both born in Brooklyn), since the thread title is "NYC born athlete."

If my feet are held to the fire, I'll go with Gehrig and Rizzuto for baseball, and Kareem and Bernard King for basketball.

No way. The Scooter was a great defensive shortstop but Greenberg was arguably one of the ten greatest sluggers in baseball history.

John McEnroe would be on my list if he was actually born in NYC, but he wasn't.

My dad was a friend of McEnroe's dad growing up in Manhattan. Since he was born on a military base and returned to NYC after his dad's tour, I'd give him a pass.

He is defiantly a true New Yorker without a doubt. One of my favorite athletes to watch of all-time.

In comment 11646302 Some Fan said:

Quote:

So it has to be Kareem really do not see an argument even for anyone else. A guy from nearby Summit, NJ who was one of the best all-around athletes ever is Willie Wilson.

Sorry, no. Not only was Lou Gehrig born and raised in East Harlem. He played his entire career in New York and had the most memorable farewell speech of all time at Yankee stadium. Not to mention he is still probably the best 1st baseman to ever play the game. If you only put one person on this hypothetical mountain it is Lou Gehrig, everybody else comes 2nd.

honorable mention: Jake "The Raging Bull" LaMotta - Hey Ray, you never knocked me down!

and really not even close.

LaMotta was a much better all time middleweight than Tyson was an all time heavyweight.

Iron Mike was too much for any heavyweight who boxed in the mid 1980's. So many of his fights ended in the early rounds. I remember the betting was not on who was going to win, but how many rounds the opposition would last. Who could have beat Tyson when he was in his prime?

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Now that's a name from the best..he lived in the next building from me..I grew up with his family..

arguably be considered on Mount R - it would likely include both guys. Only other point is that my understanding is it was posed as a NYC born athlete - no need to have played professionally in NYC.

albeit Lombardi was not really famous for being an athlete.

went to Trinity HS on the UWS. I used to play in a weekly bball game with him and his brother. Hes as NYC as it comes.

In comment 11646468 natefit said:

Quote:

in 2002. Oh but I was born in Ann Arbor. Nm...

Just for you, how about Lou Ferrigno?

The best to represent NYC.

and the MTA changed the name of the subway and LIRR stations from "Willets Point-Shea Stadium"...

I sort of wished they would have changed the name to "Willets Point-aShe Stadium."

Would have honored one of the greats of NY sports, rather than a second rate team in a second rate sport.

Oh well. Opportunity lost.

got to add Yaz and Jim Brown (born in GA, grew up in Manhasset.)

I think Brown belongs in the top 4 if you include the Pope's residence.

athlete/coach list, so us NYers who grew up in the red part of the state don't feel slighted (:

hmmm...

Ernie Davis (Elmira), Walter Hagan (Rochester), Johnny Podres (Port Henry), Carmen Basilio (Canastota), Daryl Johnston (Youngstown), Ron Jaworski (Lackawanna), Andy Van Slyke (New York Mills), Dave Giusti (Seneca Falls), Walt Patulski (Fulton), Marv Hubbard (Salamanca), Mel Hall (Lyons), Jim Boeheim (Lyons), Tom Coughlin (Waterloo), Dustin Brown (Ithaca), King Rice (The Bing), Gus Williams (Mount Vernon), Art Monk (White Plains.) Added Williams and Monk even though they're from the suburbs.

The top 4 athletes - Hagan, Davis, Basilio, ? If you include the suburbs, Monk's 4th imo.

Most of you guys must be pretty terrible at following rules & would land in the brig in about 5 minutes if you were in the military. Since when is boxing or tennis one of the 4 major sports as stipulated in the OP? Since when does NYC include LI (Dr. J was born on Roosevelt, LI & Yaz in Southampton) or upstate NY? Since when is a football coach, no matter how great he was at coaching, by default one of the best athletes (because Lombardi never even played pro football)? If you don't like the parameters of the thread, why don't you just start your own w/ your own parameters? OK, enough bitching & being the thread police.

So what we have after limiting the discussion to just the parameters listed in the OP: Gehrig, Jordan & Kareem are no-brainers, as they are without a doubt in the top 5 best baseball & basketball players.

The last is basically between Ford, Greenberg, ARod, Koufax, Palmer & Rizzuto. Oddly enough, FWIW (probably not much) among pitchers in the Fan EloRater on baseball-reference.com, Koufax is 23, Ford is 24 & Palmer is 26. For batters, Gehrig is 3rd (Ruth & Wagner are 1 & 2), Greenberg 24, ARod 47, Scooter 299. I'd go w/ Greenberg as an everyday player & 2 time MVP. His stats are actually much better than ARod's on a 162 game avg. basis.

Should get extra props for being a nice guy who actually returned pretty often to his old neighborhood and gave back. Also owned some batting cages there until sometime in the 80's.