I have a friend who donates her time to Ronald McDonald House, and she said that Piazza would show up and spend hours with the kids, without any press around.
Eli is in that mold, with all of the charity work he has done and continues to do.
I think you're letting his Marlins tenure and behavior during it have too much of an impact on your memory of the player.
Take yourself back. The guy was the epitome of class. One of the finest players to ever wear the uniform. Led by example. Never bashed teammates or coaches. Derek Jeter is the only possible answer to this question if you're not going to take Eli.
Meh. Mr. Team Player wouldn't move off SS even when the Yankees acquired a superior defensive shortstop.
Don't kid yourself into thinking Jeter didn't have an egotistical streak. Rivera is definitely ahead of Jeter when it comes to this conversation, IMO. I'm not saying Jeter wasn't classy - he was, and he certainly understood the value of discretion in the public eye. But to say "Jeter is the only possible answer..."? Uh, no.
Adam Graves was very involved in the community.
Harry Carson is a pretty classy guy.
Winfield and Mattingly from the 80's
Al Leiter , Gary Cater, Mike Piazza
Eli is at or near the top of the list but NY has had a number of classy athletes mentioned by others.
If your in company with Eli, you did or are doing something right.
For sincere class and humility in great NY athletes it's Mo and Eli for me, at least in my lifetime. Curtis Martin and Adam Graves are up there too. I think the next group could be Judge, Alonso and Saquon.
Eli is not a Saint
McAdoo was kind enough to let Eli know there was going to be a QB transition
Eli bench himself rather than do what HC asked him to do
hardly a team player
I think it was pretty classy of Eli to give the new QB the entire game, rather than to keep a streak alive.
There are two things that I didn't like about DiMaggio.
The way he treated Mantle was poor. He did not like the fact that "The Next Big Thing" was coming and was going to take away attention from himself. He felt threatened by Mantle and was not a good mentor.
The way he demanded to be called "The Greatest Living Ballplayer" after his career was over. Just an insanely egotistical move. Especially since he was never worthy of that title.
A man who said all the right things, did all the right public things as a Yankee, but was rather arrogant and had a vindictive streak. If you got on his bad side, you were permanently frozen out. Neither was the forgiving type.
You could argue DiMaggio didn't always say the right things, at least not like Jeter.
There are two things that I didn't like about DiMaggio.
The way he treated Mantle was poor. He did not like the fact that "The Next Big Thing" was coming and was going to take away attention from himself. He felt threatened by Mantle and was not a good mentor.
The way he demanded to be called "The Greatest Living Ballplayer" after his career was over. Just an insanely egotistical move. Especially since he was never worthy of that title.
A big reason people aren't saying DiMaggio is he wasn't very classy. He was known to be a big prick and a lot has come out since his death to that end. I read a book, I forget by whom, that did not paint him in a positive light at all.
Saw a Documentary several years ago that interviewed several teammates of both Gehrig and Babe and they said Ruth was so open and giving to fans especially the kids in every city and Gehrig couldn't be bothered he just ignored them.
and I'm a Mets fan. Great pitcher but a total a-hole in real life. There are many example of stuff like him agreeing to go to the Boy Scouts, then cancelling without notice to go to a "nicer" dinner etc. I heard stories of him sending the gardener over to the country club by his house to ask for free fertilizer etc so he wouldn't have to pay for it. No class at all.
As mentioned by a few others, Adam Graves is nothing but class.
to be more classy than Mo. I've heard first hand from people who do charity work how selfless Rivera is, both from a time and a financial perspective. Really great to see someone so supremely talented also be so humble.
Very classy for one diagnosed with one of the worst diseases a man can die from.
Voted the best first baseman of all time by the baseball writers' association.
Catfish Hunter was brought to Yank's spring training facility, suffering from ALS, in the hopes that being around the ballplayers would raise his mood. But all he could do was cry.
Eli is in that mold, with all of the charity work he has done and continues to do.
Take yourself back. The guy was the epitome of class. One of the finest players to ever wear the uniform. Led by example. Never bashed teammates or coaches. Derek Jeter is the only possible answer to this question if you're not going to take Eli.
Meh. Mr. Team Player wouldn't move off SS even when the Yankees acquired a superior defensive shortstop.
Don't kid yourself into thinking Jeter didn't have an egotistical streak. Rivera is definitely ahead of Jeter when it comes to this conversation, IMO. I'm not saying Jeter wasn't classy - he was, and he certainly understood the value of discretion in the public eye. But to say "Jeter is the only possible answer..."? Uh, no.
I was going to mention Dave Jennings as well. Not a superstar, but a genuine, likable person.
Harry Carson is a pretty classy guy.
Winfield and Mattingly from the 80's
Al Leiter , Gary Cater, Mike Piazza
Eli is at or near the top of the list but NY has had a number of classy athletes mentioned by others.
If your in company with Eli, you did or are doing something right.
At what he has done with Marlins.
To me, Mariano was the real deal. Always behaved in s dignified manner.
Others
Mookie Wilson
Henrik
Harry Carson
Bill Bradley
McAdoo was kind enough to let Eli know there was going to be a QB transition
Eli bench himself rather than do what HC asked him to do
hardly a team player
I think it was pretty classy of Eli to give the new QB the entire game, rather than to keep a streak alive.
Half ass plan by Mac, literally.
There are two things that I didn't like about DiMaggio.
The way he treated Mantle was poor. He did not like the fact that "The Next Big Thing" was coming and was going to take away attention from himself. He felt threatened by Mantle and was not a good mentor.
The way he demanded to be called "The Greatest Living Ballplayer" after his career was over. Just an insanely egotistical move. Especially since he was never worthy of that title.
Quote:
people aren't bringing up DiMaggio?
There are two things that I didn't like about DiMaggio.
The way he treated Mantle was poor. He did not like the fact that "The Next Big Thing" was coming and was going to take away attention from himself. He felt threatened by Mantle and was not a good mentor.
The way he demanded to be called "The Greatest Living Ballplayer" after his career was over. Just an insanely egotistical move. Especially since he was never worthy of that title.
As mentioned by a few others, Adam Graves is nothing but class.
The book you're think of was Richard Ben Cramer's.
Very classy for one diagnosed with one of the worst diseases a man can die from.
Voted the best first baseman of all time by the baseball writers' association.
Catfish Hunter was brought to Yank's spring training facility, suffering from ALS, in the hopes that being around the ballplayers would raise his mood. But all he could do was cry.