OT: Greatest Pittsburgh Sport Star

[caleco's]

k

I worked at a local country club where a baby faced Lemieux was a frequent golfer in his rookie year. I recalled that when we saw him that he was usually by himself (rode a cart); I don't think that his language skills were all that good and I recall that he was painfully shy. Even so, he was always super nice to all of the guys working on the course and always had a smile and a wave or a head nod hello.

Apart from his amazing ball striking capabilities on the golf course (he was a big dude even then) the thing that amazed us was that he was frequently seen on the course with a cigarette in his hand. A lot of us puffed on cheap cigars to keep the gnats away, so it was sort of funny to see him smoking as well.

rolling hills

 

[paschuler1970]

Your age group is the one I'm interested in hearing from. In 1971 did you prefer Clemente or Stargell?

I'd still stick with Roberto but Wille was huge. He looked good on the cover of Sports Illustrated in 79' as Sportsmen of the Year. (With Bradshaw)

 

[Maz643]

Joe Green - He singlehandedly gave Pittsburgh(and the entire Western PA region) it’s sports identity. Started a movement that spans the globe 50 years later.

Joe Greene is certainly one of the greatest Steelers of all time and was instrumental in winning the four Super Bowls. He is a Steeler Icon. But the Steeler identity of toughness and hard playing defense goes way back before Greene.

Look up Val Jansante, Dale Dodrill, Jack Butler, Ernie Stautner, Myron Pottios. They were very tough and while their team lost many games, the opponent suffered many bruises and knew they were in a very tough hard- fought game.

But over the last 50 years many NFL fans have become Steelers fans. Perhaps more so than any other NFL team. They would not have won those championships without Terry Bradshaw and many of these non- Pittsburgh area fans begin the conversion with Bradshaw.

 

[Maz643]

I preferred Clemente. But Stargell was a much better all-around player when he was young than people give him credit for. He had a very strong arm in LF. People tend to remember the older, heavier Pops playing 1B.

You bring up a good point. With Clemente and Stargell, Clemente was the leader. Stargell followed Clemente's advice. Stargell was early in his career considered the finest fielding leftfielder ever by none other than the great Dodger manager Walter Alston. (Currently that honor might go to Barry Bonds not withstanding his poor positioning and throw to allow the slow Sid Bream to score from second defeating the 1972 Pirates). Stargell was great but hit poorly in the 1971 World Series. While Clemente was the MVP and batted .414.

 

[303vND]

Joe Greene is certainly one of the greatest Steelers of all time and was instrumental in winning the four Super Bowls. He is a Steeler Icon. But the Steeler identity of toughness and hard playing defense goes way back before Greene.

Look up Val Jansante, Dale Dodrill, Jack Butler, Ernie Stautner, Myron Pottios. They were very tough and while their team lost many games, the opponent suffered many bruises and knew they were in a very tough hard- fought game.

But over the last 50 years many NFL fans have become Steelers fans. Perhaps more so than any other NFL team. They would not have won those championships without Terry Bradshaw and many of these non- Pittsburgh area fans begin the conversion with Bradshaw.

Toughness and losing equates to Chuck Wepner. No one cares that you can go the distance leaking like a broken faucet.

 

[Maz643]

Toughness and losing equates to Chuck Wepner. No one cares that you can go the distance leaking like a broken faucet.

Chuck Wepner took the beating he did not deliver one. In the '50's and '60's there was no salary cap and the Rooney's would not over-spend on the marquee payers. So they had the tough defensive players who beat up on the other teams' stars and they would eventually lose. It was well known that the Steelers were always a very tough physical team.

 

[West Coast Panther]

k

rolling hills

yah, i heard he golfed alot there too, but this was at Valley Brook - which is just down the street as well

 

[LCFP79]

Billy Mazeroski.

At least for one day.

 

[Fk_Pitt]

I always said Pittsburgh's greatest sports figures was:
1. Mario




2. Now you can start the discussion.

Ain't close fellas despite your age or your favorite sport/team attachment. It ain't close.

There shouldn’t even be a discussion. I can’t believe there’s even a thread about this. It’s Mario and that’s the list. Just mentioning these other guys in the same sentence as him is insulting. The ignorance in this thread is astounding.

 

[Ski11585]

Mario Lemieux. Aside from ya know, beating cancer, arguably the best player in his sport of all time. Inarguably one of the top 3. And here's the thing, not did he just save hockey here and make this a hockey town, the Penguins have been the most successful franchise in the city the past 3 decades and one can argue one of the top 5 in pro sports.

Yes, Clemente was great, Joe Greene was great, Clemente was a humanitarian, but Lemieux has raised millions for cancer research, and everything he has done has benefitted this area.

I'm no hockey historian, so I decided to do some googling to see who folks ranked as the best hockey players ever. I was surprised to find Lemieux consistently 4th.

 

[WVUinColumbus]

Mario is easily #1.

Joe Greene is certainly in the top 3-4 but probably 2 (just ahead of 21). He and Chuck Noll turned a moribund franchise into a winning franchise. He is also the #1 Steeler of all time, which isn’t debatable.

 

[MarshallGoldberg]

I'm no hockey historian, so I decided to do some googling to see who folks ranked as the best hockey players ever. I was surprised to find Lemieux consistently 4th.

Yeah I never watch hockey games honestly so it's hard for me to contextualize these lists. Was Rocket Richard the Bill Russell of the NHL? Was Mario the most dominant but for a much shorter period of time than Gretzky?

 

[Ski11585]

Yeah I never watch hockey games honestly so it's hard for me to contextualize these lists. Was Rocket Richard the Bill Russell of the NHL? Was Mario the most dominant but for a much shorter period of time than Gretzky?

Seems like Gordie Howe and Bobby Orr are always ahead of Mario.

 

[happjack]

Seems like Gordie Howe and Bobby Orr are always ahead of Mario.

They shouldn't be, if Mario was from Ontario and named Mark Lawrence he'd be ranked either #1 or #2.

 

[jtownknowitall]

They shouldn't be, if Mario was from Ontario and named Mark Lawrence he'd be ranked either #1 or #2.

If Mark Lawrence played his whole career in Philadelphia where would Pittsburgh fans rank him?

 

[303vND]

Mario is easily #1.

Joe Greene is certainly in the top 3-4 but probably 2 (just ahead of 21). He and Chuck Noll turned a moribund franchise into a winning franchise. He is also the #1 Steeler of all time, which isn’t debatable.

I love Mario - but it if you're talking about their play and impact - it's not even close, it's Joe Green. I see Terrible Towels all across the globe - I don't see Penguins gear that often outside of Western Pa.

 

[Maz643]

There shouldn’t even be a discussion. I can’t believe there’s even a thread about this. It’s Mario and that’s the list. Just mentioning these other guys in the same sentence as him is insulting. The ignorance in this thread is astounding.

I live in another state and many sports fans don't even know or recognize the name Mario Lemieux. Rarely if not ever do you see someone wearing a Penguin item.

But most fans and non-fans know Clemente and Terry Bradshaw. And they give Pittsburgh the recognition it deserves.

The Pittsburgh Steelers is recognized as the best run sports franchise in America. And they have the largest following throughout the country. Away games are very well attended by Steelers fans that you would think it was a home game. And Terry Bradshaw is the name recognition that started that love affair. When I see outside of Pittsburgh someone wearing a Steeler item, I often asking why are you a Steeler fan? The answer most often is because of Bradshaw along with Swann and Stallworth and the 1970's. Offense!

With all the great Steeler players on the 1970's teams the ONE player who you could not substitute for and win those championships is Terry Bradshaw. It starts and ends with him.

Clemente is a Pittsburgh Icon. He believed he was born to play baseball and he wanted to be a Jesus like figure helping the young, poor Puerto Ricans and other Latin Americans. Read the biography of Clemente by David Maraniss.

 

[TempleBAPittMPA]

Your age group is the one I'm interested in hearing from. In 1971 did you prefer Clemente or Stargell?

Interesting you pick that year. By my recollection, that was Stargell's career year.

 

[TempleBAPittMPA]

I preferred Clemente. But Stargell was a much better all-around player when he was young than people give him credit for. He had a very strong arm in LF. People tend to remember the older, heavier Pops playing 1B.

Older, but not (appreciably) heavier. It was actually Stargell's deteriorating knees that prompted the move from the outfield to first base.

 

[Maz643]

Interesting you pick that year. By my recollection, that was Stargell's career year.

Yes, it was his career year, but not his World Series. That belonged to Clemente. But 1979 was his World Series and "We are Family".

 

[jtownknowitall]

Interesting you pick that year. By my recollection, that was Stargell's career year.

I'm curious to see how someone who actually remembers seeing both play evaluates them. That being a World Series year seemed to be a good year to use!

 

[JGregor]

A. Greatest player has nothing to do with the wonderful things a person did away from the field/court/ice.

B. Clemente's life was cut short, but not really his career. He had at most a year of two left of playing.

C. I've seen a runner thrown out at first base from right field at least 10 times in my life. It is a rare and exciting play, but Clemente is not even close to being the only one to do it.

D. Jackie Robinson may be the most important baseball player in MLB history. But he isn't even in the Top 50 as far as best to ever play the game. Clemente is great for many reasons - but he isn't even in the discussion to be amongst the best 10 to ever play the game.

Just a few thoughts:

Clemente had a superb body structure. He could have played 4 more years at the least. When the great 2B, Mazeroski, was retiring Clemente tried to coax him to stay, Maz said that if he had his body he would still be able. At 36 in the 1971 World Series he played like a 25 yr old. Ran the bases as he always did, made the majestic throws, batted .414 and was the MVP.

The topic is the greatest “Pittsburgh” sports star. Among the many great athletes and different sports it’s hard to measure and equate greatness, but the impact and influence with their athletic achievements is more noticeable.

You will not notice a greater RF throwing arm than Clemente’s. It’s in the videos and in the statistics. The greatest RF throwing arm. A great and daring base runner and a outstanding hitter who came through in the clutch. A true 5 tool star player. He hit for power in the the spacious Forbes field and for average.

His influence for Pittsburgh transcend to Latin America. Dominican’s love and play baseball and Clemente and the Pittsburgh Pirates are talked about as it is in Puerto Rico and else where whenever baseball is discussed.

Also in Pittsburgh there is his Museum that my wife and I could not get into since you needed reservation that needed to be made weeks in advance. There are the statues and places in Pittsburgh named after him as well as his dream fulfilled: the sports complex in his native Puerto Rico……

And of course he gave his life on a humanitarian mission to the earthquake victims in Honduras that gained national attention on New Year’s Eve 1972…..

 

[paschuler1970]

I'm curious to see how someone who actually remembers seeing both play evaluates them. That being a World Series year seemed to be a good year to use!

Just a few thoughts:

Clemente had a superb body structure. He could have played 4 more years at the least. When the great 2B, Mazeroski, was retiring Clemente tried to coax him to stay, Maz said that if he had his body he would still be able. At 36 in the 1971 World Series he played like a 25 yr old. Ran the bases as he always did, made the majestic throws, batted .414 and was the MVP.

The topic is the greatest “Pittsburgh” sports star. Among the many great athletes and different sports it’s hard to measure and equate greatness, but the impact and influence with their athletic achievements is more noticeable.

You will not notice a greater RF throwing arm than Clemente’s. It’s in the videos and in the statistics. The greatest RF throwing arm. A great and daring base runner and a outstanding hitter who came through in the clutch. A true 5 tool star player. He hit for power in the the spacious Forbes field and for average.

His influence for Pittsburgh transcend to Latin America. Dominican’s love and play baseball and Clemente and the Pittsburgh Pirates are talked about as it is in Puerto Rico and else where whenever baseball is discussed.

Also in Pittsburgh there is his Museum that my wife and I could not get into since you needed reservation that needed to be made weeks in advance. There are the statues and places in Pittsburgh named after him as well as his dream fulfilled: the sports complex in his native Puerto Rico……

jtown,

I can't compare Stargell and Roberto. However, the reason I lean toward Roberto is what Gregor said about Clemente's throwing arm. THAT is what I remember. I wasn't a very good all around athlete but I was a pretty good outfielder in Little League compared to the rest of the team. I could field but aside from a short distance I just didn't have the arm others did. That's why I loved Clemente.

 

[cbpitt2]

It's Mario followed by Clemente or Arnie.

Mario was/is a God in Canada so all of North America (except in the southern U.S.) knew of Mario's greatness.

With Mario's series winning goal against the Soviets in the Canada Cup, all of the Soviet Union knew how great Mario was.

Clemente was beloved and his greatness known in Latin America and Palmer in Europe but they both were decades before Mario so coverage then relied more on newspapers than in Mario's time.

 

[JS School]

There shouldn’t even be a discussion. I can’t believe there’s even a thread about this. It’s Mario and that’s the list. Just mentioning these other guys in the same sentence as him is insulting. The ignorance in this thread is astounding.

Calm down, Nathalie. The sommelier will be with you shortly.