OT Best Female Athlete You Ever Saw? | Page 2 | The Boneyard

OT Best Female Athlete You Ever Saw?

UConn82 said:
I don't know why people ignore Steffi.
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ucbart said:
So, I am the most firm believer that Monica Seles would've dominated women's tennis like no other if she hadn't gotten stabbed. She had clearly taken over Steffi as #1 and was beating her regularly. Monica dominated women's tennis from the 1990 French Open - basically the time of her stabbing. So, while Steffi was great and won all those slams, several of them sort of have an asterisks next to them because Monica was sidelines.
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That's why. And the the Graf-fan assailant got away scot-free in Germany. And Graf is also behind Navratilova and Evert as well.
 
Aluminny69 said:
Have to add this incredible record:

Joyce pitched for the Raybestos Brakettes, a women’s major fastpitch softball team, for 19 seasons. During that time, she boasted a 753-42 record and tossed 150 no-hitters and 50 perfect games. Her lifetime ERA was 0.09.
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That sounds otherworldly. Quite a feat.
 
Just about all the ladies who played for the Brakettes had full time jobs, so most of the games were played on weekends as part of back-to-back double-headers. Some combination of Joyce, Tickey & Lopiano would usually pitch the 4 games. If you took in both double-headers it was relatively common to see multiple no-hitters and or perfect games.
 
TheGOAT23 said:
“She boasted a 753-42 record and tossed 150 no-hitters and 50 perfect games. Her lifetime ERA was 0.09.” Struck out Ted Williams, too! DANG!!!!
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As much as I believe Joyce is the GOAT, I also believe that striking out Ted Williams is grossly overrated. Yes, I know Joyce was able to make her pitches break four ways, up and down, in and out. But the pitcher in Softball is right on top of the hitter, so the timing is much different. Softball hitters have to use a different bat. I often wondered how Joyce would do pitching against the Raybestos Cardinals, a world class men's Fast pitch softball team. Those guys knew how to hit in softball. I guess we'll never know, but I'm somewhat surprised if it never happened, even as an exhibition. That would be a much truer test.
 
Aluminny69 said:
As much as I believe Joyce is the GOAT, I also believe that striking out Ted Williams is grossly overrated. Yes, I know Joyce was able to make her pitches break four ways, up and down, in and out. But the pitcher in Softball is right on top of the hitter, so the timing is much different. Softball hitters have to use a different bat. I often wondered how Joyce would do pitching against the Raybestos Cardinals, a world class men's Fast pitch softball team. Those guys knew how to hit in softball. I guess we'll never know, but I'm somewhat surprised if it never happened, even as an exhibition. That would be a much truer test.
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As I recall, the Raybestos Cardinals had a big first baseman by the name of Carl Walker who could hit a softball a long, long way.
 
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oldude said:
There was another great pitcher on that Brakettes team. Donna Lopiano, from Stamford, CT had been denied the opportunity to play Little League because she was a girl. She started playing for the Brakettes at age 16, and along with Joyce & Tickey became the most formidable trio of pitchers in the history of WSB.

Lopiano went on to become the Director of Women’s Athletics at the University of TX, and was instrumental in the promotion and passage of Title IX legislation, without which women’s college sports would never have achieved the growth and recognition that it has.
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I'm familiar with Lopiano. Thanks for the reminder.
 
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Althea Gibson was no slouch. Top notch tennis player turned pro golfer. Never saw Zaharias but as a multi sporter, as someone mentioned, always seen as the female version of Jim Thorpe, reputedly the most versatile high level male athlete of all time.
 
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Tia-Clair Toomey. CrossFit champion.

Have watched her on TV, not in person.
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UConn82 said:
I have heard a lot of people assert Serena as the GOAT in women's tennis. I most emphatically disagree.

Steffi Graf is easily as good, if not better. No one mentions Steffi, but she won 22 majors, one less than Serena. So what! (She had to retire at age 30, due to a neck injury.)

And, she did something Serena did not, something no one ever did. In 1988, she won the "Golden Slam" = all four majors and Olympic Gold.

And, she played against Martina, Monica Seles, et al. Serena did not have nearly as difficult competition, the only great player she really competed against was his sister. But she owned her sister on the tennis court.

I don't know why people ignore Steffi.

Thoughts?
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Seles was a better player than Graf. She won 8 Grand Slams as a teenager. Who knows what her record would have been had she not been stabbed. Graf’s path to championships was made much easier after that. Seles never returned to her pre-stabbing form - although she did win a slam after the stabbing. Although Graf had nothing to do with the stabbing it was a Graf fan who stabbed Seles because she was the better player.

@ucbart and @Waquoit - didn’t get to your response until after I responded. Guess I need to learn to read everything before responding.
 
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Best I ever SAW?
I think Martina Navratilova.
Dominant in a grueling sport.
Top of her sport for many years.
Relentless and disciplined.
Awesome competitor.
 
I think one cannot separate Martian, Steffie, and Serena. Martian did not have quite as many majors, but early in her career there was less emphasis on them. And, she was the greatest female doubles player ever.
 
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Some great nominations here. As I'm partial to snow sports, (at least when I was younger, I've retired to the desert), here's some new names for the list:
From my perspective World Cup Nordic skiers are some of the best athletes in the world, and within that group Norwegian Therese Johaug is in a class by herself in distance events. If you ever want to destroy yourself in no time at all, go out and skate ski (freestyle) a few Kilos.
From an alpine discipline, Czech Ester Ledecka's 2 gold medals in the same Olympics in 2 different sports, (skiing/snowboarding), is for me one the most amazing performances I've ever seen. Better yet, she's remains at the top of both sports. Once you get past "sliding down a snow-covered hill on plank/s", there really isn't a great deal of crossover between the 2. Following her on social media she posts vids windsurfing, waterskiing, even swinging a tennis racket and she seems to be quite expert at all.
 
Pinhead said:
Some great nominations here. As I'm partial to snow sports, (at least when I was younger, I've retired to the desert), here's some new names for the list:
From my perspective World Cup Nordic skiers are some of the best athletes in the world, and within that group Norwegian Therese Johaug is in a class by herself in distance events. If you ever want to destroy yourself in no time at all, go out and skate ski (freestyle) a few Kilos.
From an alpine discipline, Czech Ester Ledecka's 2 gold medals in the same Olympics in 2 different sports, (skiing/snowboarding), is for me one the most amazing performances I've ever seen. Better yet, she's remains at the top of both sports. Once you get past "sliding down a snow-covered hill on plank/s", there really isn't a great deal of crossover between the 2. Following her on social media she posts vids windsurfing, waterskiing, even swinging a tennis racket and she seems to be quite expert at all.
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If you are going with Nordic skiers how can you not start with Marit Bjørgen, who has an insane 114 World cup wins, second only to the utterly ridiculous 158 that telemarker Amélie Reymond has—half again as much as the next skier, and close to 3 times what the next telemarker has. I agree that Ester Ledecka is amazing, also her face when she won the SG at Pyeongchang might be my favorite moment in sports. You could also add Ariana Tricomi (only 3 time winner of the freeride world tour, and for climbing Janja Gambret.
 
This question came up here a year or two ago, and I'm doubling down on Cuban volleyball player Mireya Luis.

At only 5'9", she's hands down the most spectacular leaper the sport has ever seen, and her arm swing was incredibly explosive. The unquestioned leader on a stacked Cuban squad that dominated international volleyball in the 90s.

 
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Golden Husky said:
Ruffian
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Love this pick. On a similar note, about twice a year I sit down and watch all of Zenyatta's races back-to-back. I don't know that I've ever seen anything more thrilling in sports than Zenyatta in full stride down the homestretch.

This one gives me chills every time:
 
that vball spiker lady is clearly fake. everrone can see the p+w f135 engines strapped to her ankles. on the udder hand, not only does she fly up, but then she smashes the ball down. beyond awesome. i bet there's a vid out there where the ball bounces off of a defenders head, and then leaves the building.
i was led to believe (thanks for the brain damage, 'rents) that this was the alltimiest, greatest, 'stretch run' by an athlete not horsing around.


not sure why as i wasn't there, but i still hear aboot it every so often on the slopes. i mean, how can local boy bodie miller not be the greatest ever?
lol. i guess u had to be there for that franz klammer 'bombing the mountain' moment. sometimes i bomb the mountain, arms waving, knees buckling, and usually end up with a hard reminder to stop doing that cuz im not 12, and not made of rubber anymore.

of course, local girl joan joyce wrecked the question. never saw her either, but i do have ears.
and, i vote for katie from saybrook as number 2. now, i did meet her a few times over at walt's back then. nice lady.
katie at walts, and pauli at oscars. the two greatest at their job ever in my book.
 
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Plebe said:
This question came up here a year or two ago, and I'm doubling down on Cuban volleyball player Mireya Luis.

At only 5'9", she's hands down the most spectacular leaper the sport has ever seen, and her arm swing was incredibly explosive. The unquestioned leader on a stacked Cuban squad that dominated international volleyball in the 90s.

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I'm not sure I remember Luis, but she looks exciting. Not to change the subject, but I recall a 5'9" men's basketball player who was also a great leaper. In the history of the NBA, he was one of the best leapers, fastest players, and greatest shooters (mostly before the advent of the 3-point shot). Plus, he was a world-class baton twirler. Norwalk's own Calvin Murphy.

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