The criminally underrated

[ahmed69]

Zach edey

 

[The Yakk]

Ichiro- over 3000 hits despite starting his mlb career at 27, starts his career earlier he breaks Pete Rose career hits record.

He had a Hall-of-Fame career in the NPB.

Then he came to MLB and had a second Hall-of-Fame career.

 

[Dogdeacon]

They vilified Lance until it became known that cheating at the Tour was institutionalized

What?! Lance was part of vilifying his own teammates and lots of others on the tour, he portrayed himself and was perceived as a total anomaly in a sport rife with cheating until the house of cards finally collapsed. He actually cheated better than everyone else and controlled all involved better. One of the ways he was eventually caught was EVERYONE on the leaderboards were known juicers and it was simply statistically impossible that he wasn't- everyone else's admissions came first though. He popularized cycling, sold books and truly helped fight cancer, but he doesn't belong in this thread at all.

My vote is Mike Schmidt, baseball fans revere him but I think commonly he's faded and George Brett's pinetar hysterics and flirtation with .400 give him a higher Q rating, but Schmidt the slightly better player.

 

[HuskyHawk]

As a Yankee fan I’d have to say Dwight Evans of the Red Sox.

This is my answer. Dewey should be in Cooperstown. Gold glove defense in the toughest outfield position in MLB (RF at Fenway), incredible arm and really strong, consistent offensive numbers.

I know this may seem weird, but Dan Marino. I think people forgot just how good he was, because he never won a superbowl. He was the best QB of his era and maybe the best passer all time. Revolutionized the game.

 

[Hunt for 7]

Matthew Stafford - no look twenty yard pass into the middle of the field on the winning drive of the Super Bowl. With all of his receivers injured except the one he was throwing it too Kupp.

Quarterback to arguably the two best wide receiver seasons in history Megatron and Kupp.

 

[Jaydumo20]

What?! Lance was part of vilifying his own teammates and lots of others on the tour, he portrayed himself and was perceived as a total anomaly in a sport rife with cheating until the house of cards finally collapsed. He actually cheated better than everyone else and controlled all involved better. One of the ways he was eventually caught was EVERYONE on the leaderboards were known juicers and it was simply statistically impossible that he wasn't- everyone else's admissions came first though. He popularized cycling, sold books and truly helped fight cancer, but he doesn't belong in this thread at all.

My vote is Mike Schmidt, baseball fans revere him but I think commonly he's faded and George Brett's pinetar hysterics and flirtation with .400 give him a higher Q rating, but Schmidt the slightly better player.

Good call on Schmidt. Back to back mvps. Historic numbers. I think, and this may sound weird, but guys like him and Eddie Murray, even though they put up great numbers just looked so unathletic. I never remembered anybody saying Schmidt was their favorite player growing up. Rickey Henderson, Ozzie Smith, Mattingly, Yaz, Sandberg had their legions of fans but Schmidt- who had way better numbers than all of them- just had hemorrhoids. (George too, of course)

 

[SoFloDawg]

Little Feat

 

[Mr. French]

To me, Greg Maddux is somehow underrated. That guy should be on everyone’s top 3 list, especially people under 60.

I’m a Braves fan, so sue me. His 92-95 is the greatest 4 year stretch I’ve ever seen.

His stuff wasn’t electric but his dominance AND consistency were insane.

 

[Khal Drogo]

Nikki Tyler

 

[borninansonia]

hat?! Lance was part of vilifying his own teammates and lots of others on the tour, he portrayed himself and was perceived as a total anomaly in a sport rife with cheating until the house of cards finally collapsed. He actually cheated better than everyone else and controlled all involved better. One of the ways he was eventually caught was EVERYONE on the leaderboards were known juicers and it was simply statistically impossible that he wasn't- everyone else's admissions came first though. He popularized cycling, sold books and truly helped fight cancer, but he doesn't belong in this thread at all.

I contend that winning 7 consecutive Tours of France is one of the most difficult accomplishments in sports.

147 days of racing, in all sorts of weather, against the best in the world, descending some of the most difficult technical mountain roads in the world, and Lance never made a mistake*. The mental discipline he had was key to his success.

I recall one difficult mountain descent when the rider in front of him slid out and Lance, probably going 40+mph had to swerve his bike off the road and continued riding. (We need a better writer than me to describe the difficultly of his move).

When I ask young people who the best bicyclists are, few mention Lance. And if I ask almost anyone who the most accomplished, amazing multi-year athletes were, no one would mention Lance.

Lance is the most underrated athlete in American sports.

*he was protected by George Hincapie, the best domestique in Tour history. Lance helped make George the best.

 

[Demo Square]

Great thread & great underrated choices, Guys!

Taking it to UConn's under-appreciated former outstanding players, I choose Bobby Boyd & Ron Hrubala from 50+ years ago. Rarely mentioned at BY these days, these were some really great players in the Old Field House.

Bobby Boyd, who followed Dee Rowe to UConn from Worester Academy, was a 5'10" blurr on the court who could score from anywhere on anybody. He loved to drive it into the paint, score/and 1, & foul out opposing teams' whole frontline of bigs. Averaged 23 & 21+ ppg. & All-Yankee Conference. Got into some trouble at the end of the '70 season w/ some teammates involving cigarette machines, but was later cleared. I think it hurt his rep & UConn's willingness to honor Bobby. It also makes Bobby one of the all-time most underrated Huskies. He was one of the best & fastest scoring guards we ever had in Storrs.

Ron Hrubala was a double/double machine for his three years of dominating the paint of the green colored, rubber/polyester floor of Huge S. Greer Field House. 6'6+ & 225 ripped lbs. So strong, Ron, did all the dirty work around the hoop, guarded the other teams' best player, great offensive rebounder, & was a most unselfish, dependable teammate & solid citizen.

Ron was not a flashy player w/ BT moves, but no one could stop him or score on him in the paint. Was All Yankee Conference for three years. He did a great job defending the emergent Julius Erving whom nobody could stop back then. One of the strongest players ever at UConn. But Ron Hrubala has always been severely underrated, especially playing in the pre-Calhoun era for UConn's all-time worst coach, Burr Carlson for two years before Dee Rowe righted the ship.

On a completely off the wall note, I think that the team of Steve "Snapper" Jones & Crazy Eddie Doucette was the all-time most underrated & entertaining team of NBA announcers - from back in the 70's & 80's. They could never get away with the stunts they pulled & things they said today. Funniest men ever behind the mic's. Total characters! Miss them.

Keep this thread going. It's fun.

Father Demo

 

[FreeKlaiber]

If we are talking underappreciated huskies, I always felt Tim Coles was an absolute monster. Timmy was listed at 6-7 but finished 3rd in big east rebounding, behind Patrick Ewing and Otis Thorpe, but ahead of Ed Pinckney, Rony Seikaly and Bill Wennington. He was Adrien 1.0 during those dark Perno days

 

[Kolumbo]

I contend that winning 7 consecutive Tours of France is one of the most difficult accomplishments in sports.

147 days of racing, in all sorts of weather, against the best in the world, descending some of the most difficult technical mountain roads in the world, and Lance never made a mistake*. The mental discipline he had was key to his success.

I recall one difficult mountain descent when the rider in front of him slid out and Lance, probably going 40+mph had to swerve his bike off the road and continued riding. (We need a better writer than me to describe the difficultly of his move).

When I ask young people who the best bicyclists are, few mention Lance. And if I ask almost anyone who the most accomplished, amazing multi-year athletes were, no one would mention Lance.

Lance is the most underrated athlete in American sports.

*he was protected by George Hincapie, the best domestique in Tour history. Lance helped make George the best.

Lance is only "underrated" in America because it is cycling but the general population in America realize he was the best American cyclist. No one mentions Greg LeMond either but he won Le Tour 3 times. I'll bet if you ask 10 people to name a great American cyclist, all 10 say Lance Armstong.

No one talks about cycling when we discuss great athletes not because they are underrated, but because it's cycling. Most American sports fans today have no idea who Sep Kuss or Neilson Powless are either.

 

[David 76]

Yogi Berra.
Became a favorite largely because he sounded and looked silly. He was a totally amazing baseball player. Offense and defense. Playing and managing

 

[Kolumbo]

Yogi Berra.
Became a favorite largely because he sounded and looked silly. He was a totally amazing baseball player. Offense and defense. Playing and managing

Yogi is on every single greatest catchers of all time list. He isn't underrated, nevermind criminally underrated. It's true people today may not talk about him but that's the time element more than being underrated, in my opinion.

 

[Kolumbo]

Bo Jackson. I've always believed he was the best running back ever. You start a team of players in their prime, he's the man. People won't talk about him because he didn't establish career records. But man he was great.

 

[Waquoit]

Lance is only "underrated" in America because it is cycling but the general population in America realize he was the best American cyclist. No one mentions Greg LeMond either but he won Le Tour 3 times. I'll bet if you ask 10 people to name a great American cyclist, all 10 say Lance Armstong.

I would say Greg LeMond is the underrated one. He was in position to win another but had to back off due to team orders, iirc.

 

[knicksin7]

I wouldn't consider Lance underrated. He won Le Tour 7 times in a row so nobody was underrating him.

Poetry in Moten finished with 2,334 points at cuse. He and John Wallace kept cuse competitive and did win the big east tourney in 1992. I'd say he was underrated.

One of the reasons Moten was a bit "underrated" - was his freshman season was so good, and he didn't improve signficantly after that.

 

[knicksin7]

I'm gonna go with Ohtani. Best baseball player of all time, but due to the decline of baseball, it's not really talked about enough. It's possible because he's American, but NBA fans talk about Luka, Giannis and the Joker nonstop, so I guess it's just the popularity of the sport. The guy is INSANE.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

I’d say in baseball Jimmie Foxx who has always stood in the shadows of Ruth, Gehrig, Mantle, Mays, DiMaggio, and some of his stats were unfairly scored.

In college basketball and football, I’d say Gary Beban, Bailey Howell, home grown Michael Adams.

Golf…..Tony Lema, Ray Floyd, Julius Boros,

Tennis….. John McEnroe

Boxing……Archie Moore

 

[Ricker]

Looking at the Moses Malone stats, his first 2 pro years his foul shooting was low 60% range, later in his career he was having seasons as high as 83%. I now have some hope that poorer foul shooters can improve that skill markedly instead of just marginally. Thanks for that post

 

[Scoe]

I'm gonna go with Ohtani. Best baseball player of all time, but due to the decline of baseball, it's not really talked about enough. It's possible because he's American, but NBA fans talk about Luka, Giannis and the Joker nonstop, so I guess it's just the popularity of the sport. The guy is INSANE.

Its been talked about Ohtani has been called greater then Babe Ruth thats not underrated.

 

[Scoe]

Pudge Rodriguez

I know someone will say he roided damn right he did and I don’t care. Was an all around player catching in the 100 degree heat in Texas without any days off hardly any catching garbage pitchers in Texas for the most part. Won a World Series with Marlins with young unproven pitching and getting to World Series with Tigers unproven pitching at the time as well.

 

[Kolumbo]

Pudge Rodriguez

I know someone will say he roided damn right he did and I don’t care. Was an all around player catching in the 100 degree heat in Texas without any days off hardly any catching garbage pitchers in Texas for the most part. Won a World Series with Marlins with young unproven pitching and getting to World Series with Tigers unproven pitching at the time as well.

It's funny, I was thinking about Jorge Posada and I don't think he was underrated. He did everything quite well for a very long time and is highly regarded. And of course I was going to finish with, "granted, defensively he was no Pudge Rodriguez."

So many great catchers over the years.

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10065797-buster-posey-yadier-molina-and-the-25-greatest-catchers-in-modern-mlb-history