The criminally underrated | Page 3 | The Boneyard

The criminally underrated

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
 
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
 
borninansonia said:
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.
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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.
 
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
 
David 76 said:
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
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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.
 
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Kolumbo said:
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.
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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.
 
cohenzone said:
Actually saw him ride by near the end of victory #2. We were on vacation in Paris and really just coincidentally on the last day of the Tour Saw him through a crowd along the Rue de Rivoli. We were actually stranded there because we wanted to cross the river but the street was barricaded for several miles waiting for the racers to get to Paris.
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I think Caron butler. Best player I have seen as a husky. If people ever say we get lucky, look at butler years. I enjoyed watching butler. Total package. Love Rasheed too.
 
Kolumbo said:
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.
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One of the reasons Moten was a bit "underrated" - was his freshman season was so good, and he didn't improve signficantly after that.
 
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.
 
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
 
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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
 
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knicksin7 said:
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.
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Its been talked about Ohtani has been called greater then Babe Ruth thats not underrated.
 
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.
 
Scoe said:
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.
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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.
 
CONN78SEJ said:
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.
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I just read an essay about Mel Ott. I'll put him in that category, the man was a professional hitter.
 
Scoe said:
Its been talked about Ohtani has been called greater then Babe Ruth thats not underrated.
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Because he is Babe Ruth.
I am a huge baseball fan but ask a casual sports fan if they know Babe Ruth and then ask if they know Shohei. I think many wouldnt know him (ive actually tested this for fun, because it's astonishing how few do.)
Whether you want to classify that as underrated or not I think is semantics.
 
Waquoit said:
I just read an essay about Mel Ott. I'll put him in that category, the man was a professional hitter.
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A lot of people don’t know it, but the year Ruth hit 60, Foxx hit 63. That year he was only credited with 58 or 59, the 4 or 5 others he hit were hit during games later called because of rain, and back then the rule was rain out stats were not counted. Maybe I’ll watch “Field of Dreams” tonight, I think Mel Ott was one of the players, and it was Fathers Day last week.
 
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Jaydumo20 said:
Because he is Babe Ruth.
I am a huge baseball fan but ask a casual sports fan if they know Babe Ruth and then ask if they know Shohei. I think many wouldnt know him (ive actually tested this for fun, because it's astonishing how few do.)
Whether you want to classify that as underrated or not I think is semantics.
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Just remember Ruth was one of the greatest pitchers that ever lived, some of his records still stand. Also I think Ohtani is no where close to approaching Ruth, Gehrig or Foxx in lifetime stats, and back then the mound was like 6 inches higher, and the baseball was also not nearly as juiced up as it is now.
 
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Dennis Rodman. Because of his antics people overlook what a great basketball player he was. Used to tell my players he was my favorite player and they would look at me like I was from outer space just like him.
 
knicksin7 said:
One of the reasons Moten was a bit "underrated" - was his freshman season was so good, and he didn't improve signficantly after that.
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1991 18ppg, 2 asst, 6 rebounds
1992 18ppg, 3 asst, 5 rebounds
1993 21ppg, 2 asst, 4 rebounds
1994 19ppg, 3 asst, 4 rebounds

it wasnt just the consistency of his stats, it was aesthetically he was one of best Bball players ive ever seen. Did all the little things, kind of Cam Spencer ish in his bball iq and court awareness.

When Lawrence Moten graduated he was the all time big east leading scorer, but is kind of forgotten (more so than say Ohtani, Lance Armstrong, Yogi, Babe and the rest of the famous ppl in this thread lol)
 
LBird33 said:
Bill Russell. I know some will say I’m crazy but guy won nine NBA titles. And is mentioned as an also ran to Michael Jordan and others.
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He actually won 11 NBA titles, 2 in College and an Olympic Gold, all in a 15 year span.
 
CONN78SEJ said:
A lot of people don’t know it, but the year Ruth hit 60, Foxx hit 63. That year he was only credited with 58 or 59, the 4 or 5 others he hit were hit during games later called because of rain, and back then the rule was rain out stats were not counted.
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I was so wowed by this that I dug deeper to find out if it was really so, and did so without any intention of questioning or correcting you. So please take this as a thank you for your raising the subject of whether Jimmie Foxx 'lost' home runs that would have outdone babe Ruth.

What I learned was quite amazing, and it came from a valuable/fascinating/authoritative source I learned about last month when a friend wondered why a fight that breaks out in a baseball game is sometimes called a "rhubarb."

Double X and His Lost Dingers – Society for American Baseball Research.
 
Kolumbo said:
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.
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He holds records because he was a superior player. People treat him like he was a cartoon.
 
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q
Hans Sprungfeld said:
I was so wowed by this that I dug deeper to find out if it was really so, and did so without any intention of questioning or correcting you. So please take this as a thank you for your raising the subject of whether Jimmie Foxx 'lost' home runs that would have outdone babe Ruth.

What I learned was quite amazing, and it came from a valuable/fascinating/authoritative source I learned about last month when a friend wondered why a fight that breaks out in a baseball game is sometimes called a "rhubarb."

Double X and His Lost Dingers – Society for American Baseball Research.
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Interesting article but it’s only about completed official games in the record books. It only talks about Foxx being robbed because of netting, high fences, etc. Unless I missed something it says nothing about incomplete games called due to weather, which is what those with excellent memories have claimed and passed down through the years, that in 1932 Foxx hit 4 or 5 bonafied home runs in games that were called due to weather before the game’s completion, and thus were never recorded at all, in the record books.

As to the short fences Ruth also had some advantages as well in the old Yankee Stadium. The right field line was originally only 295 feet, and was later dropped to 290 feet to add another row of seating.
 
CONN78SEJ said:
A lot of people don’t know it, but the year Ruth hit 60, Foxx hit 63. That year he was only credited with 58 or 59, the 4 or 5 others he hit were hit during games later called because of rain, and back then the rule was rain out stats were not counted. Maybe I’ll watch “Field of Dreams” tonight, I think Mel Ott was one of the players, and it was Fathers Day last week.
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I may be out of the loop here. I thought it was always the case that stats were not counted unless a game were a regulation/official game. If the game is not official, it can be postponed and started over again, or resumed later. If started over, the prior incomplete game never happened.

Apparently this only changed in 2020. I had no idea.

"But as part of MLB's health and safety protocols during the COVID-19 pandemic, all games cut short due to weather before becoming official were resumed at a later date, rather than started over from scratch, during the 2020 campaign."

www.mlb.com

Regulation Game | Glossary | MLB.com

The Official Site of Major League Baseball
www.mlb.com www.mlb.com
 
No one mentioned Jim Calhoun talk about criminally underrated. I don’t mean underrated by us or fans of other programs, by the national media he’s underrated. When the GOAT list comes up Roy Williams name comes up as well as Izzo even Boheim comes up in conversation before Calhoun.

When you do bring up JC name, the response is “oh yeah that’s right he should be high on the list”. It’s almost like he’s forgotten on the all time coaching lists.
 
Kolumbo said:
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.
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This is spot on. Another factor is like soccer in America since we don't care the sport doesn't attract the greatest athletes and being the best American cyclist ever is significantly easier than being the best in baseball, football, basketball or individual sports such as golf or tennis. And Lance cheated to win, sure it was still hard & everyone else was cheating too, but he cheated ALOT & his cheating was so good that it gave him incredible recovery advantages.

Saying he is underrated is like saying Bernie Madoff is an underrated fund manager b/c for 30yrs people got great returns.
 
FreeKlaiber said:
1991 18ppg, 2 asst, 6 rebounds
1992 18ppg, 3 asst, 5 rebounds
1993 21ppg, 2 asst, 4 rebounds
1994 19ppg, 3 asst, 4 rebounds

it wasnt just the consistency of his stats, it was aesthetically he was one of best Bball players ive ever seen. Did all the little things, kind of Cam Spencer ish in his bball iq and court awareness.

When Lawrence Moten graduated he was the all time big east leading scorer, but is kind of forgotten (more so than say Ohtani, Lance Armstrong, Yogi, Babe and the rest of the famous ppl in this thread lol)
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Totally agree. He wasn't flashy or athletic, just smooth. Was great to watch.
 
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