Atlanta's Top 10 Athletes

Larry Wayne Jones Jr. and Henry Louis Aaron

This week, the Mets are in Atlanta to play the Braves.

Atlanta's Top 10 Athletes

No Atlanta Flames players are in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Bernie Geoffrion was a Hall of Fame player in Montreal before becoming an Atlanta coach and executive, but nothing he did in Atlanta is part of his qualifications. The only Atlanta Thrashers in the Hall are Mark Recchi and Chris Chelios, and, between them, they played 60 games for the team. (To put it another way: Chelios played the last 7 games of his career for the Thrashers, out of 1,651, or 0.4 percent of his games.)

Honorable Mention to Atlanta Braves in the Baseball Hall of Fame, but not otherwise making this Top 10: Joe Torre (very good player but elected as a manager) and Bruce Sutter (better known for other teams).

Honorable Mention to Atlanta Hawks in the Basketball Hall of Fame, who didn't otherwise make the Top 10: Walt Bellamy (only 4 seasons), Moses Malone (3) and Dikembe Mutombo (5). All 3 of those guys are better known for playing for other teams.

Morten Andersen played 8 seasons in Atlanta, and is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but he was a kicker, and he's better remembered as a member of the Falcons' arch-rivals, the New Orleans Saints.

10 Pete Maravich, guard, Atlanta Hawks, 1970-74. He wasn't a man amongst boys as he was in college, but he was still pretty good in the NBA in the Seventies, first in Atlanta and then in New Orleans, before injuries caught up with him. The Hawks retired his Number 44, and he was named to the Basketball Hall of Fame and the NBA's 50th Anniversary 50 Greatest Players.

9. Deion Sanders, cornerback, Atlanta Falcons, 1989-93. Had he spent his entire career in Atlanta, he would be seriously challenging Hank Aaron for the title of Atlanta's greatest athlete, because Hank didn't spend his entire career in Atlanta, either.

Deion is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the Falcons' Ring of Honor, but does not have his Number 21 retired. In 1999, while he was still active, The Sporting News ranked him 37th on their list of the 100 Greatest Football Players. In 2010, the NFL Network promoted him to 34th on their list of the 100 Greatest Players.

8. Claude Humphrey, defensive end, Atlanta Falcons, 1968-78. He made 6 Pro Bowls for the Falcons' Grits Blitz defense, then went to the Eagles and helped them reach Super Bowl XV. He's been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the Falcons' Ring of Honor.

7. Dominique Wilkins, forward, Atlanta Hawks, 1982-94. Take away Michael Jordan's Nike contract and Scottie Pippen, and what have you got? A dunk artist who never got close to an NBA title. In other words, you've got 'Nique. Nevertheless, he is the greatest contributor to the Hawks in the half-century-plus since Bob Pettit retired (in St. Louis), and his Number 21 is retired. Though that saying about a road being named "The Dominique Wilkins Highway" is just a joke, so people can say that no passing is allowed.

6. Chipper Jones, 3rd base, Atlanta Braves, 1993-2012. A 141 OPS+, 468 home runs thus far, 549 doubles, 2,726 hits, 8 All-Star berths, the 1999 NL MVP, and 12 postseason appearances... but only 1 ring.

Still, if any player is the symbol of the Braves' "dynasty," it's Larry Wayne Jones Jr., not any of their great pitcher. The Braves have retired his Number 10, and he's in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

5. John Smoltz, pitcher, Atlanta Braves, 1988-2008. He may have been the Number 3 pitcher behind Maddux and Glavine for years and years, but he shouldn't take a back seat to anyone. From the ages of 22 to 32, he was one of the best starters in baseball, topping out at 24-8 – winning 29 games counting the All-Star Game and the postseason, most since Denny McLain's 32 in 1968 – with 276 strikeouts in 1996, winning the NL Cy Young Award.

At 33, an injury kept him out all season. From 34 to 37, he was one of the game's best relievers, setting the NL record which still stands with 55 saves in 2002. At 38, 39 and 40, he was again one of baseball's top relievers, going 16-9 in 2006 – though it says something about the way the game has changed that his 16 wins were enough to lead the NL that season.

He was an 8-time All-Star. He won 213 games (losing just 155) and saving 154 others. His career ERA+ is 125, his WHIP 1.176. He is a member of the 3,000 Strikeout Club. And he reached the postseason 14 times (13 with the Atlanta Braves, not counting 2000 when he was hurt all season, and the last with the Cardinals), and his 15 postseason wins are 2nd all-time to Andy Pettitte, against just 4 losses.

However, he has only one World Championship, with the '95 Braves. Don’t blame him, however. In 1991 he pitched 9 shutout innings in Game 7 before the bullpen lost to the Twins. And 2 of those losses were in the World Series to the Yankees, to Pettitte in Game 5 in '96 and Roger Clemens in Game 4 in '99.

The Braves have retired his Number 29. He has been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. And a friend of his named Eldrick "Tiger" Woods, who knows something about playing golf in the State of Georgia, says that he was the best golfer in baseball.

4. Phil Niekro, pitcher, Atlanta Braves, 1966-83, with a 1-game return in 1987. The last active player for the Milwaukee Braves, he was the master of the knuckleball, and a member of the 300 Win and 3,000 Strikeout Clubs. With his brother Joe, he formed the winningest brother combination ever. Hall of Fame, Number 35 retired, statue outside Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium moved to Turner Field and SunTrust Park.

3. Tom Glavine, pitcher, Atlanta Braves, 1987-2002, with a brief return in 2008. A 10-time All-Star, he led the National League in wins 5 times. He won the NL Cy Young Award in 1991 and 1998. He helped the Braves reach the postseason 12 times. He won Pennants with the Braves in 1991, 1992, 1995, 1996 and 1998. When they won their only World Series in Atlanta in 1995, he was named the Most Valuable Player.

Met fans will remember his horrendous season finale in 2007 more than how he contributed to their near-Pennant in 2006. Greg Prince, of the blog Faith and Fear In Flushing, named him "The Manchurian Brave" -- as if the Braves, rather than the Phillies (or the Yankees) were the Mets' true rivals. But he won 305 games, with 2,607 strikeouts. The Braves retired his Number 47, and he has been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

2. Greg Maddux, pitcher, Atlanta Braves, 1993-2003. I considered putting him at Number 1, but he didn't spend his entire career in Atlanta, either. An 8-time All-Star, he won 4 straight National League Cy Young Awards, from 1992 to 1995. He won more Gold Gloves for fielding excellence than any other player, 18, from 1990 to 2008 wnning every year but 2003.

He reached the postseason with the Chicago Cubs in 1989, with the Atlanta Braves in 1993 and then every season from 1995 to 2003, and in his last season, 2008, with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He won Pennants with the Braves in 1995, 1996 and 1999, including winning the 1995 World Series.

Despite not having a great fastball, he used an array of breaking pitches to strike out 3,371 batters, and build a record of 355-227, making him the winningest living pitcher. Both the Cubs and the Braves retired his Number 31, and he was easily elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his 1st year of eligibility.

1. Hank Aaron, right field, Atlanta Braves, 1966-74. He only spent 9 seasons in Atlanta, but he is still an easy choice. He was a legitimate All-Star in all of those seasons. Of his 3,771 career hits, 1,334 came in Atlanta. Of his 755 career home runs, 335 came in Atlanta, including his 500th, 600th, 700th and 715th.

The Braves retired his Number 44, dedicated a statue of him that is now outside a 3rd separate ballpark, and the addresses of their last 2 ballparks refer to his home run total: Turner Field was at 755 Hank Aaron Way, and SunTrust Park is at 755 Battery Avenue Southeast.

He and Babe Ruth are the only individual players to have an exhibit all to themselves at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, to which he was elected in his 1st year of eligibility. He came in 5th on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and was easily elected to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. In 2002, George W. Bush awarded him the nation's highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Top 10 Athletes From South Carolina

May 23, 1788: South Carolina becomes the 8th State to ratify the Constitution of the United States, and joins the Union.

Top 10 Athletes from South Carolina

No South Carolina-trained football player has ever won the Heisman Trophy. Felix "Doc" Blanchard won it in 1944, and was born in McColl, but the family left the State at age 5, and he qualifies for Mississippi instead.

George Rogers won it at the University of South Carolina in 1980, but is from Georgia. So is Gamecocks wide receiver Sterling Sharpe. They are the only 2 players from the school only people in the Palmetto State call "USC" to make the College Football Hall of Fame.

As for Clemson, which won the National Championship in 1981 and again last year, the best player on their 1st title team was Terry Kinard, a decent defensive back for the Super Bowl-winning Giants, but hardly a pro legend. The best player on last year's team was Deshaun Watson, a quarterback who was just drafted by the Houston Texans, but it's way too soon to put him, or any other Clemson player -- including William "the Refrigerator" Perry of the Super Bowl Shuffle Bears of 1985-86 -- on this list.

Larry Doby was born in Camden, South Carolina, and Althea Gibson was born in Clarendon County. But both grew up in the New York Tri-State Area: Doby in Paterson, New Jersey; and Gibson in Harlem, before settling in East Orange. Al Rosen was born in Spartanburg, but grew up in Miami, so he qualifies for Florida.

Honorable Mention to 2 Yankees who were born in Holly Hill, South Carolina. Willie Randolph moved with his family to Brooklyn as a small boy, so he doesn't remember the place. But Brett Gardner was not only born there, but grew up there.

Honorable Mention to William Julius "Mookie" Wilson of Bamberg, South Carolina, and the 1986 Mets.

Honorable Mention to Calvin Reese Jr., a.k.a. Pokey Reese, of Columbia, who, with his teammates on the 2004 World Champion * Boston Red Sox, was selected by Sports Illustrated as their Sportspeople of the Year. (As far as I know, he didn't use performance-enhancing drugs.)

Honorable Mention to Arnold Tucker of Calhoun Falls. He was Army's quarterback in their 1944 and '45 National Championship seasons, and in 1946 finished 5th in the balloting for the Heisman Trophy, behind teammates Glenn Davis in 1st and Blanchard in 2nd. So, Honorable Mention to him. He never played pro ball, staying in the Army upon graduation from West Point, being transferred into the new U.S. Air Force in 1947, served in the Korean and Vietnam Wars, and rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

Honorable Mention to Chris Antley of Elloree. In 1991, he won the Kentucky Derby aboard Strike the Gold. But he fell victim to drug use. He got clean for a while, and in 1999 rode Charismatic to win the Derby and the Preakness Stakes. He had Charismatic leading in the Belmont Stakes. a few furlongs from winning the Triple Crown, but the horse got hurt. Antley saw this, and jumped off, and held him in place, so he wouldn't injure himself further.

He saved Charismatic's life, but couldn't save his own. He fell back into drug use, and died the next year. He was posthumously elected to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.

10. Bobby Richardson of Sumter. The 2nd baseman was an average, occasionally very good, player in the regular season, but a terror in World Series play, raising his batting average from .266 to .305. He won 7 Pennants with the Yankees from 1957 to 1964, and 3 World Series: 1958, 1961 and 1962.

Ironically, his best performances came in defeats. In 1960, he set a Series record that still stands with 12 RBIs, and became, to date, the only player from a losing team to be named Most Valuable Player of a World Series. In 1964, he became the 1st player (there are now others) to collect 13 hits in a single Series. But he's best known for catching a line drive from Willie McCovey for the last out to preserve a 1-0 Yankee win over the San Francisco Giants in Game 7 in 1962.

An injury ended his career at age 30. He became the head coach at the University of South Carolina, getting them to their 1st NCAA Tournament appearance in 1974. He was also the head coach at Jerry Falwell's Liberty University and at Coastal Carolina University. He is an ordained minister, and officiated at the funeral of teammate Mickey Mantle. He wore Number 1 through most of his Yankee career, and it is retired, but not for him. (Rather, it's for the man he succeeded as the Yankees' starting 2nd baseman, Pennant-winning manager Billy Martin.)

9. Bob Montgomery of Sumter. He might have been the 1st great boxer to grow up in South Carolina and move to Philadelphia to turn pro as a teenager, but he wasn't the last. He beat Beau Jack to become Lightweight Champion of the World in 1943, lost it to him 6 months later, and took it back again 4 months after that, holding the title until 1947. He is in the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

8. Jim Rice of Anderson. His career total of 382 home runs might not sound like a Hall of Fame-worthy total -- Frank Howard hit exactly as many, and Rice's Boston Red Sox teammate Dwight Evans hit 385 and was a great defensive outfielder, and they're not in Cooperstown. And, as a Yankee Fan who remembers 1978, I can tell you that Rice getting the nod over Ron Guidry was the most dubious decision in the history of MLB Most Valuable Player voting.

But Rice was an 8-time All-Star. He led the American League in home runs in 1977, and led it in both homers and RBI in 1978 and again in 1983. He got the Sox into the postseason in 1975, (sort-of) in 1978, and in 1986. The team has retired his Number 14, and elected them to their team Hall of Fame.

7. Alex English of Columbia. The forward was an 8-time NBA All-Star, and led the league in scoring in 1983. When he retired in 1991, he was 1 of only 7 players to have scored 25,000 career points. His Number 22 was retired by the University of South Carolina, and his 2 was retired by the Denver Nuggets. He is in the Basketball Hall of Fame.

After coaching on the staffs of Philadelphia, Atlanta, Toronto and Sacramento, he is now a color analyst for college basketball games on the SEC Network.

6. Harry Carson of Florence. The linebacker was the Captain of the Giants team that won Super Bowl XXI, the G-Men's 1st World Championship in 30 years. He was a 9-time Pro Bowler, and has been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the Giants Ring of Honor.

5. Kevin Garnett of Mauldin. After 3 years at Mauldin High School, he went to Chicago to attend Farragut Career Academy, and was named Illinois' Mr. Basketball in 1995. He skipped college to go directly to the NBA. That doesn't work out for a lot of players. It did for him, as he was an All-Star 15 times, including being named the Game's MVP in 2003.

He was named the league's MVP in 2004, and got the Minnesota Timberwolves to, to date, their only Conference Finals. He signed with the Boston Celtics, and led them to the 2008 NBA Championship, being named NBA Defensive Player of the Year. He also won a Gold Medal with the U.S. team at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.

He retired after last season. Barring his doing something incredibly stupid, he will be elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame. The Timberwolves will almost certainly retire his Number 21. Whether the Celtics retire his 5 (they'd already retired 21 for Bill Sharman) remains to be seen. If the NBA does a 75th Anniversary 75 Greatest Players in 2021, he will surely be in it. He might even be in the top 20.

4. Art Shell of North Charleston. The Oakland Raiders had one heck of an offensive line in the 1970s and into the early 1980s, with Shell at tackle, Gene Upshaw at guard, and Jim Otto and then Dave Dalby at center, protecting first Ken Stabler, then Jim Plunkett as they won 3 Super Bowls between them.

Shell was named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the NFL's 1970s All-Decade Team, 8 Pro Bowls, and The Sporting News' 100  Greatest Football Players.

In 1989, during their Los Angeles sojourn, Shell was named the Raiders' head coach, making him the 1st black head coach in the NFL, unless you count Fritz Pollard in the league's early days, when it was barely a semipro league. In 1990, he coached them to the AFC Championship Game, and was named NFL Coach of the Year.

3. Pete Maravich of Central, South Carolina. The family lived there while his father, Press Maravich (Petar Press Maravich Sr.), was the head coach at Clemson. The future Pistol Pete was born, while Press was playing in the NBA's 1st season, for the Pittsburgh Ironmen (who didn't play a 2nd season), in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania -- also the hometown of Mike Ditka and Tony Dorsett.

His father became the head coach at Louisiana State University (LSU), and Pete went there, and averaged 44.2 points per game, still an NCAA record, despite there being neither a 3-point shot nor a shot clock in college ball at the time (1967-70).

He starred for the Atlanta Hawks, then back in Louisiana with the expansion New Orleans Jazz. He was with them in their 1st season in Utah, 1979-80, but was soon traded to the Boston Celtics, and a recurring knee injury ended his carer after that season. His luck was bad: Although his own play was stunning, as he made 5 All-Star Games and led the NBA in scoring in 1977 -- and his floppy hair and floppier socks made him something of an icon -- the Hawks stopped being good right after he arrived, and both the Jazz and the Celtics got good again right after he left.

That didn't stop him from being elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame, and being named to the NBA's 50th Anniversary 50 Greatest Players in 1996. Unfortunately, he was the only one of the 50 who had yet died, felled by an undetected heart defect in 1988, only 40 years old. His uniform number was retired by LSU (23), the Hawks (44), the Jazz (7), and, even though he never played for the franchise, the new team in New Orleans, the Pelicans (7).

2. Joe Jackson of Greenville. There was no All-Star Game in the era of "Shoeless Joe." If there was, he would have made it several times. His .356 lifetime batting average would surely have dropped if he'd had a full career. On the other hand, he would have been a shoo-in for 3,000 hits and the Hall of Fame. Alas...

1. Joe Frazier of Beaufort. Topping Shoeless Joe, and every other player on this list, is Smokin' Joe. He lived on a farm outside Beaufort until he was 15, before going north and famously becoming a Philadelphia fighter. So you're seeing him on this list, instead of when I do a list for Pennsylvania.

He won an Olympic Gold Medal in 1964, won his 1st piece of the Heavyweight Championship of the World in 1968, unified the title in 1970, and made it official every which way by beating the defrocked Muhammad Ali in 1971. The Ring magazine named him Fighter of the Year in 1967, 1970 and 1971.

He lost the title when he got clobbered by George Foreman in 1973, and lost to Ali in 1974 and 1975, but remains one of the greatest punchers in the history of boxing, a member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame.