All-time favorite athlete whose career was cut short?

He was about a quarter-inch away from a great career.

 

Hard to say. Maybe he only becomes the greatest player ever by a margin of years, instead of light years.
Or, seriously, maybe the Bulls don't have their truly dominant run during the second threepeat. If Jordan's there, and they win the title in '94 and '95, maybe they don't retool and add Rodman. They win another title or two, perhaps, but the wear and tear of those extra two seasons might also become a factor by '97 or so. With those two extra seasons of Jordan, maybe the Bulls go down in history as the greatest dynasty since the 1960s Celtics, but don't have the 70-win season that separates them as the best ever.

 

Good point, especially since next year's World Series has already been awarded to the Philadelphia Phillies on the strength of a "greatest ever" pitching rotation that, um, hasn't pitched together yet.

 

The Minnesota Miracle Man

 

well since it was only one season i would think it would be hard to say 'greatest ever' unless each won at least 20 with a sub 3.00 ERA. wouldn't you think greatest ever means more than 1 year unless it was an incredible season.

 

Montreal Canadiens' Joe Hall. Died of influenza, causing 1919 Stanley Cup Finals against the Seattle Metropolitans to be called off.

 

If you listen to his former pee wee coach, he wasn't a has been but a never was

 

I don't follow tennis too closely, though I did for a while in the 1980s. Whatever happened to Boris Becker?

 

He didn't say "greatest ever." I suppose what he said might still be a stretch, but I read it with a more liberal definition, I suspect, than you did. He didn't even say "one of the greatest ever." As I read what he posted, it allowed for some latitude.

Besides, this thread is about athletes whose careers were cut short. That Ryan and Richard had a short time together but commanded such respect (fear, even) from their opponents is sort of playing into the theme of the thread. Last night I saw an MLB.com special about the deciding game of the 1980 NLCS. Richard's name came up, and the combination of Ryan and Richard as well. Larry Bowa said what many other ballplayers from that era said, with a tone of reverence to boot. I'm certain they'd agree with what the poster here said.

As to your point about 20-win seaons: Keep in mind, that Astros team wasn't great. It had no business being in the NLCS with Philadelphia. Denny Walling? Rafael Landestoy? Craig Reynolds? Enos Cabell? Alan Ashby? Danny Heep? Art Howe? Terry Puhl (who had a great series, but still)? That was a big reason Ryan and Richard didn't have more wins. The Astrodome was indeed a pitcher's park, but that worked against the Astros on offense too.

I think the post we disagree about was a fair comment.

 

Retired in 1999 after a 15-year pro career.

 

you're right it was "one of the great 1-2 pitching combos ever." i'm not saying Richard's career wasn't cut short, just saying that when i think "one of the great ----- ever" i infer it means more than one season. those guys played together for 1 season.

 

As for national figures, Bernard King was one. That guy could score with anyone. Len Bias was another.

But as for a guy not many folks outside of Alabama know, you can't go wrong with former Auburn running back Darrell "Lectron" Williams.

He ran the ball for Vigor High School in Prichard near Mobile when the Wolves were the dominant force in Alabama high school football and was Mr. Football in 1988. The guy was a beast with 4.3 speed who could turn directions on a dime. He rushed for 300-plus yards against my old high school with six touchdowns, four rushing, one receiving (it was 85 yards) and one on a kickoff return. On the kickoff return, he broke 10 tackles and juked people on our kickoff coverage unit out of their shoes. Brutal. Best football player I've ever seen in person.

Think Chris Johnson and you've got an idea how fast and elusive he was.

He commits to Auburn, leads his high school to the state title game at Legion Field for a second straight year and tears his ACL on the awful Astroturf up there. I've hated Astroturf ever since. He played at Auburn after surgery, made the freshman All-SEC team, but was clearly not the same explosive guy and was always plagued by injuries. What a shame. He was one of those once-in-a-lifetime, WOW-type players.