The 100 Greatest American Athletes

Martin Gitlin

From Babe Ruth to Michael Phelps, Billie Jean King to Tony Hawk, American athletes have been a source of pride and accomplishment throughout the nation’s history. While there have been plenty of athlete biographies, sports profiles, and behind-the scenes looks at various professional sports, no book has attempted to rank the greatest American athletes of all time. Until now.

In The100 Greatest American Athletes, Martin Gitlin ranks the best of the best using a point system to assess each individual’s achievements, versatility, and athleticism, as well as the physical requirements of the sport or sports in which they participated. The final tally of these points provides the ranking for each athlete in the book, which is sure to spark lively conversation. Some of the most iconic names in sports history can be found here, including Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown, Larry Byrd, LeBron James, Mickey Mantle, Joe Montana, Jesse Owens, Mark Spitz, Tiger Woods, and Babe Didrikson Zaharias.

It can be difficult to compare bobsledders to boxers, figure-skaters to football players, shot-putters to skiers. This book, however, attempts to do just that in an accurate, fair manner that honors those who made valuable contributions to American sports and culture. Sports fans will undoubtedly enjoy debating the ranking of these remarkable individuals, making The100 Greatest American Athletes a must read.

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 398 • Trim: 6¼ x 9¼

978-1-5381-1026-3 • Hardback • October 2018 • $48.00 • (£37.00)

978-1-5381-1027-0 • eBook • October 2018 • $45.50 • (£35.00)

Subjects: Sports & Recreation / Reference, Biography & Autobiography / Sports

The 100 Greatest American Athletes

Hardback

eBook

Summary

From Babe Ruth to Michael Phelps, Billie Jean King to Tony Hawk, American athletes have been a source of pride and accomplishment throughout the nation’s history. While there have been plenty of athlete biographies, sports profiles, and behind-the scenes looks at various professional sports, no book has attempted to rank the greatest American athletes of all time. Until now.

In The100 Greatest American Athletes, Martin Gitlin ranks the best of the best using a point system to assess each individual’s achievements, versatility, and athleticism, as well as the physical requirements of the sport or sports in which they participated. The final tally of these points provides the ranking for each athlete in the book, which is sure to spark lively conversation. Some of the most iconic names in sports history can be found here, including Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown, Larry Byrd, LeBron James, Mickey Mantle, Joe Montana, Jesse Owens, Mark Spitz, Tiger Woods, and Babe Didrikson Zaharias.

It can be difficult to compare bobsledders to boxers, figure-skaters to football players, shot-putters to skiers. This book, however, attempts to do just that in an accurate, fair manner that honors those who made valuable contributions to American sports and culture. Sports fans will undoubtedly enjoy debating the ranking of these remarkable individuals, making The100 Greatest American Athletes a must read.

Details

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 398 • Trim: 6¼ x 9¼

978-1-5381-1026-3 • Hardback • October 2018 • $48.00 • (£37.00)

978-1-5381-1027-0 • eBook • October 2018 • $45.50 • (£35.00)

Subjects: Sports & Recreation / Reference, Biography & Autobiography / Sports

Author

Martin Gitlin is a freelance writer and the author of more than 100 books on popular culture and sports. He has won many awards for his writing, including first place for General Excellence in Journalism from the Associated Press. His most recent books include The Greatest Sitcoms of All Time (2013), The Greatest College Football Rivalries of All Time (2014), and Powerful Moments in Sports: The Most Significant Sporting Events in American History (2017).

Table of Contents

Introduction
1: Jim Thorpe: The Sports Conqueror
2: Michael Jordan: His Airness
3: Bob Mathias: The Manchild
4: Jim Brown: The Indestructible
5: Michael Phelps: The Baltimore Bullet
6: Deion Sanders: Prime Time
7: LeBron James: The Chosen One
8: Jackie Joyner-Kersee: Magnificent Heptathlete
9: Rafer Johnson: Renaissance Man
10: Muhammad Ali: The Louisville Lip
11: Willie Mays: The Say Hey Kid
12: Babe Ruth: The Sultan of Swat
13: Ashton Eaton: Wheels
14: Babe Didrikson Zaharias: The Master of All
15: Wilt Chamberlain: Wilt the Stilt
16: Jackie Robinson: The Barrier Breaker
17: Rickey Henderson: The Man of Steal
18: Bo Jackson: The Freakish Talent
19: Jesse Owens: To Hell with Hitler
20: Henry Aaron: Hammerin’ Hank
21: Tom Brady: Tom Terrific
22: Lawrence Taylor: L.T.
23: Carl Lewis: King Carl
24: Reggie White: The Minister of Defense
25: Bruce Jenner: Bruiser
26: Ray Robinson: Sugar
27: Don Hutson: The Alabama Antelope
28: Bob Hayes: Bullet Bob
29: Bill Russell: Mr. 11 Rings
30: Deacon Jones: The Secretary of Defense
31: Sandy Koufax: The Left Arm of God
32: Mickey Mantle: The Mick
33: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: The Big ‘A’
34: Lou Gehrig: The Iron Horse
35: Emlen Tunnell: Offense on Defense
36: Jerry West: Zeke from Cabin Creek
37: Anthony Munoz: The Great Protector
38: Oscar Charleston: The Black Ty Cobb
39: Earvin Johnson: Magic
40: Joe Louis: The Brown Bomber
41: Kobe Bryant: The Black Mamba
42: Serena Williams: Momma Smash
43: Honus Wagner: The Flying Dutchman
44: Julius Erving: Dr. J
45: Gale Sayers: The Kansas Comet
46: Mary Wambach: Abby
47: Jerry Rice: Flash 80
48: Pete Sampras: Pistol Pete
49: Eric Heiden: The Record Breaker
50: Shaun White: The Flying Tomato
51: Simone Biles: Simoney
52: Stan Musial: Stan the Man
53: Willie Pep: Will ‘o the Wisp
54: Walter Payton: Sweetness
55: Althea Gibson: The Tenacious One
56: Henry Armstrong: Homicide Hank
57: Joe Montana: Joe Cool
58: Mike Tyson: The Baddest Man on the Planet
59: Dick Butkus: The Maestro of Mayhem
60: Tracy Caulkins: The Medley Sensation
61: Michael Johnson: The Duck
62: Bob Beamon: Leap of a Lifetime
63: Oscar Robertson: The Big O
64: Mike Schmidt: Iron Mike
65: Larry Bird: The Hick from French Lick
66: Lindsey Vonn: Kildon
67: Karl Malone: The Mailman
68: Mike Trout: The Millville Meteor
69: Cheryl Miller: Big Sister
70: Mark Spitz: Mark the Shark
71: Tony Hawk: The Bird Man
72: Joe DiMaggio: The Yankee Clipper
73: Peggy Fleming: The Steel-Nerved Skater from San Jose
74: Walter Johnson: The Big Train
75: Barry Sanders: The Little Fella
76: Ty Cobb: The Georgia Peach
77: Bonnie Blair: The Blue
78: Secretariat: Big Red
79: Rocky Marciano: The Brockton Blockbuster
80: Red Grange: The Galloping Ghost
81: Chris Chelios: The Godfather of USA Hockey
82: Chris Evert: The Ice Maiden
83: Al Oerter: He-Man Heave Man
84: Mary T. Meagher: Madame Butterfly
85: Lisa Leslie: Smooth
86: O.J. Simpson: The Juice
87: Billie Jean King: The Male Chauvinist Pig Tamer
88: Wilma Rudolph: The Tornado
89: Kelly Slater: King Kelly
90: Johnny Unitas: The Golden Arm
91: Ted Williams: The Splendid Splinter
92: Greg Louganis: Dynamite Diver
93: Josh Gibson: The Legend
94: Edwin Moses: The Bionic Man
95: Jack Nicklaus: The Golden Bear
96: Rogers Hornsby: The Rajah
97: Florence Griffith Joyner: FloJo
98: Gabby Douglas: The Flying Squirrel
99: Lynette Woodard: The Globetrotter
100: Eldrick Woods: Tiger
Index
About the Author

Reviews

This reference book challenges the traditional perceptions on how popular sports production is critical to assess among fans and sports writers. Gitlin provides passionate, comprehensive evaluations of and inquiries into his subjects; his findings are based on personal perspectives and popular assessments, which makes this reference book innovative and organic. This is the first book that examines modern American athletes and sports production by adopting a point ranking system. The outcome of this critical book will result in major contributions for future reference books similar to this critical subject matter. Every library should acquire a copy for its sports and popular culture collections.
— Choice Reviews

Having known Martin Gitlin for many years, provocative is not a word I would use to describe him. But provocative is the best word to describe his latest work. What a great read.

— Tony Grossi, NFL and Cleveland Browns analyst for ESPN Cleveland and 850 WKNR radio, voting member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame

The 100 Greatest American Athletes

Martin Gitlin

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