Ten greatest athletes in Kansas City sports history

[brewcrew1000]

Yahoo Sports has been naming the 10 greatest athletes in every town, KC was yesterday. Even some fringe sports stars made the Honorable Mention list who I never heard of; Wade Flaherty, Blades and Gino Shiraldi, Comets. For the greatest of all time i voted Tom Watson.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/ten-greate ... 00274.html

[KCMax]

I like Flaherty, but Arthurs Irbe was the most exciting Blades player of all-time IMO.

Buck O'Neil gets a lot of attention, and deservedly so, but if we're just judging athletic performance, he was far from the greatest Monarch. From accounts I have read, he was a very good, but never the greatest player on the team. Satchel Paige would probably get that recognition, and Hilton Smith is in the HOF as well. Willard Brown was probably the best hitter. I guess he says "most beloved", but the headline says "greatest." So I'm not sure what the standard is.

Who was the most beloved KC Athletics player? Bob Cerv?

[aknowledgeableperson]

Gino, what a guy. Never had his pizza though.

[shinatoo]

No Bip Roberts?

[bbqboy]

what happened to Willie Lanier?

[StL_Dan]

Gino, what a guy. Never had his pizza though.

I tried it many years ago when he had a location in an Olathe strip mall at 151st and Blackbob. Of course, that strip mall was demolished in favor of yet another......Walgreen's.

[Joe Smith]

I like Flaherty, but Arthurs Irbe was the most exciting Blades player of all-time IMO.

Buck O'Neil gets a lot of attention, and deservedly so, but if we're just judging athletic performance, he was far from the greatest Monarch. From accounts I have read, he was a very good, but never the greatest player on the team. Satchel Paige would probably get that recognition, and Hilton Smith is in the HOF as well. Willard Brown was probably the best hitter. I guess he says "most beloved", but the headline says "greatest." So I'm not sure what the standard is.

Who was the most beloved KC Athletics player? Bob Cerv?

Arturs

[Highlander]

I like Flaherty, but Arthurs Irbe was the most exciting Blades player of all-time IMO.

Buck O'Neil gets a lot of attention, and deservedly so, but if we're just judging athletic performance, he was far from the greatest Monarch. From accounts I have read, he was a very good, but never the greatest player on the team. Satchel Paige would probably get that recognition, and Hilton Smith is in the HOF as well. Willard Brown was probably the best hitter. I guess he says "most beloved", but the headline says "greatest." So I'm not sure what the standard is.

Who was the most beloved KC Athletics player? Bob Cerv?

Probably Bert "Campy" Campeneris. I was there in 1965 (barely old enough to remember I was even there) at Campeneris night at the old Municipal Stadium. I also seem to remember that he got injured that night late in the game but it's not all that clear nearly 50 years later.


Playing all nine positions (Wikipedia):

"On September 8, 1965, as part of a special promotion featuring the popular young player, Campaneris became the first player to play every position in a major league game.[2] On the mound, he pitched ambidextrously, throwing lefty to left-handers, and switched against right-handers. Since then, César Tovar (Twins, 1968), Scott Sheldon (Rangers, 2000) and Shane Halter (Tigers, 2000) have joined this select list of nine-position players in a major league game."

EDIT: Yep, he did get injured -

http://voices.yahoo.com/dagoberto-bert- ... tml?cat=14

[pstokely]

no kU figures? but KC is a kU town, the billboards say so

[aknowledgeableperson]

Bert "Campy" Campeneris.

I miss those old style shortstops. Luis Aparicio, Maury Wills, Freddie Patek, etc. Small guys, good fielders, like to steal bases.

[bbqboy]

no kU figures? but KC is a kU town, the billboards say so

looks like they mean pro athletes that played for KC teams.
No Rick Sutcliffe. I was thinking of Jean Harlow, as she was certainly an athlete in my mind.