This Series Continues With the Top 10 Teams

This is one in a series on the 20th Century’s best athletes and their activities. After watching sports events for most of the century, I made these nominations in earlier stories:

The top 10 athletes: 1. Babe Ruth, 2. Muhammad Ali, 3. O.J. Simpson, 4. Jackie Robinson, 5. John Unitas, 6. Magic Johnson, 7. Ted Williams, 8. Deion Sanders, 9. Bobby Orr, 10. Jesse Owens.

The top 10 days (individual achievement): 1. Reggie Jackson: three World Series home runs on three pitches; 2. Jesse Owens: four world records in one day; 3. Franz Klammer: a gold medal for a wild ski ride; 4. Red Grange: four touchdowns in 12 minutes; 5. Kirk Gibson: how to win the Series in the first game; 6. Muhammad Ali: how to beat George Foreman without fighting; 7. Arthur Ashe: mind over Jimmy Connors at Wimbledon; 8. Magic Johnson: rookie point guard wins NBA title as center; 9. Roger Bannister: a mile in four minutes; 10. Ted Williams: from .399 to .406 on getaway day.

My favorite athletes (personality plus talent): 1. Billie Jean King, 2. Joe Namath, 3. Deacon Jones, 4. Julius Erving, 5. Arnold Palmer, 6. Martina Navratilova, 7. Jerry Rice, 8. Reggie Jackson, 9. Ronnie Lott, 10. Warren Spahn.

Next: The top 10 teams.