As part of ESPN's extensive SportsCentury project presented by General Motors, a distinguished panel of knowledgeable journalists and observers has named Willie Mays (No. 8) and Jim Thorpe (No. 7) to the greatest North American athletes of the 20th century list. The network will present 30-minute profiles on each athlete, Friday, Dec. 10 at 10 p.m. ET (Mays) and 10:30 p.m. (Thorpe). ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN Classic will present multiple reairs of each program.
Mays, is the second highest ranking baseball-only player on the list (Babe Ruth has yet to be ranked), while Thorpe was only one of three top 50 athletes to have lived in the 19th century (Bill Tilden and Ty Cobb).
While the SportsCentury panel, consisting of 48 distinguished professionals, was asked to vote based on athletic ability alone, the Thorpe program will address the controversy surrounding his 1912 Olympic medals and his personal struggles after his athletic career. The Mays show will address his difficult transition from New York to San Francisco, the toll his divorce took on his playing career and his struggle to retire.
Quotes on Mays
Jerry Izenberg (Newark Star Ledger)
"Willie Mays was designed to play the outfield. When he roamed the
outfield, he was the free spirit of the outfield. Willie was the wind-up
toy whose batteries never died. Willie was the grass stains on the pants,
diving and losing his hat when he was making a catch."
Willie Mays
"I was very fortunate to understand the game at a very early age. My
father would often talk to me about baseball, but I learned the game on
my own by playing with older people."
William C. Rhoden (New York Times)
"Jackie Robinson integrated the game of baseball, just racially. But
Willie Mays came along and integrated the game stylistically."
Tim McCarver (Former Major Leaguer)
"The one thing that struck me about Willie Mays as a catcher, sitting
behind him, was that he had his nails buffed. I had never seen a man with
buffed nails. I thought that was pretty cool."
Quotes on Thorpe
Nick Lemann (Author)
"Thorpe was early 20th century when sportswriting was mythologizing,
so it becomes hard to tell what's real and what's myth. He's kind of half
a modern sports figure, and half a kind of Paul Bunyan, American mythic
figure."
Skip Rozin (Author)
"The way he played the game so embodied the warrior spirit that Americans
cherish in their athletes. It has carried Thorpe all these years and makes
him in many people's minds as alive and vivid today as he was back then."
Jack Thorpe (Son)
"It was only 20 years before that - the last of the Indian Wars. The
Indian was looked down upon. What they did to Dad during that period was
probably one of the worst cases of discrimination in sports that had ever
taken place."
Curt Gowdy (Legendary broadcaster)
"Just winning the decathlon or pentathlon would make him a great athlete
to me. But to do everything else along with it made him supreme. And that's
why I think he's the greatest athlete that's ever been in this country."
Skip Rozin (Author)
"Here's a man whose only expression was on the field of competition.
And like soldiers who can't deal with peace time, here's a man who couldn't
live without sports."
Willie Mays
Willie Mays, The "Say Hey Kid," was born May 6, 1931 outside Birmingham,
Ala. After high school graduation, Mays signed with the Giants and at 20
years old, entered the Major Leagues. He captured the Rookie of the Year
honors in leading the Giants to an improbable pennant over the Dodgers.
He went on to serve in the Army before returning in 1954. In his first
full season, he was voted MVP with a .345 average, 41 home runs, 110 RBIs
and 119 runs scored, the first of 12 straight seasons with more than 100
runs scored.
Mays continued to star in New York and San Francisco (Giants moved in 1957). He won his second MVP title in 1965, and in 1972, he was traded the Mets. In all, Mays finished with 660 home runs in his 22-year career, a lifetime average of .302, 3,283 hits, 2,062 runs scored and 1,903 RBIs. In 1979, he was elected to the Hall of Fame, but was later banned from baseball for his association with a casino.
In a poll of espn.com users who were asked "Do you think Willie Mays is one of the top 50 athletes of the 20th century?" - 96.1% of the 3,346 voters said yes.
Jim Thorpe
Jim Thorpe was born May 22, 1887 near Prague, Okla. At the 1912 Olympics,
Thorpe won the gold medal in both the pentathlon and decathlon. He also
finished fourth in the open high jump and seventh in the broad jump. Thorpe
returned from the Olympics to star for the Carlisle football team in a
variety of offensive and defensive positions.
In 1913, he was stripped of his Olympic medals because he had been paid to play semi-pro baseball in the past. After leaving Carlisle, Thorpe played six seasons for the New York (baseball) Giants and Boston Braves, averaging .252. He went on to play professional football and became first president of the American Professional Football Association, which evolved into the NFL.
Thorpe was voted greatest athlete of the first half of the century by the Associated Press and his gold medals were restored in 1982, nearly 30 years after Thorpe died of a heart attack at age 65.
In a poll of espn.com users who were asked "Do you think Jim Thorpe is one of the top 50 athletes of the 20th century?" - 95.9% of the 3,910 voters said yes.