10 Greatest Athletes in Detroit History

[ElectricMayhem]

I'll be honest. I haven't watched post-Lockout hockey. I remember watching Lidstrom back in the day and knew he was perennial All-Star (or whatever it's called in hockey) good, but I didn't realize he was one of the top defenders ever, good. With the input from this thread and a little more online research, it's time to re-construct this list (with pictures!)
I changed the OP to reflect my updated list. It's also here, under the spoiler.

Spoiler:

Joe Louis

Gordie Howe

Barry Sanders

Ty Cobb

Steve Yzerman

Isiah Thomas


The other 4 positions should be filled out by some of the following. I'll put them in my idea of order of likelihood:
Nicklas Lidstrom - I have been schooled.

Hank Greenberg - 183 RBI in a season? 58 HR? .616 slugging in 12 years as a Tiger? He was Miggy before Miggy was Miggy.

Calvin Johnson - He might end up being the best WR of all time. Imagine if he had Joe Montana and Steve Young throwing to him. In 6 seasons, he has 9 receiving records.

Miguel Cabrera - I've rethought this one. Miggy goes ahead of Verlander. They are both the most dominant at what they do, but we haven't seen Miggy swoon like Verlander is this year. Unless you want to recall his drinking with the season on the line.

Al Kaline - Had an effin' battery named after him. 18x All-Star, 3,000+ hits, announcer for 27 years. He's a sentimental choice to be on the list. It's hard to weigh his long solid career against the current players with higher peaks.

Ben Wallace - Defensive and rebounding beast unlike anything the NBA has seen before. Shaq stopper, Howard stopper....most feared defender in the league for a loooooooong time.

Tommy Hearns - The Motor City Cobra is a legendary boxer.

Justin Verlander - Right after Miggy. He was untouchable before this year. Odds are he'll get back on track soon.

Terry Sawchuk - Given the label of "Best Goalie Ever" at the time, he broke the record for most wins by a goalie, not to be broken for 30 years (by Martin Brodeur).

David Bing - Being mayor doesn't factor in positively or negatively, but he had a great career as a Piston. Averaged 20-7-4.

Alan Trammell - Had a long, great career as a Detroit Tiger, peaking as a runner-up to the MVP (George Bell). His accomplishments can't be mentioned without talking about his other half, Sweet Lou Whitaker. Speaking of which, did you know Lou Whitaker's middle name is Rodman? DETROIT SPORTS!

Fennis Dembo - Led the Detroit Pistons to a championship sweep over the Lakers, hitting every single shot he took for an astounding 100% fg% in the 1989 playoffs.

Bobby Layne - Wasn't a Lion that long, but led the team to 3 championships.

Bob Lanier - Averaged 20/10 over the course of his NBA career, spending 10 years with the Pistons.

That's 18 (+1) players who could easily be in most city's Top 10. Detroit has been blessed with a lot of amazing talent. I'm sure there are more that could be on the list, and I'm sure many people would rearrange the order I have them in, but you have to admit, it's a difficult project.

[Snakebites]

Sorry, this has been driving me nuts for the entire thread:

It's ISIAH Thomas, not Isaiah Thomas. Isaiah Thomas currently plays for the Kings, I believe.

[ElectricMayhem]

Duly noted. My apologies for confusing him with the equally acclaimed Sacramento King.

[joseph mamah]

Fennis Dembo??????????????

[Han Solo]

Miguel Cabrera will be on this list guaranteed.

He's not there yet. Six seasons, 215 homers in Detroit.

You can't be serious. Is that all he's accomplished here??

Ty Cobb. Hank Greenberg, Al Kaline, Miguel Cabrera

Top 4 hitters in Tigers history. He's on the list.

[Han Solo]

I've been thinking more about this today. I think there are 7 stone-cold locks (in roughly order or preference):

Howe
Joe Louis
Barry
Cobb
Yzerman
Isaiah
Lidstrom

After that it depends on on if you want to include guys still playing or not and your sporting preference

Add Kaline and Cabrera. Greeenberg misses the list because he's underrated due to the war.

[Han Solo]

Ha! Remember this movie??

Wish I could find it.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eh5jy3lP23I[/youtube]

[ElectricMayhem]

The "Official" list is in.

Ty Cobb
Hank Greenberg
Gordie Howe
Al Kaline
Nicklas Lidstrom
Barry Sanders
Terry Sawchuk
Isiah Thomas
Justin Verlander
Steve Yzerman

The only obvious complaint is where the hell is Joe Louis?
Other than that, I'd have Cabrera over Verlander (although I've waffled on that) and Calvin Johnson instead of Kaline, but I can understand the argument that Johnson hasn't done enough yet.

[theBigLip]

Denny McLain?

[Invictus88]

Mad props for the Fennis Dembo name drop. I'd also add Chuck Nevitt to the list.

[Invictus88]

On a serious note, I know this won't make the final list but pre-injury Grant Hill.

What could have been...

[Invictus88]

One more that won't make the list but he's a model of consistency and production:

Jason Hanson

[DocRI]

The "Official" list is in.

Ty Cobb
Hank Greenberg
Gordie Howe
Al Kaline
Nicklas Lidstrom
Barry Sanders
Terry Sawchuk
Isiah Thomas
Justin Verlander
Steve Yzerman

The only obvious complaint is where the hell is Joe Louis?
Other than that, I'd have Cabrera over Verlander (although I've waffled on that) and Calvin Johnson instead of Kaline, but I can understand the argument that Johnson hasn't done enough yet.

Any list of Detroit's greatest athletes that doesn't include Joe Louis isn't worth a single, solitary second spent thinking about it, discussing it or debating it. Did they have some caveat that only team sport athletes were considered? If so, that's still B.S.

[BayAreaTreyArea]

If we were to play out current players careers with Detroit teams then Calvin miggy and jv would be there. Miggy behind Cobb as the best tigers hitter ever. Calvin with Barry as the best lions ever. Jv is just the best pitcher in Detroit history. The fact that those guys are halfway through their careers and mentioned with the other guys proves what amazing talent they are. Calvin will be the most dominat wr in nfl history. Miggy a top ten hitter in MLB history. People say he is already. Jv the best pitcher of an era. Detroit has the stars to go along with the cars.

[Shooter1]

Dennis Rodman has to be there.

[Shooter1]

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/ten-greate ... 00262.html

[Blkbrd671]

Honestly i didn't realize how many all time players we have , Lidstrom arguably GOAT defensive, CJ probably GOAT receiver at end of his career. Barry Sanders, etc damn