Perception of pre war baseball players vs other sports

[vintagebaseballcardguy]

Baseball has done a great job of glorifying its past. Where football is concerned, if it didn't happen before the dawn of the Super Bowl era, it largely doesn't exist for many fans.

[Hankphenom]

As others have said, baseball was in full flower then, football and basketball just getting started. Still, I'd say most football fans have heard of Red Grange, Bronco Nagurski, Jim Thorpe, Knute Rockne, perhaps a few others. Boxing was also in its prime, so I think the names Joe Louis, Jack Dempsey, Rocky Marciano, and Sugar Ray Robinson would be recognized by most sports fans today. But I couldn't name you a heavyweight or any other champion from the last 20 years. How many golfers wouldn't know Bobby Jones, Sam Snead, Ben Hogan, Babe Didrikson, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer as greats from the past? As for Home Run Baker, that's not a good example. I'd guess Frank Thomas and the other guys could tell you that Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, Jackie Robinson, Ted Williams, Joe Dimaggio, and many others were all-time baseball legends.

[raulus]

Certainly the historical popularity of the sport has a lot to do with it.

I also wonder whether rule changes have an impact, in that they fundamentally change the nature of the game. The idea being that sports with fewer changes enjoy more stability, and history seems more relatable.

Certainly changes like adding the 3-point line and the forward pass come to mind in basketball and football that fundamentally altered the game itself.

While baseball has its share of dramatic rule changes, many of them happened a loooooooong time ago, like being able to peg a runner with the ball, or a foul ball not counting as a strike.

It could be that the stasis of the game is not as important as its historical popularity. But I'm inclined to think that it could be a factor that comes into play.

[BobbyStrawberry]

I've never understood why Mikan gets the Rodney Dangerfield treatment. The guy singlehandedly changed the game

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

Originally Posted by BobbyStrawberry

I've never understood why Mikan gets the Rodney Dangerfield treatment. The guy singlehandedly changed the game

I have no love or interest for the sport, but wasn't Mikan named the greatest athlete of the first half of the century at some point? I forget who bestowed the honor, but always questioned how this guy, in a then-fairly unpopular sport, would top a list of players from every professional sport in perhaps the greatest era of athleticism the world has ever known.

[cgjackson222]

Originally Posted by BillyCoxDodgers3B

I have no love or interest for the sport, but wasn't Mikan named the greatest athlete of the first half of the century at some point? I forget who bestowed the honor, but always questioned how this guy, in a then-fairly unpopular sport, would top a list of players from every professional sport in perhaps the greatest era of athleticism the world has ever known.

I could see Jim Thorpe, but not Mikan.

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

Originally Posted by cgjackson222

I could see Jim Thorpe, but not Mikan.

I could see 100 or more over Mikan, but as I said, basketball is not my interest. And yes, Thorpe would make a great deal of sense. In fact, I'm certain he won a similar award from a different entity, thereby proving the true value of such things. Anyone can award anyone else anything.