100 Greatest American Athletes

In this book, Martin Gitlin has ranked the 100 greatest American athletes across all sports, from football and baseball to the decathlon and skateboarding. Taken into consideration are the athletes’ achievements, mental toughness, versatility, athleticism, and overall impact on their sport.

Martin Gitlin is a former newspaper journalist who won more than 45 awards, including first place for general excellence from Associated Press. That organization selected him as one of the top four feature writers in Ohio. He has had more than 200 books published, most of them educational, including many in the realm of twentieth-century American history.

Introduction 1: Jim Thorpe: The Sports Conqueror 2: Michael Jordan: His Airness 3: Bob Mathias: The Manchild 4: Jim Brown: The Indestructible 5: Michael Phelps: The Baltimore Bullet 6: Deion Sanders: Prime Time 7: LeBron James: The Chosen One 8: Jackie Joyner-Kersee: Magnificent Heptathlete 9: Rafer Johnson: Renaissance Man 10: Muhammad Ali: The Louisville Lip 11: Willie Mays: The Say Hey Kid 12: Babe Ruth: The Sultan of Swat 13: Ashton Eaton: Wheels 14: Babe Didrikson Zaharias: The Master of All 15: Wilt Chamberlain: Wilt the Stilt 16: Jackie Robinson: The Barrier Breaker 17: Rickey Henderson: The Man of Steal 18: Bo Jackson: The Freakish Talent 19: Jesse Owens: To Hell with Hitler 20: Henry Aaron: Hammerin' Hank 21: Tom Brady: Tom Terrific 22: Lawrence Taylor: L.T. 23: Carl Lewis: King Carl 24: Reggie White: The Minister of Defense 25: Bruce Jenner: Bruiser 26: Ray Robinson: Sugar 27: Don Hutson: The Alabama Antelope 28: Bob Hayes: Bullet Bob 29: Bill Russell: Mr. 11 Rings 30: Deacon Jones: The Secretary of Defense 31: Sandy Koufax: The Left Arm of God 32: Mickey Mantle: The Mick 33: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: The Big 'A' 34: Lou Gehrig: The Iron Horse 35: Emlen Tunnell: Offense on Defense 36: Jerry West: Zeke from Cabin Creek 37: Anthony Munoz: The Great Protector 38: Oscar Charleston: The Black Ty Cobb 39: Earvin Johnson: Magic 40: Joe Louis: The Brown Bomber 41: Kobe Bryant: The Black Mamba 42: Serena Williams: Momma Smash 43: Honus Wagner: The Flying Dutchman 44: Julius Erving: Dr. J 45: Gale Sayers: The Kansas Comet 46: Mary Wambach: Abby 47: Jerry Rice: Flash 80 48: Pete Sampras: Pistol Pete 49: Eric Heiden: The Record Breaker 50: Shaun White: The Flying Tomato 51: Simone Biles: Simoney 52: Stan Musial: Stan the Man 53: Willie Pep: Will 'o the Wisp 54: Walter Payton: Sweetness 55: Althea Gibson: The Tenacious One 56: Henry Armstrong: Homicide Hank 57: Joe Montana: Joe Cool 58: Mike Tyson: The Baddest Man on the Planet 59: Dick Butkus: The Maestro of Mayhem 60: Tracy Caulkins: The Medley Sensation 61: Michael Johnson: The Duck 62: Bob Beamon: Leap of a Lifetime 63: Oscar Robertson: The Big O 64: Mike Schmidt: Iron Mike 65: Larry Bird: The Hick from French Lick 66: Lindsey Vonn: Kildon 67: Karl Malone: The Mailman 68: Mike Trout: The Millville Meteor 69: Cheryl Miller: Big Sister 70: Mark Spitz: Mark the Shark 71: Tony Hawk: The Bird Man 72: Joe DiMaggio: The Yankee Clipper 73: Peggy Fleming: The Steel-Nerved Skater from San Jose 74: Walter Johnson: The Big Train 75: Barry Sanders: The Little Fella 76: Ty Cobb: The Georgia Peach 77: Bonnie Blair: The Blue 78: Secretariat: Big Red 79: Rocky Marciano: The Brockton Blockbuster 80: Red Grange: The Galloping Ghost 81: Chris Chelios: The Godfather of USA Hockey 82: Chris Evert: The Ice Maiden 83: Al Oerter: He-Man Heave Man 84: Mary T. Meagher: Madame Butterfly 85: Lisa Leslie: Smooth 86: O.J. Simpson: The Juice 87: Billie Jean King: The Male Chauvinist Pig Tamer 88: Wilma Rudolph: The Tornado 89: Kelly Slater: King Kelly 90: Johnny Unitas: The Golden Arm 91: Ted Williams: The Splendid Splinter 92: Greg Louganis: Dynamite Diver 93: Josh Gibson: The Legend 94: Edwin Moses: The Bionic Man 95: Jack Nicklaus: The Golden Bear 96: Rogers Hornsby: The Rajah 97: Florence Griffith Joyner: FloJo 98: Gabby Douglas: The Flying Squirrel 99: Lynette Woodard: The Globetrotter 100: Eldrick Woods: Tiger Index About the Author