100 Most Likable American Athletes (Preview)

With the recent retirements of Derek Jeter and Champ Bailey, America has lost two of its most likable athletes. In fact, it was an easy argument to make that Derek Jeter was the most likable athlete in the country. Measuring likability by how much the public at large likes somebody it is easy to see how truly likable they were. Everyone loves Derek Jeter and Champ Bailey. Absolutely everyone does/did. There is nothing to not like about them. Sure Derek got the majority of the love during his farewell tour, but don't sell Champ short. He was loved even when he lost a step and was nowhere near the player he once was. I loved these two athletes and even had a Champ Bailey jersey growing up. The void these two left leaving us as two of America's most beloved athletes inspired this list. I was looking for 100 athletes that America LOVES. 100 guys with qualities similar to Champ Bailey and Derek Jeter.

Smiles don't hurt an athletes likability, but that isn't what we are measuring with this list. I was looking for the 100 most likable American Athletes today. Here were the rules I established for my list. Each rule is centered and bold with a description underneath.

Gender and sport do not matter just taking 100 Active Athletes.

To truly branch out this list as much as possible I thought it was important to include both genders in the selection process. Some female athletes are incredibly likable and it is important to showcase as many good people as possible. Likewise sport didn't matter to me on this list because we are just going on how likable a person is. That being said, football, baseball, and basketball players are much better known in this country and I wanted to create at list that was not just indicative of those three sports. I also wanted athletes of sports that are not as big in America if the athletes themselves are America. These types of lists are fun and entertaining. However, in making this list the Fab 5 Gymnasts from the 2012 Olympics automatically popped in my list. Unfortunately, for two of those athletes, Jordyn Wieber, and Aly Raisman, they are not currently competing. Because they are no longer competing, those two are ineligible for this list. They are still incredibly likable and beloved by all Americans, but they will not be included on this particular list.

The Athlete must have been born in one of the 50 states.

The biggest rule in determining that the athlete be on a list of American Athletes is that they are an American citizen. That part of the equation was easy. In doing research for this factor, I was surprised by quite a few being born outside of this country and not citizens. The biggest surprise in this group was that Joey Votto was Canadian. I am not sure why, but I could have sworn that he was an All-American guy. 

There was another issue though. If I kept everybody that was an American citizen, I would have to check on who obtained citizenship and who was born in a US territory. While it was easy to find a guy like Tim Duncan who was born in the Virgin Islands, there are quite a few that were born in Puerto Rico, or Guam that would be harder to add to the list. The fact that Puerto Rico competes by itself in international competition makes this more difficult. Mainly because of Puerto Rico, I decided to add the state rule. This state rule disqualifies Duncan from the list because as stated he was born in the US Virgin Islands. That is quite unfortunate for Duncan because he has a very strong case for being the #1 most liked athlete in this country. He will have to do with this quick mention. It is worth noting that Duncan appeared in a comic book as pictured below.

Each sport is capped at 20 representatives.

This list could have easily be done with just three sports, but I wanted to include the other sports. Before I started that, I limited myself to 20 athletes from basketball, baseball, and football. This helped to keep those sports down. I only used the full 20 for baseball and football though as it was easier to leave a few basketball guys off the list.

This list is not about popularity, but overall likability.

This list is 100% about liability and not about popularity. If you want popularity, look at the all-star voting ballots or jersey sales. It is about likability here. Meaning if you sampled a random group, would they more than likely have a favorable impression of that individual. While Lebron James and Peyton Manning are the most popular players in their sports, they are also two of the most polarizing. Lebron is polarizing in that you either love him or hate him, but Manning in a different way. With Manning it seems you either love him or hate him, but you get pushed into a Manning v. Brady v. Rodgers argument sometimes and if you favor one you dislike the other. However, while Manning fans don't like Brady and Brady fans don't like Manning, it seems they all still pretty much like Rodgers and Brees. That would make Brees and Rodgers more likable than Manning or Brady. There are too many Manning haters for him to be on this list.

Likability for everyone as a whole and not just me.

While I have my own opinions of who is likable and who isn't, I tried to keep those out of here as much as possible. I for instance believe that Jameis Winston is a top 5 athlete in factors that you should like, but realize the majority of the country hates him. It is unfounded and the Winston hate makes me like the guy more, but for some reason he isn't a likable guy to the masses. Likewise, I like Robert Andino, but realize most have no idea who he is. It has to be a guy that the majority of people like in order for them to make this list. So while Winston and others are likable to many including myself, they do not meet the criteria for this countdown. No matter how much good some people do and how many times they help others, some are just marked as unlikable.

College athletes are eligible.

Current college athletes, while not as likely to make this list, are eligible for inclusion.

No known users of performance enhancing drugs.

This one is pretty obvious as most do not enjoy cheaters.

No people most think are a bust or done.

This category might as well be the Derrick Rose and Sam Bradford category. Those are the two I think of in this category. While most would love to see these guys succeed and most like these guys, I think we can all admit it is unlikely they will ever get to 100%. Each of these athletes can be considered to be finished at least as far as making a major impact. Although we all hope we are wrong. I especially feel this way about Bradford who is a personal favorite of mine. There are not many guys that are better as a person than Sam Bradford. That guy is awesome and I really hope he can push through it and persevere.

On to the countdown!

-Noland

The Derek Jeter Legacy

As an Oriole fan I should really dislike the Captain of the Yankees. The Yankees were always our biggest rival and robbed the Orioles of their only legit WS shot of my lifetime. You see the best Orioles team of my lifetime was the 1996 team that lost to the Yankees in the American League Championship Series. Game 1 of that series was controversial after the Orioles lost on a freak play involving Jeter. You see Jeter hit a long fly ball to right field that would have been a routine play for Tony Tarasco, but a 12 year old named Jeffrey Maier reached over the railing and caught the ball that was still in play. The umpire, in an incredibly obnoxious move, ruled it a home run and the Orioles went on to lose the game and the series. Many Orioles fans, including me, went on to hate the kid and Jeter for a while. This image was our symbol over so many losing seasons.

However, as time went on, I grew to appreciate everything Jeter brought to the table. I even eventually started to like Derek Jeter. It seems that during this farewell tour more and more have gone on to appreciate Jeter the way I have. You see it wasn't Jeter's fault that the fan caught the ball, that the umpire called it a homer, or that the Orioles would blow the series. Jeter was just doing what he has done his entire career, he was playing his butt off. Derek Jeter played as hard as anybody I have every seen. He never shrunk in the big moment and never let an opportunity slip by. This guy just played baseball day in and day out and he did it the right way. If Jeter had been an Oriole, we would have said that he did it the Oriole Way.

This talk about Jeter having class comes down to one thing, integrity. Derek Jeter has integrity plain and simple. During this era of cheaters no one has ever or will ever accuse Jeter of cheating. In fact, if you asked any baseball fan who the least likely cheater in the game is, 85% of them would say Derek Jeter. He is clean. He is baseball. People love baseball because of guys like Derek Jeter. They trust that the game isn't a sham because of guys like Derek Jeter. Jeter obviously is not the only clean baseball player, but he is the face of the clean baseball player. Never once did this guy have off the field controversy, never once did he treat any employee with anything but class, and never once was he afraid of being an ambassador for the game of baseball. Baseball is better because of Derek Jeter.

Maybe this farewall tour is a bit overblown. I admit, I thought it was hogwash that he was being called the greatest Yankee ever by so many. It seems a big stretch to call him the best player in this generation as well. For me he ranks somewhere between 6-10 of the players I have seen, behind Griffey, Alomar, Henderson, Ripken, and Pudge Rodriguez for sure. However, there is no denying how great he was. No arguing how important he was for the game. No debate about him being in the conversation. No doubt that he made the game better. So when you think of the legacy of Derek Jeter, remember that. Remember that he did it his way and he did it the right way. Remember that he was clean without a shadow of a doubt. Remember that every fanbase in the country respected him. Remember that everyone in America liked him. Derek Jeter was probably the most likable athlete in the country. This guy was a class act. He is a class act still. And that is why we have given him so much Respect.
Farewell Captain.

-Noland

The Baseball All-Star Game Sendoff

There are several things that you want for incredible athletes that do things the right way. Many of us want them to go out on top and some get to do that, but that is rare. It's rare that they get to enjoy it too, but it does happen sometimes. In basketball I can only really think of David Robinson announcing he was leaving that season and going out on top. It is equally rare in football, with only Ray Lewis and John Elway coming to mind (I think many would say Ray didn't do things the right way either). That feat doesn't really happen in baseball either. I cannot remember the last time a guy said he was retiring before the season and won the World Series in baseball. It most likely has happened, but I do not remember it. However, there is one thing that baseball does far better than the other sports.

Baseball has mastered the all-star game sendoff for these fantastic athletes with legendary careers. They honor guys that are great for the game and great for the community. This has really been true the last few years, but it happened long before that. When there isn't a current athlete to celebrate, baseball makes sure to honor a hometown legend like Stan Musial or Ted Williams. Sometimes baseball is able to do both. Major League Baseball just does a great job with their all-star game and it is truly a great thing to see.

Back in 2001, one of my childhood heroes, Cal Ripken Jr., took his personal farewell tour to the all-star game. To this day, I consider this my favorite all-star game experience to watch. I was a Freshman in High School that was so moved by the way that baseball honored its Iron Man. Here was Cal Ripken, the gold standard for hard work, excellence, and integrity being honored for being the incredible example that he was. During a period of drug users and cheaters, Ripken did things the right way and did things the best way. He was the centerpiece of this game and I loved it. They honored him the whole week long and Joe Torre was great with how he handled Cal. The Yankee manager at the time made a plan to have Cal Ripken Jr. play SS for an inning (eventhough he moved to 3B by that point in his career). Many argue that Ripken is the best SS ever and I agree so that was an awesome gesture for his last midsummer classic. It is also easily the single greatest moment of Alex Rodriguez's career where he put the game before himself. That is another story for another day though. In 2001 the All-Star game belonged to Cal Ripken Jr. He even hit a home run and won MVP which added to the festivities. This really was a shining moment for baseball. It was mainly a celebration of Cal passing the torch to the younger players in Major League Baseball, like Derek Jeter.

That moment was one of those once in a lifetime things. Major League Baseball surely would not be able to do that again most of us thought. Many of us predicted that would be one of the only times we saw that. All of us that thought it was the only time were wrong though. The last three years, every year has been an awesome all-star sendoff.

In 2012, during Mike Trout and Bryce Harper's first all-star game when baseball received a huge injection of youth, it honored a classic superstar. This all-star game would be played during the last season for Atlanta Brave legend, Chipper Jones. Now, Chipper isn't a Hall of Fame lock for everyone, but for me this guy certainly is. Especially given the era he played in and the fact that he did it clean. Chipper Jones was absolutely a guy that baseball needed to honor. Baseball did a great job with it too, eventhough Chipper had to be added after the initial rosters were announced. Major League Baseball realized that they needed Chipper in the game during his final season. As a Virginia resident at the time I loved the baseball tribute. I grew up watching Chipper and followed his career all the way back to the Richmond Braves in 1993 when I was 6 years old. We saw Chipper play minor league baseball and come up and become a superstar. It is great to see guys like Chipper pass the torch.

The following season in 2013, we saw Mariano Rivera on his farewell tour. The legendary closer who happens to be the greatest relief pitcher in baseball history, is one that everyone admires. He is one that we have been spoiled by recently and did things the right way. His whole career he conducted himself with class. I was thrilled that baseball gave him such a classy sendoff.Mariano also won MVP during his sendoff with a great performance.

A guy like Mike Trout was already spoiled by this point, but Tuesday's game really sealed the deal for the Major League Baseball sendoff. In his 3rd year in the league, Mike Trout was at his 3rd all-star game and witnessing his 3rd legendary sendoff. This time, the sendoff featured the Captain on his farewell tour. It was time to say goodbye at the all-star game to Derek Jeter. Jeter would help lead the American League to victory. With a brilliant defensive play in the top of the first, and a leadoff double in the bottom half. He would score the first run and collect another hit later in the game. Then in the 4th inning, Jeter came out so that the AL could get some other guys in and he could get the proper sendoff. He received multiple standing ovations during the game and baseball showed the world what a classy sport it was. We all Re2pect Derek Jeter and that commercial was one of the best commercials of all-time.

Derek Jeter did not win the MVP, although he obviously could have. Maybe he should have, but him not winning it just shows you how great baseball is. Major League Baseball is fantastic at passing the torch. For the past couple years we have seen these superstars exit the game and an injection of new talent into it. An injection of the guys that will one day receive these same sendoffs. One of those guys happened to witness these three sendoffs in his first three years in baseball. He is soaking up the knowledge that they imparted and becoming a fan-favorite. Know he won the 2014 All-Star Game MVP and is quickly becoming the new face of Major League Baseball. Now that the captain is leaving, somebody else has to become the face of the game, and who better than Mike Trout?

The torch has been passed once again. You have to love Major League Baseball.

-Noland

Respecting the Enemy: New York Yankees

Too often in sport and in life we are negative. Too often we are hateful and too often we focus on bad stories. When I started this site, I wanted to point out the good guys in sport. However, I too sometimes fall into the captivity of negativity. I have posted my fair of negative stories as well. Here in America though, we are better than that. We do not need to physically fight for our team in sports. It is not necessary to hurt others to get our point across. While disagreeing with somebody, we can be civil and we can show respect. Therefore, I decided to do a little project.

This project was to point out likable things about the sports teams that I cannot stand. I decided to pick the three professional sports teams that I disliked the most and point out three brilliant people in their organization. Three people that I would love to have in my organization. Three people that I respect. I will say why I do not like that organization, but also point to brilliant people in that organization. This will be done for the Seattle Seahawks, the New York Yankees, and the Boston Red Sox.

Yesterday, I talked about the Seattle Seahawks.
Today, we will discuss the Evil Empire, the New York Yankees.

These guys are the Evil Empire. People who do not like the Yankees call them the Evil Empire because they fear one day that their team's superstar will leave to the Yankees for more money. A lot of the time, that is what happens. However, more recently the Dodgers have started to spend far more than even the Yankees eliminating that notion a little bit. They are still the most hated team in baseball. These guys used to be my most hated professional sports team. Now, they are my #2 most disliked pro team. Their main rival passed them for reasons to be discussed tomorrow.

Don't be fooled though, I still cannot stand the Yankees. I still loathe Joe Girardi. The arrogance of Girardi to turn down a MLB managing job with the Baltimore Orioles. While it worked out better for the Orioles and we got Buck and a playoff bid, I still dislike Giradi. He still turned us down. He still insulted the entire organization and our fanbase. He thought he was too good for us.

For much the same reasons, I dislike Mark Teixeira very strongly. He gave the Orioles hope that he wanted to come home and help bring the franchise back to glory. This guy kept feeding the media and O's fans nonsense. He used the Orioles to drive the price up on other teams. The one positive I will say about that is that I am very glad the Yankees overpaid.

Finally, I hate the Yankees because they have been our main rival as long as I can remember. This is the 1st sports rivalry that I got really into and understood. The rivalry cooled down when the Orioles sucked, but in the mid-90s it was awesome. Except when their fans cheated and that punk kid gave the Yankees a playoff win. The punk kid who actually affected the game. Bartman gets crap for hitting a foul ball. The kid who helped the Yankees touched a ball in fair territory and won the Yankees the game. He gave them a home run. This guy cost the Orioles a shot at the World Series. However, we haven't chased him down and made his life miserable. That just shows the difference in class between Orioles and Cubs fans, but I will drop that here.

As much as I hate the Yankees, there are a few guys in recent memory that are a joy for even me to watch. It is hard to admit, but some involved with the Yankees have been pure class.

Here are the guys I have liked in pinstripes in recent memory.

Derek Jeter

Derek Jeter is the golden boy in baseball. He is still the face of the game. This guy is everything that is right and pure with baseball. Sure his game isn't the same, sure he isn't as good. That's how it should be though. We shouldn't have people getting better at the back end of their careers. It is one of the many reasons that Jeter is that one guy we can all be confident in not being a user. When I hear comments like they are all using, I say not Jeter. Out of all current players, he is the guy I am most confident never took a performance enhancing drug and that says something about Jeter.

This guy should be a guy I hate as an Orioles fan, but I just can't do it. Eventhough, he hit the homer in question, I cannot dislike Jeter. He is too classy, he is too good of a guy, he represented Team USA in the World Baseball Classic, and most importantly he is clean. Jeter was excellent and he did it the right way.

Mariano Rivera

The greatest closer of all-time is Mariano Rivera. Heck, the greatest relief pitcher of all-time is Mariano Rivera. It is a fact and nobody disputes it. Nobody disputes that this guy is/was pure class either. That says a lot that nobody disputes this guy being nothing but class. What a testament to Mariano's character that everyone says he is a class act.

One of the coolest things about Mariano and another testament to his character is that he is the last baseball player to wear #42 full-time. If it was anybody else, I don't think MLB says its okay for them to wear Jackie's number full-time anymore. However, with Mariano it is okay and it was a great tribute to Mr. Robinson. This guy is a baseball legend and clearly deserves the respect of every baseball fan.

Buck Showalter

Finally, I always loved Buck Showalter. Even back when he was the manager of the New York Yankees. He was on the greatest sit-com of all-time playing himself as Yankees manager on Seinfeld. He was hilarious then and is still one of the funniest guys in baseball. How many managers can say they were on Seinfeld anyway?

Showalter didn't stop when he left New York. The guy managed brilliantly for the Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks before joining ESPN's baseball coverage. In my opinion, he was the best guy on that coverage team and gave great analysis at all times. Then he became our manager and I was thrilled.

Buck is beloved by all Orioles fans. After so many losing seasons, Buck gave us hope. Then he sent our beloved Orioles into the postseason and helped turned them into a team that can compete year in and year out. With Buck at the helm, the Orioles will eventually get that World Series win that I have not seen in my lifetime. He started with the Yankees, but he eventually joined the good guys.

-Noland

MLB All-Star Balloting Through 6/5

Here are the All-Star balloting totals through 6/5. It is an absolute crime that Adam Jones is not in the top 3. There are some other noticeable omissions. However, the AL OF is stacked and the leading vote getter definitely deserves it. Looks like the fans love the Rangers. In a couple days, I will vote for the all-star game and disclose my ballot. Voting is currently open on mlb.com

AMERICAN LEAGUE
FIRST BASE
Prince Fielder, Tigers: 1,027,070
Mark Teixeira, Yankees: 697,602
Paul Konerko, White Sox: 671,430
Mitch Moreland, Rangers: 618,226
Albert Pujols, Angels: 478,020

SECOND BASE
Ian Kinsler, Rangers: 1,447,171
Robinson Cano, Yankees: 1,164,448
Dustin Pedroia, Red Sox: 699,422
Robert Andino, Orioles: 317,434
Chris Getz, Royals: 278,585

THIRD BASE
Adrian Beltre, Rangers: 1,179,864
Miguel Cabrera, Tigers: 886,365
Evan Longoria, Rays: 789,434
Alex Rodriguez, Yankees: 657,315
Mike Moustakas, Royals: 432,379

SHORTSTOP
Derek Jeter, Yankees: 1,698,777
Elvis Andrus, Rangers: 1,033,986
J.J. Hardy, Orioles: 489,941
Alcides Escobar, Royals: 392,195
Asdrubal Cabrera, Indians: 344,065

CATCHER
Mike Napoli, Rangers: 1,224,565
Matt Wieters, Orioles: 713,469
Joe Mauer, Twins: 637,364
Russell Martin, Yankees: 431,435
A.J. Pierzynski, White Sox: 424,646

DESIGNATED HITTER
David Ortiz, Red Sox: 1,204,904
Michael Young, Rangers: 1,049,170
Raul Ibanez, Yankees: 492,183
Billy Butler, Royals: 477,257
Edwin Encarnacion, Blue Jays: 391,131

OUTFIELDERS
Josh Hamilton, Rangers: 2,587,991
Curtis Granderson, Yankees: 1,406,128
Nelson Cruz, Rangers: 992,992
Jose Bautista, Blue Jays: 930,814
Adam Jones, Orioles: 857,543
David Murphy, Rangers: 652,379
Nick Swisher, Yankees: 624,215
Brett Gardner, Yankees: 437,126
Ichiro Suzuki, Mariners: 433,899
Jeff Francoeur, Royals: 422,304
Austin Jackson, Tigers: 389,664
Nick Markakis, Orioles: 384,390
Alex Gordon, Royals: 378,459
Jacoby Ellsbury, Red Sox: 346,774
B.J. Upton, Rays: 277,173

NATIONAL LEAGUE
FIRST BASE
Joey Votto, Reds: 1,314,516
Lance Berkman, Cardinals: 634,473
Freddie Freeman, Braves: 576,255
Bryan LaHair, Cubs: 391,497
Adam LaRoche, Nationals: 331,772

SECOND BASE
Dan Uggla, Braves: 872,136
Brandon Phillips, Reds: 586,835
Omar Infante, Marlins: 512,049
Rickie Weeks, Brewers: 512,021
Jose Altuve, Astros: 472,292

THIRD BASE
David Wright, Mets: 856,887
David Freese, Cardinals: 824,801
Chipper Jones, Braves: 727,719
Pablo Sandoval, Giants: 648,303
Aramis Ramirez, Brewers: 386,013

SHORTSTOP
Troy Tulowitzki, Rockies: 823,708
Rafael Furcal, Cardinals: 803,254
Starlin Castro, Cubs: 526,811
Jose Reyes, Marlins: 425,682
Alex Gonzalez, Brewers: 399,218

CATCHERS
Yadier Molina, Cardinals: 1,100,048
Buster Posey, Giants: 1,072,464
Brian McCann, Braves: 707,508
Carlos Ruiz, Phillies: 562,021
Jonathan Lucroy, Brewers: 457,590

OUTFIELDERS
Matt Kemp, Dodgers: 1,952,910
Carlos Beltran, Cardinals: 1,212,030
Ryan Braun, Brewers: 1,112,971
Andre Ethier, Dodgers: 827,262
Melky Cabrera, Giants: 714,642
Matt Holliday, Cardinals: 667,544
Jason Heyward, Braves: 515,340
Michael Bourn, Braves: 498,070
Jay Bruce, Reds: 460,853
Andrew McCutchen, Pirates: 457,223
Hunter Pence, Phillies: 446,460
Corey Hart, Brewers: 417,929
Carlos Gonzalez, Rockies: 386,860
Jon Jay, Cardinals: 373,833
Shane Victorino, Phillies: 373,034

-Noland