The Pozmans: 1950s
Posted: December 8th, 2009 | Filed under: Media | 28 Comments »
I told you that I was going to do the longest Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year post you will read this year. And I did. Last I checked, it was something like 5,000 words. But for the reader’s sake, I decided to break it up by decades. For those of you who feel cheated and want the longest post all at once … well, you can wait and put them all together at the end of the day. I’ll post different decades throughout the day.
So here’s what I tried to do: I went back through every single Sportsman of the Year pick since Sports Illustrated started in 1954. Why? Because I’m insane, that’s why. Anyway, I went back through every one and … I decided to make my own Sportsman pick of the year, using all the advantages of hindsight, history, memory and my own feelings about things.
I called the new award The Pozman — not out of vanity, I don’t think, but because I don’t think anyone else would want to be associated with it. The basic rules are as follows:
1. I try my very best to never pick more than one player. Sports Illustrated fairly often split their Sportsman … I only do that once in the 56 years. You can probably guess which year.
2. There are no repeat winners.
3. I try not to make too many moral judgments. I’m really just looking for the athlete/coach/whatever who made the biggest sports impact on that particular year. So even though I do use hindsight in many ways, I try not to use hindsight that way. Mark McGwire is measured only on the impact he made in 1998 and not on how he and that year would be viewed later. If that sounds confusing … well, yeah, I’m confused by it myself.
4. I am all for picking someone who made a NEGATIVE impact, if that impact was the story of the year. I’ve always liked how Time’s Man of the Year can be a villain. This is not how Sports Illustrated does it — they take the words “Sportsman” as seriously as they can. But I’m not hindered by that. Tonya Harding, for instance, could be a nominee in 1994.
5. This was pretty time-intensive and I have no doubt that I missed some obvious candidates through the years. All I can say is: I did the best I could. If you would like to have a go at the list, please feel free.
With that, here are the 1950s — Sportsman in bold, then some other nominees, and finally The Pozmans:
1954 Roger Bannister
Other nominees: Otto Graham, Willie Mays, Rocky Marciano.
The Pozman: Willie Mays.
Hard to go against the four-minute mile. Mays, however, never ended up winning the Sportsman award, and this would have been the perfect year with his MVP and amazing World Series catch. I’m going with Mays.*
*Reader update: I originally went with Bannister and then, at the last minute, switched to Mays … perhaps because I have been reading this interesting book that will be coming out in February. And I know from looking ahead that this is the only year I can give it to Mays. But readers are probably right … Bannister was the choice.
1955: Johnny Podres
Other nominees: Rocky Mariano, Tony Trabert, Otto Graham, Roy Campanella.
The Pozman: Otto Graham.
His last year, he led the Browns to another championship, won his third United Press MVP, etc. The Browns were in the NFL Championship Game all six years that Graham was their quarterback and won three championships. In my mind, he doesn’t get mentioned enough in best-ever arguments. But … pro football just wasn’t much in 1955 (an NFL person would not get named Sportsman of the year until 1963). And Podres — though he only had a so-so year — pitched the shutout in Game 7 against the Yankees to give Brooklyn its first championship since the 1890 Brooklyn Bridegrooms. So you could see the emotional pick.
1956: Bobby Joe Morrow
Other nominees: Mickey Mantle, Jean Beliveau, Bill Russell.
The Pozman: Mickey Mantle.
It’s sort of hard to believe that Mantle — who won the Triple Crown that year and hit three homers in Yankees World Series victory — did not win the SI award. He, like Mays, never won the award. Maybe they were afraid to give it to a baseball player every year. Morrow was a good choice, however. He won three sprint Gold medals at the Olympics in Melbourne, winning the 100, the 200 and anchoring the 4 x 100. And he did his training on a Texas farm.
1957: Stan Musial
Other nominees: Ted Williams, Walter O’Malley, Althea Gibson, Lennie Rosenbluth.
The Pozman: Stan Musial.
It’s amazing, really, that Stan Musial and Ted Williams — after dominating the 1940s — both led the league in hitting again in ‘57. Musial turned 37 that year, Williams turned 39. Williams had the better offensive season (.388/.526/.731 — preposterous), but Musial was plenty good (.351/.422/.612) and I suspect represented what SI was thinking about for Sportsman of the Year. I’ve always had this odd fascination with connecting SI’s Sportsman with Time’s Man of the Year — that is, picking the most IMPORTANT person in sports that year regardless of how you would judge their contribution. In that case, it’s hard to argue against O’Malley, who changed the face of sports by moving the Dodgers to Los Angeles. But I’ll stick with Musial.
1958: Rafer Johnson
Other nominees: John Unitas, Pele, Herb Elliott
The Pozman: John Unitas.
Rafer Johnson is sort of an odd choice looking back — he did set the world record in the decathlon and he became the first African American winner of Sportsman (two years later he would become the first African American to win the Sullivan Award). But SI was sort of alone on Johnson as the king of track and field that year — Glenn Davis won the Sullivan and Herb Elliott, the Australian runner who never lost a major 1,500 or mile race, set world records in both races that year. Anyway, Unitas’ great season and his drives in what was quickly known as the great game ever played makes him a clear choice, looking back.
1959: Ingemar Johansson
Other nominees: John Unitas, Bill Russell, Nellie Fox, Billy Cannon.
The Pozman: Bill Russell.
This admittedly is a true hindsight pick but … Russell had already led San Francisco to back-to-back NCAA Championships. He had led the U.S. Olympic team to gold in ‘56. And in ‘59 he had another great year and led the Celtics to only their second championship ever. They would win the championship nine of the next 10 years. You could have given it to Unitas — who had a remarkable season, won another championship. As it turns out, Unitas would never win the SI award either. But it is true that the shock of Johansson knocking out Floyd Patterson reverberated throughout the sports world.
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Circle me Pozman
So basically, you are going back and removing all evidence that Americans once cared about any sports other than baseball, football, and basketball? Why?
I for one can’t wait to see all of the Pozmans. But I do disagree with Willie Mays in 1954. I know it would be nice for Willie to win, but over the 4 minute mile? That’s unbelievably huge. SI got that one right.
By the way, I think you meant “gold” instead of “goal” in the paragraph about Bill Russell.
I can also see the Podres being selected seeing as how… 1. Baseball was king in the 1950s; 2. New York was the center of baseball in the 1950s; and 3. New York, way more than today, was the center of all media in the 1950s.
Split prediction: Grienke/Mauer, 2009.
Willie Mays was great in 1954, but numerous other players had put up numbers to his in the past. NOBODY had ever ru na 4 minute mile before Roger Bannister.
Incidentally, Bannister became one of Britain’s leading neurologists, and is still alive today. He’d BETTER be the one to light the Olympic torch in London in 2012.
Split will be Sosa-McGwire.
Not sure how Stan the Man gets in over Teddy Ballgame. You never really gave a good explanation for that one. Williams’ stats crush Musials’ that year.
Split will be 1980 hockey team
C’mon, man. Gordie Howe! There’s a type of hat trick named after him. And half the people in Michigan and Canada are named after the guy.
I agree with ralphdibny – it seems like one of the functions of the SI award is to (at least attempt to) award it as if all sports are equal. We know that they aren’t equal, that football, baseball and basketball are dominant in the US; especially in the ESPN-driven sports news cycle, it can be easy to forget that the most remarkable achievement could come from somewhere else. I like that the SI award acknowledges that, and I hope the Pozmans will too.
Oh, and surely the split is the Machine.
Completely agreed about Roger Bannister. The man didn’t just perform well in sport, he surpassed the previous boundaries of human achievement and endurance.
Mays was great, but really? Catching a Vic Wertz flyball over the four-minute mile? You whiffed on this one, Poz.
Circle me, Johann Olav Koss.
Regarding Podres: In 1955 Bill Woodward was going to be Sportsman of the Year, but after he was killed by his wife Podres was quickly chosen to replace him. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1024790/3/index.htm
Love the blog, but really- Mays over Roger Bannister??! Great baseball player, but Roger Bannister ran two of the most famous miles in history in 1954, drew the world’s attention to the normally-ignored sport of track, and had a huge global impact. This while an amateur studying to be a neurologist at Oxford’s medical school! This award was practically created for Sir Roger Bannister, the first SI Sportsman-
I’m with ralphdibny and Jim …and with astorian and nightfly, as an example of how wrong-headed the approach is looking so far. Which is shocking to me, coming from you, Joe.
You already acknowledge that Bannister is the real winner, so I’ll try not to be too harsh, but — by picking Mays you, with the first Posman, violated the hindsight rule — trying to rectify a lack of SI Sportsmans by picking a year when Willie was at his greatest. And “hard to go against the 4-minute mile” doesn’t even touch the difference in the effect of the achievement on the sports world vs. Willie’s great year. I love Willie, but, man.
And Unitas over Rafer? Only a clear choice, looking back, if you ignore the point of the SI Sportsman. Unitas had a great season and the greatest game (thus far), in a sport that was only barely beginning to register on the consciousness of the sports world. Rafer, 1950s, world record, black man succeeding in the white world.
ralphdibny said it clearly and beautifully the first time, but I just had to vent. And I love baseball, basketball and football. But they aren’t — and weren’t — the only sports americans care about, or the only sports in the sports world. Many of the greatest influences, from the sports world on the sports world and everyday life, have come from the non-Big Three.
I’ll see your interesting book about Mays with an interesting book about the four minute mile – The Perfect Mile by Neal Bascomb. It follows not only Bannister, but also runners from Australia and the US who were attempting the sub-4 mile as well. Worth a look, even if it is about running.
It’s good to see you awarded some Pos-huemeously. hahahaha. man, it’s been long day.
It’s gotta be Bannister in ‘54. He did something no one in the whole world ever did before. I don’t get Podres in ‘55. He wasn’t even an especially good player.
I’ve always wondered why nobody makes a big deal out of Rocky Marciano, the only heavyweight champ to retire undefeated, and my only guess is that some folks think he might have been undefeated due to nefarious reasons.
I think when SI did their “Sportsmen of the Century” they chose Bannister and Edmund Hillary.
SI’s choices reflected the general approach of the magazine at that time. Articles in those old issues are incredibly wide-ranging — hunting, cheerleading, equestrian, very healthy doses of track, field, and boxing, etc. William Faulkner reporting from the harness track. I like that the old Sportsman picks reflect that dilettantism.
It must be said that SI’s road to profitability began only once they started to drill down to the most popular sports. If Pos were managing editor in the mid-’50s, shareholders would have been most pleased it would seem.
I’m not convinced that Johnny U was a ‘clear choice’ in 1958. The entire world, outside of the U.S., would doubtless vote for Pele’s inspirational performance. He scored 6 (!) goals to lead Brazil to World Cup victory, the most prestigious, widely viewed, and competitive event in the world. And he was only 17 years old (then the youngest World Cup player ever)- incredible. I realize there’s an American focus here, but every single choice is an American playing the sportscenter sports-
Joe,
I agree with your choice of Otto Graham, but a slight quibble – he lead the Browns to the championship game his first ten years not first six.
Teddy Ballgame’s age 39 year screams steroids.
Largebill: you’re both right. Graham’s first 4 years were in the AAFL, which the Browns completely dominated. After the AAFL folded, the Browns moved over to the NFL, which they also dominated, going to 6 straight championships. So, yes, Graham led to Browns to 10 straight championship games, but technically Joe is correct, even if he phrased it somewhat awkwardly (“The Browns were in the NFL Championship Game all six years that Graham was their quarterback” – makes it sound like those were the ONLY 6 years he was their QB)
Have to rib you a little for mentioning “Rocky Mariano” under 1955. I mean, don’t get me wrong–he was definitely the greatest closer in the history of boxing! B^}
Add me to the chorus for Sir Roger as the Sportsman of the Year for 1954. I’m a big fan of Joe, but so far I don’t see how his list can be considered better than the original list, which got Bannister correct. There’s really no point in re-doing the list if you’re going to make it worse.
I also second the notion that Bannister should be the one to light the torch in the London games.
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