The Best Players Without Rings

For a while, I have been trying to make a list of who the best athletes of all time were, who never won a championship. Although many great athletes have failed to get one, here are just a few amazing athletes on my list.

1. Ted Williams- In my book, Ted Williams is the 2nd best hitter in baseball history besides Babe Ruth. Williams who lost 2 seasons due to serving for his country, played 21 seasons with the Red Sox. The Splendid Splinter had a career batting average of .344 (6th all time), 521 homers (15th all time), and 1839 RBI (13th all time). Teddy Ballgame also ranks 1st in On-Base Percentage (.482), has 2 Triple Crowns, 2 MVP's, six batting titles, and is a 17 time All Star, and was named to the All Century Team in 1999. Despite these incredible numbers, Williams was cursed by the Bambino and never got his World Series title.

2. Dan Marino- Arguably the greatest QB of all time. He has records in 22 different offensive categories, and tied in a few others. He was a NFL MVP and Offensive Player of the Year. Marino is second to only Brett Favre in touchdowns with 420, almost 5,000 completions and nearly a 60% completion percentage. It was bad luck that he played on a terrible team for most of his career but Marino is an all time great. The only thing missing from his trophy room is a ring.

3. John Stockton/Karl Malone- I put these two guys together because whenever you think about one, the other one is also in mind. Malone who is 2nd in scoring all time and one of the best rebounders to ever play the game was an incredible force for his 17 year career. He was also a 2 time MVP. But the "Mail Man" wouldn't be able to deliver those types of number if it wasn't for his counterpart, John Stockton. J-Stock is the all time leader in assists and led the league in the category 9 times. He is truly one of the best point guards who ever lived, and if it weren't for Michael Jordan, Stockton and Malone would have probably won 2 championships in the 90's.

I'm not saying that Malone/Stockton is number 3 on my all time list, but Ted Williams and Dan Marino are absolutely my top 2. I know that there are tons more athletes out there that I am leaving off this list such as Ken Griffey Jr, Patrick Ewing, Gale Sayers, Marcel Dionne (for my hockey fans out there), Pistol Pete, Tony Gwynn, and many more. It really makes me mad when someone says an athlete can't have a good career if he doesn't have a championship. That could not be more ridiculous in my book. If that were the case, then Shane Spencer would have a better career than Ted Williams or Trent Dilfer would have a better career than Dan Marino. So please, don't think less of an athlete because he didn't win the big one. But those are just my thoughts.