The sports we love to watch have changed dramatically from the date of their creation to the modern era: that’s part of what makes debates comparing athletes so compelling. We’ll never get a definitive answer to how prime Michael Jordan would’ve compared to prime LeBron James, if Wayne Gretzky could’ve continued his dramatic scoring pace in an era of the NHL with less offense than the free wheeling 1980s, if early MLB stars like Babe Ruth benefitted from weaker competition or if they could still hold their own today.
Looking at how sports have changed over time provides a fascinating glimpse into the history of the games we love, and the fact that we’ll never get an answer to these burning debates makes it even more fun to argue your case. Here are some of the best hidden athletic gems who you may never have heard of, as well as the mark they left on their respective leagues.
Dick Allen - MLB
A standout bat of the pitching-friendly 1960s and 1970s, Dick Allen played for a host of teams during his 15-year major league career. Allen hit 351 home runs with a .292 batting average in that time. While his counting stats aren’t quite what one expects out of a corner infielder, it’s critical to take the era he played in into account as well.
Allen’s career OPS+ of 158 is on par with the MVP-vote earning year that Freddie Freeman just had with the Los Angeles Dodgers: the only difference is that Allen sustained that production over the course of a decade and a half, not one single summer. Rather controversially, the famed slugger never made it into the hall of fame.
Baseball’s voting body for the honor has a reputation for letting personal relationships cloud their voting process, as writers bar the players they didn’t like from being immortalized in Cooperstown. Whether or not that’s the case with Allen, nobody knows for sure… but he’s not a bad bet with Fanatics Sportsbook Promo Codes to sneak in on a veterans ballot at some point down the line.
Keith Tkachuk - NHL
While Keith Tkachuk enjoyed an 18 year career in the NHL, playing with four different teams in that span, he may be better known for his accomplishments off the ice these days, as he’s the father of Matthew and Brady Tkachuk, both of whom are well on their way to surpassing his career totals. Keith Tkachuk racked up 538 goals and 527 assists in 1,201 NHL games despite playing much of his career at the height of the neutral zone trap era. A prolific scorer despite that, he also never shied away from mixing things up, charged with 2,219 penalty minutes over the course of his career… including more than fifty fights.
Tkachuk is one of just 47 players in the entire history of the sport to score more than 500 goals, and he’s one of the only retired players of that group to not be in the National Hockey Hall of Fame.
Charley Trippi – NFL
Trippi is the lone hall of famer on this list, but his unique style of play earns him an honorable mention nonetheless. In the early days of the sport, football positions were far less specialized than they are today.
Rather than focusing solely on one position, players would rotate from quarterback to running back to wide receiver on practically every other snap, then do the same as cornerbacks while on defense, or maybe even contribute on special teams as a kicker, punter or returner.
Trippi did it all, lauded as a quintuple threat for his ability as a runner, passer, receiver, punter and defender. If that wasn’t diverse enough of a skillset, he also returned kickoffs and punts with gusto, compiling the most total offensive yards (3,506 rushing, 2,547 passing, and 1,321 receiving) in the history of the game at the time he retired. Trippi’s counting stats may pale in comparison to the stars of today, but it was a different game back then, and he helps tell the story of it.
Perhaps most impressive of all Trippi’s achievements is the fact that he helped the Chicago Cardinals — who now reside in Arizona — win their first and only NFL Championship. Trippi showed off his hallmark versatility in that game, dashing for a 44-yard rushing touchdown and a 75-yard punt return touchdown despite playing on an icy surface. Trippi lived to be the oldest NFL Hall of Famer ever, passing away in October 2022 at the age of 100.
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