In the first incarnation of our Football list, how could we we forget about a legendary Atlanta Falcon?  Granted, there have not been that many in the past history of the Falcons, but we may very well have forgotten about a solid Linebacker in Tommy Nobis who was easily the first bright spot of the Southern franchise.

As one of the finest linebackers in collegiate history, Tommy Nobis was the first draft pick (and first overall of 1966) for the expansion Atlanta Falcons.  Nobis was a feared tackler and was the star of the early Falcons defensive squads.  He was a Pro Bowler in his first three seasons and would lead the Falcons in tackles on nine occasions.

Baseball Players are notorious for being superstitious.  We really don’t know if Bret Saberhagen consulted the Psychic Friends Network, but it always seemed curious that he performed significantly better in years that ended in odd numbers than he did in even ones.

Saberhagen is one of the rare pitchers in Major League history to win two Cy Young Awards.  When he was on, Saberhagen exercised pinpoint control and often performed well in pressure situations, as evidenced by his 1985 World Series performance.  The problem with Saberhagen, though, is that despite his two Cy Young Awards, the rest of his campaigns were basically average.  He was an All-Star only three times, which is a little surprising considering the two dominant campaigns that he had.  Basically, you would think that he was capable of having at least a few “Very Good” seasons, but he didn’t exactly accomplish that.

It isn’t likely that the Veterans Committee will be calling, but given the individual and team accolades Bret Saberhagen achieved, he likely retired feeling his career goals were accomplished.

How many times is an athlete described as “small in stature but big in heart”?  This analogy has been used more times than we can determine, but far too often, and it was an accurate assessment when describing the turn-of-the-century ballplayer Tommy Leach.

“Wee” Tommy Leach was a triples machine and one of the fastest ballplayers of his day.  Leach hit a few Home Runs in the dead-ball era, though most of them were of the inside-the-park variety.  For all intents and purposes, Leach was a power hitter and often cleared the bases, or would himself get on base for the legendary Honus Wagner, who batted behind him during his heyday in Pittsburgh.  It was fitting that it was Tommy Leach who would get the first hit and first run in World Series history.  Injuries would catch up to him by 1910, and he wasn’t the same player, but Leach is a forgotten star in the first century of the 1900’s.

Seriously, is this not the coolest name on this list?  Just that name alone would make him a star in any era.  Make no mistake, Shocker was a star, but because his best years were with the St. Louis Browns, he was often out of the spotlight despite dominating seasons in the early 1920s.

Those aforementioned campaigns saw Shocker post four consecutive years of 20-plus victories, including a 27-win season in 1921. In fact, at no point in his career did he ever have a losing season.  Shocker was known on the mound for a beautiful delivery and an intense approach to the game.  He rarely smiled and was content not to draw any attention to himself.  Even when he left St. Louis and was traded to the New York Yankees (a team he dominated when up against), he faded to the background, likely just the way he wanted.

Baseball is full of colorful characters with colorful names.  As petty as it sounds, Urban Shocker might have been significantly more famous had he been half as interesting as his name.