1. (Born 1938) Australia produced many talented players (Emerson, Rosewall, Newcombe, Stolle, Hoad) but Laver was the best of all. He weighed just 145 pounds in his playing days but his massive left arm generated incredible topspin shots. The only player to win the Grand Slam twice — in 1962 as an amateur, and in 1969 as a professional — Laver took 11 major singles titles overall. Turning pro in 1963, Laver won five U.S. Pro Championships; had he been allowed to play the majors from 1963 to 1967, he likely would hold the wins record instead of Pete Sampras. Martina Navratilova and Sampras both idolized Laver, the first to earn $1 million in a career.

2. (1889 - 1975, manager) He managed the Yankees to ten pennants and seven championships, including a record five in a row from 1949 to 1953. The 'Old Perfessor' did not use a set lineup or pitching rotation, instead using a bewildering number of platoon arrangements. Somehow this did not undermine his defense, as Stengel's Yankees lead the league in double plays six times. Remembered as a player for his two game-winning home runs, one an inside-the-parker, against the Yankees in the 1923 World Series, off the field his vaudevillian personality involved him in many famous incidents. When in 1958 he was called in front of the Senate Subcommittee on Antitrust and Monopoly to testify on why baseball should be exempt from antitrust regulation, he testified with an hour's worth of classic 'Stengelese.' When the baffled politicians let Stengel go and called on Mickey Mantle to answer their questions, he replied, 'My views are about the same as Casey's.'

3. (1912 - 1997) The PGA Tour's leading money winner from 1940-1942 and in 1946 and 1948, two events interrupted his playing career: service in World War II and a near-fatal 1949 head-on car accident. After each, though, Hogan rose to the top of his game; he won nine majors overall (six after the accident), including four U.S. Opens. In 1953 he accomplished a feat matched only by Tiger Woods: winning three modern major championships in one season (the Masters, U.S. Open, and British Open).

4. (1929 - 2016) A native of Latrobe, Pennsylvania, Palmer made golf popular with the masses, as his fans were known as 'Arnie's Army.' He won seven majors, including four Masters, and was the first golfer to earn one million dollars on the PGA Tour. Later Palmer became one of the stars of the Senior Tour, winning the Senior PGA Open in 1980 and 1981. In 2002 he played in his last competitive Masters.

5. (Born 1949) He became the major rival to Jack Nicklaus in the second half of the Golden Bear's career. Watson's greatest achievements were at the British Open, a tournament he won five times between 1975 and 1983. He took eight major championships overall.

6. (Born 1976, Brazil, forward) Ronaldo was twice World Footballer of the Year, winning those honors in 1997 (while with FC Barcelona) and 1998 (with Inter). While he was on the Brazil squad that won World Cup '94 in the US, he was expected to star in the 1998 World Cup, where he helped Brazil to the finals, winning the Golden Ball Award as tournament MVP. That MVP performance was tarnished slightly by a poor showing (one blamed by the media on a supposed all-night session of Tomb Raider on PlayStation) that kept Brazil from its fifth title.

7. (Born 1948) Born in Parry Sound, Ontario, Bobby Orr revolutionized the position of defenseman. The first blue liner to win the Art Ross Trophy (scoring title), he also won the Norris (best defenseman), Hart (league MVP), and Conn Smythe (playoff MVP) in the same season (1969-1970). That same year, he led the Bruins to their first Stanley Cup in three decades with the now famous 'Goal.' He recorded the highest ± rating ever for a single season, +124 in 1970-1971, and won eight straight Norris Trophies from 1968-1975. Unfortunately, his bad knees forced him into early retirement in 1979.

8. (1931 - 1995, center field) He was born to play baseball — his father named him for Hall of Fame catcher Mickey Cochrane — but his left leg wasn't. In high school it was nearly amputated because of osteomyelitis, the first of his many leg problems. Known as the 'Commerce Comet' because of his speed and because he grew up in Commerce, Oklahoma, he became the Yankee center fielder following DiMaggio's retirement in 1951. Mantle played on twelve pennant winners and seven World Championship clubs. He holds World Series records for home runs (18), RBI (40), runs (42), walks (43), extra-base hits (26), and total bases (123). During the regular season, his switch-hitting powered 536 homeruns and won him four homer titles (1955, 1956, 1958, 1960), three MVP awards (1956, 1957, 1962), and a triple crown (1956). In 1961 he and teammate Roger Maris both had a chance of passing Ruth's 1927 mark (60), but injuries forced him out of the race (Maris hit 61). He was elected to the Hall of Fame alongside Whitey Ford in 1974.

9. (1912 - 2002) No golfer has won more PGA Tournaments than Snead's 81, and he amassed 135 victories worldwide. Nicknamed 'Slammin' Sammy,' he won seven major professional championships between 1942 and 1954, but he is known more for the one he never won: the U.S. Open. In 1939 Snead led the Open for 71 holes but lost on the last hole when he took an eight. In the 1960s and '70s he won a record six Senior PGA Championships.

10. (Born 1955, France, midfielder) Arguably France's greatest footballer, this midfielder won three straight European Footballer of the Year Awards beginning in 1983. He led Italian side Juventus FC to success in both Series A (Italy's First Division) and UEFA (European) competitions. In 1985, he led Series A in scoring for a third straight year, a unique achievement, as well as leading Juventus to its only European Cup triumph, the tragic game at Heysel (Belgium) against Liverpool in which 39 Italian supporters were fatally crushed in the stands. He also led his French national side to triumph in the Euro 1984, setting the Euro scoring record. After his retirement in 1987, he was instrumental in organizing France's bid for the 1998 World Cup.

11. (Born 1956) Born in Prague, she defected to the United States in 1975 because the Czech Tennis Federation had taken most of her earnings. A bit heavy early in her career, Navratilova won the first two of her nine Wimbledons in 1978-79 but subsequent losses led her to pursue a grueling fitness regimen. This paid off: She won 18 singles Grand Slams (58 overall), 167 total singles titles, and even more doubles crowns, many with partner Pam Shriver. A Wimbledon finalist at 37, Navratilova retired from singles in 1994, but returned to play doubles in 2000. In 2003 she tied Billie Jean King with 20 overall Wimbledons, taking the mixed doubles at age 46.

12. (Born 1974, shortstop) Became the starting shortstop for the Yankees in 1996, winning the Rookie of the Year Award and helping New York capture its first championship since 1978. More postseason highlights followed, including three more titles (1998, 1999, 2000), the 2000 World Series MVP award, and a controversial homer against the Baltimore Orioles in Game One of the 1996 ALCS when a twelve-year-old fan turned his fly ball into a home run by reaching over the right-field wall to catch it. Jeter's junior-high yearbook dubbed him 'most likely to play shortstop for the New York Yankees.'

13. (1929 - 1970) Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, 'Ukey' played more games (971), won more games (447), and recorded more shutouts (103) than any other netminder in NHL history. In 1952, he recorded eight straight wins, including four shutouts, in the playoffs for Detroit. Winning five Vezina Trophies in his career for lowest team GAA (the criteria during his era), Sawchuk also won the Calder Trophy as NHL rookie of the year in 1950-1951. Always deeply psychologically troubled, he died in a household accident in 1970 while a member of the New York Rangers.

14. (1947 - 2016, Netherlands, midfielder) A stringent believer that 'the game should be played beautifully,' Cruyff helped usher in the system of 'total football' into the world game, in which all positions should be equally willing and adept to play all portions of the game. Despite being both gawky and a chain-smoker, Cruyff helped Ajax Amsterdam to three European Cups (now known as the UEFA Champions' League) as well as being named European Footballer of the Year in 1971 and 1973. His greatest international success came in 1974 when he helped the 'Orange' to their first appearance in the World Cup Final, where they lost to West Germany in Munich. 'The Orange' would also make the 1978 World Cup Finals, this time without Cruyff, who retired from international play after the qualification stage. This was followed by a brief stint in the NASL, where he earned 1979 NASL MVP honors. In 1984, at the age of 37, he helped Ajax's archrival Feyenoord to its first Dutch league title in a decade before moving into coaching at former club FC Barcelona, where he led the team to four Spanish League titles and a European Cup in a nine-year stint.

15. (1902 - 1999) Born Eugene Saraceni, he came to prominence in the early 1920s, winning the PGA Championship in 1922 and 1923, as well as the U.S. Open in 1922. Bobby Jones and Walter Hagen then dominated golf until the early 1930s, when Sarazen returned to form, winning four more majors. At the 1935 Masters, he carded an albatross (three under par) from the fairway of the par-5 15th hole to force a playoff; when he won, Sarazen became the first golfer to complete the modern career Grand Slam.

16. (1892 - 1969) Nicknamed 'The Haig,' he was the first great pro golfer, appearing in over 2,500 exhibitions. A five-time PGA Champion, including four straight from 1924 to 1927, Hagen won eleven majors overall, and he was known most for his showmanship and his ability to recover from poor shots with spectacular ones. Hagen captained the U.S. Ryder Cup team six of the first seven times the event was held.

17. (Born 1943) Her records themselves are impressive: 12 Grand Slam singles wins (including six Wimbledons) and 20 overall Wimbledon titles. King, however, is best known for advancing women's athletics. Her brother, Randy Moffitt, pitched for the San Francisco Giants; she herself reached a #4 world ranking in 1960 and turned pro eight years later. At the time, prize money for women was paltry, so she co-founded the Virginia Slims Tour, and in 1971 became the first female athlete to earn $100,000 in a year. Two years later, in front of over 30,000 at the Astrodome, she whipped Bobby Riggs in the 'Battle of the Sexes.' King retired in 1983, but not before winning a singles tournament at age 39.

18. In an Olympics where a single man — American speed skater Eric Heiden — would win five gold medals and not be the biggest story, something very special had to happen. In what would become known as 'The Miracle on Ice,' the U.S. Olympic hockey team — led by head coach Herb Brooks and captain Mike Eruzione — defeated the powerful Soviet team 4-3 on February 22, 1980. Two days later, they defeated Finland to claim America's second Olympic hockey gold medal, the first being in 1960 at Squaw Valley.

19. (1914 - 1999, center field) He left the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League and joined New York for the 1936 season, where he helped Lou Gehrig drive the Yankees to their fifth championship and the first of nine that he would win with the Bombers. 'The Yankee Clipper' won three Most Valuable Player awards (1939, 1941, 1947), two batting titles (1939, 1940), and two homer titles (1937, 1948). In 1941 'Joltin' Joe' hit safely in 56 consecutive games, a record that has never been challenged (he once hit in 61 straight for the Seals in 1933). His career totals are abbreviated because of his military service (1943-1945) and because of the distance to Yankee Stadium's left-field power alley, in those days known as Death Valley. He married Marilyn Monroe in 1954, but they divorced after nine months.

20. These games are best remembered for Alabama native Jesse Owens' amazing work on the track against a backdrop of Nazi propaganda emphasizing Aryan superiority. The American athlete won the 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash, long jump, and 4×100-meter sprint relay. Despite the growing strength of the Nazi state, the German people became enamored with Owens and named a Berlin street for him after his 1980 death. On other fronts, the Olympics were broadcast on television for the first time (as seen in the film Contact) and also saw the introduction of the relay of the Olympic torch.

21. (Born 1961) Born in Brantford, Ontario, 'The Great One' was named Canada's athlete of the century. Gretzky holds or shares 61 NHL records, including career goals (894), assists (1,963), and points (2,857). The winner of ten scoring titles (Art Ross Trophies) and nine NHL MVP's (Hart Trophies), his #99 was retired league-wide. He won four Stanley Cups with Edmonton in the 1980s before a major trade sent him to Los Angeles in 1988. After a brief stint in St. Louis, he finished his career with the New York Rangers in 1999.

22. (Born 1940) Nicknamed 'The Golden Bear,' he won the U.S. Amateur twice (1959 and 1961), and was the 1961 NCAA champion at Ohio State. He took his first major the following year at the U.S. Open, beating Arnold Palmer on Palmer's home course. Nicklaus became the youngest Masters champion at the time in 1963, and 23 years later became the oldest champion with a final round 65 in 1986. He has a record 18 major pro championships overall, including six Masters, five PGA Championships, four U.S. Opens, and three British Opens. Nicklaus is still somewhat active on the Senior PGA Tour, and as a golf course architect.

23. (Born 1971) 'Pistol Pete' burst onto the scene in 1990, when he became the youngest man ever to win the U.S. Open. He would take five U.S. Opens and two Australian Opens, but his greatest accomplishments came on the Wimbledon grass. Starting in 1993 he won Wimbledon seven times in eight years, losing only to Richard Krajicek in the quarterfinals in 1996. The last Wimbledon win (2000) gave Sampras the all-time men's major record, passing Roy Emerson's 12. Married to actress Bridgette Wilson, Sampras silenced his critics (who thought he was washed up) by defeating Andre Agassi for the 2002 U.S. Open title — then he retired.

24. (Born 1969) Her most devastating shot earned her the moniker 'Fraulein Forehand.' Graf turned pro at age 13 and steadily rose through the rankings, garnering the #1 ranking and her first major (French) in 1987. The following year, Graf made history by winning the Grand Slam and the gold medal at the Seoul Olympics, the only player ever to go 5-for-5 in one year. Seven Wimbledons, six French, five U.S., and four Australians add up to 22 major career singles crowns — the last coming at the French in 1999 after two years of major back injuries. Graf retired that fall, and is now raising her son Jaden with her husband Andre Agassi.

25. (1943 - 1993) Ashe once claimed that he would consider himself a failure if he were remembered only for tennis. The first black man to win either the U.S. Championship (1968) or Wimbledon (1975), he was also the first American tennis player to earn over $100,000 in one year (1970). The author of Hard Road to Glory, a history of black athletes, Ashe announced in 1992 that tainted blood from a 1983 heart surgery had given him the AIDS virus. Arthur Ashe Stadium, the current home of the U.S. Open, was named for him in 1997.