What is the biggest what-if in sports history?
Careers cut short by a knee, a war, a ban, or a decision nobody could talk the player out of.
1Babe Ruth staying a pitcherHe was 94-46 with a 2.28 ERA when Boston moved him to the outfield full time to get his bat in the lineup.
2Bo Jackson's hip injuryAn All-Star outfielder and Pro Bowl running back at 27, and finished as both by 30.
3Muhammad Ali's three years in exileStripped of the title at 25 and kept out of the ring until 29, the years usually reckoned as his physical peak.
4Ted Williams' war yearsNearly five prime seasons lost to two tours of military service.
5Sandy Koufax retiring at 30Walked away after a 27-win season because his elbow could not take another year.
6Marco van Basten's ankleA Ballon d'Or winner forced to stop at 28 after operations that never took.
7Ronaldo's kneesThe Brazilian striker lost two seasons at his peak to the same knee, and still won a World Cup afterwards.
8Michael Jordan's first retirementLeft basketball at 30 for a season and a half of minor league baseball.
9Barry Sanders retiring at 30Fourteen hundred yards short of the rushing record, he simply stopped.
10Greg Oden's kneesThe first pick ahead of Kevin Durant, limited to 105 NBA games.
11The 1994 baseball strikeA cancelled World Series, a .394 average left unfinished and a franchise in Montreal that never recovered.
12Robert Griffin III's kneeOffensive Rookie of the Year, then a playoff game he should not have finished.
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Comments
Nothing was taken from him; Ed Barrow simply started batting him every day in 1918, which removed a fine left-hander at 23: https://youpick.best/articles/babe-ruth-ranked-many-ways
