Written by Jayson Stark at ESPN.com
Can a game with no face really call itself the national pastime?
We raise this question because, as a new baseball season begins this week, there is no answer to the once-simple question: Who is the Face of Baseball?
The NBA is the LeBron and Steph Show. The NFL has Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers and an army of rock-star quarterbacks. But baseball? On one level, it seems to be overflowing with dynamic young stars. Once it steps outside its own comfort zone, however, it’s as “Faceless” as it has been in decades.
And how do we know? It’s right there in the new polling data compiled by our friends at Luker on Trends, the company that runs the ESPN Sports Poll.
Between November and February, that firm surveyed more than 6,000 American sports fans, age 12 and older. If you don’t count Tim Tebow (please don’t) or Bo Jackson, guess the only three baseball players who showed up among America’s 50 favorite pro athletes?
There was Derek Jeter, at No. 13. He hasn’t played a game in 2½ years. Next came Babe Ruth, at No. 30. He’s the only name on the list — in any sport — who hasn’t appeared in a game for more than eight decades. And finally, you get to Pete Rose, at No. 50. The Hit King last played in the big leagues 31 years ago — and he has been suspended from his sport for the last 28.
So there you have it. America’s three favorite baseball figures: Guys who have been dodging the box scores for a combined 116 years.
The first active player who shows up on this list is Chicago Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo at No. 51. He can thank that raging epidemic of Cubs Fever.
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