New Poll Shows Babe Ruth Is Still A Fan Favorite
Recently, The Harris Poll, a long-running, well-respected surveyor of public opinion, conducted a poll regarding the “Greatest Sports Star of All-time”. The survey looked at overall athlete, as well as by each sport. This same survey was last conducted by Harris in 2009.
According to Americans who follow at least one sport, Michael Jordan is still the #1 athlete, which is not surprising. What is interesting is that Babe Ruth actually moved up in the poll from #3 to #2 (taking Tiger Wood’s position on the list). Muhammad Ali, Serena Williams and Peyton Manning rounded out the Top 5 overall athletes. In the 2009 poll, there were 3 baseball players on the list of top 10 overall athletes (Ruth, Ted Williams and Hank Aaron). In the 2015 poll, however, Babe is the only baseball player left in the top 10. Babe Ruth is also #1 on the list of greatest baseball players. Here’s the full top 10 overall:
1. Michael Jordan (1)
2. Babe Ruth (3)
3. Muhammad Ali (4)
4. Serena Williams (NL)
5. Peyton Manning (8)
6. Joe Montana (6)
7. Lebron James (10)
8. Tiger Woods (2)
9. Tom Brady (NL)
10. Wayne Gretzky (7)
Greatest Baseball Players
1. Babe Ruth (1)
2. Hank Aaron (2)
3. Mickey Mantle (NL)
4. Willie Mays (3)
5. Ted Williams (4)
6. Pete Rose (NL)
It’s interesting to assess the votes based on demographics. While Michael Jordan is generally #1 across almost all demographics, the opinion of the remaining top 5 changes significantly among different genders, generations, regions and ethnicity: Men vote Babe Ruth into 2nd place but women lean towards Serena Williams; both men and woman agree Muhammad Ali comes in 3rd; Millennials rank LeBron James 2nd, followed by Serena Williams; Gen Xers and Baby Boomers both rank Muhammad Ali and Babe Ruth as 2nd and 3rd, respectively; Matures rank Michael Jordan 2nd and Joe Montana 3rd; While Caucasians rank Babe Ruth 2nd, no other ethnicities put Ruth in their top three; Muhammad Ali is the popular number two choice among African Americans, Hispanics and Asians alike, with LeBron James tying for 2nd among African Americans; Muhammad Ali ranks 3rd for Caucasians, while LeBron is 3rd for Hispanics. Among Asians, on the other hand, Serena Williams, Joe Montana, Tom Brady, and Wayne Gretzky all tie for 3rd place.
Any thoughts from BRC Fans on the results?
