By Tom Daniels

Babe Ruth dominated baseball from 1919 to 1931, leading the Majors in homeruns 11 times, runs eight times and RBI’S six times. In two of those seasons Ruth didn’t dominate because of limited playing time due to injury. Both as a player and a personality no one man had dominated a team sport for so long. Wilt Chamberlain dominated pro basketball from 1961 to 1966, averaging over 50 points a game during the ’61-’62 season. Michael Jordan certainly had a persona that dominated his sport but not the same kind of domination as the “Big Dipper.” Wayne Gretzky dominated hockey and won eight Hart Memorial Trophies in a row, the NHL’S MVP from the ’79 season through ’86. Jimmy Brown was a dominating running back and Lawrence Taylor was a dominating defender but neither in the league with the others.

Boxing has had its share of dominators, Rocky Marciano, Sugar Ray Leonard, Joe Louis to name a few, but all pale in comparison to Mohammed Ali. Ali transcended sports at times and was certainly a more than dominant figure in his division and sport. I would you say Agassi, an eight-time Grand Slam winner, was a dominator. Unlike the games that end in “ball,” these players were completely on their own.

Golf has had some dominators and perhaps the most forgotten Sam Snead. “Slammin’ Sammy” had 82 PGA tour victories. Golf was obviously not in the limelight it shares today during Snead’s run and neither was the level of competition. Jack Nicklaus dethroned Arnold Palmer, but like Jordan, Palmer had a persona that defined the sport even more so than “The Golden Bear.” Like Mantle replacing DiMaggio, Nicklaus wasn’t given his due til later in his career.

Golf now enjoys the most dominating figure in sports. Tiger Woods has reached Babe status, known by a single name, Tiger. Tiger makes more on endorsements then any other athlete and he dominates his sport. In office pools around the country there are “No Tiger pools” or “Tiger versus the field pools.” The players on tour paradoxically look forward to his absence while wanting his presence, knowing beating him is a mini Major in itself. Tiger came from five strokes back Sunday to win and he’s back. Look for at least two Major wins this year from sports’ new dominator. Take Tiger versus the field for the Masters, no course is Tiger-proof.