The Post’s Mike Vaccaro ranks the top 10 faces in New York sports in each decade from the 1950s to the 2010s.
1950s
1. Mickey Mantle; 2. Frank Gifford; 3. Willie Mays; 4. Jackie Robinson; 5. Yogi Berra; 6. Charley Conerly; 7. Andy Bathgate; 8. Casey Stengel; 9. Duke Snider; 10. Roy Campanella
Vac: No list of this decade would be legit without Willie, Mickey and the Duke — and Yogi and Campy each contributed three of the 11 MVPs awards in the ’50s for the three city teams. And no team in New York history was as beloved as the mid-’50s football Giants, repped by their two Glamor Boys, Giff and Chuckin’ Charley.)
1960s
1. Joe Namath; 2. Tom Seaver; 3. Walt Frazier; 4. Mickey Mantle; 5. Roger Maris; 6. Willis Reed; 7. Whitey Ford; 8. Y.A. Title; 9. Rod Gilbert; 10. Bill Bradley
Vac: The Jets, Mets and Knicks were all blessed with seminal acquisitions that sparked championships in Namath (Super Bowl III MVP), Seaver (’69 Cy Young) and Bradley (the most famous amateur basketball player in the world). Tittle was already an immortal when he came to town, but quickly became a stalwart at both Yankee Stadium and Toots Shor’s)
1970s
1. Reggie Jackson; 2. George Steinbrenner; 3. Julius Erving; 4. Tom Seaver; 5. Walt Frazier; 6. Thurman Munson; 7. Earl Monroe; 8. Secretariat; 9. Red Holzman; 10. Ron Guidry
Vac: The Yankees ruled baseball and back pages throughout the decade, so while they get 40 percent — they could’ve gotten more. Football in New York lay in state for the entirety of the ’70s, which is how Secretariat — born in Virginia, raised in Florida but confirmed a superstar in New York City — cracks the list. And may deserve to be higher.
1980s
1. Lawrence Taylor; 2. Dwight Gooden; 3. Don Mattingly; 4. Bill Parcells; 5. Bernard King; 6. Darryl Strawberry; 7. Chris Mullin; 8. Phil Simms; 9. Mike Bossy; 10. Keith Hernandez
Vac: Maybe the most star-studded decade of all, you’d better either be a champion (LT, Doc, Tuna, Straw, Simms, Bossy, Mex) or a ridiculously dominant force (Mattingly, Mullin, King) — and even that didn’t help such near-misses as Gary Carter, Bryan Trottier, Dave Winfield and Joe Klecko).
1990s
1. Derek Jeter; 2. Mark Messier; 3. Patrick Ewing; 4. Joe Torre; 5. Pat Riley; 6. Mariano Rivera; 7. Brian Leetch; 8. Mike Piazza; 9. Keyshawn Johnson; 10. Martin Brodeur
Vac: Of course, the ’90s was no slouch, either: Nine of the 10 are Hall of Famers, and the one outlier — Keyshawn — would absolutely merit inclusion as a first-ballot back-page Hall of Famer. How strong is this list? Brodeur might well be the greatest goalie of all time — and it’s impossible to make a case that he belongs higher than 10.
2000s
1. Eli Manning; 2. Alex Rodriguez; 3. Derek Jeter; 4. David Wright; 5. Mariano Rivera; 6. Mike Piazza; 7. Jason Kidd; 8. Tiki Barber; 9. Michael Strahan; 10. Roger Clemens
Vac: Half this list (Eli, A-Rod, Jeter, Rivera, Piazza) were good enough, long enough to appear in two different decades, and it’s hard to argue that any of them don’t belong. The fleeting nature of an athlete’s “face”-ness is underlined by the fact that Latrell Sprewell would’ve seemed a shoe-in, and so would Curtis Martin. Titles would’ve helped both.
2010s
1. Odell Beckham Jr.; 2. Eli Manning; 3. Jeremy Lin; 4. Carmelo Anthony; 5. Rex Ryan; 6. Henrik Lundqvist; 7. Alex Rodriguez; 8. Aaron Judge; 9. Matt Harvey; 10. Jacob deGrom
Vac: How great was Eli? No other athlete came this close to being No. 2 in two different decades. How spectacular was Linsanity? Enough that Lin is this high on the list for three amazing weeks, and it’s hard to argue.
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