Sports One-Hit Wonders

Sports One-Hit Wonders

Last week, as part of our Daily Draft series on SiriusXM Fantasy, Chris Liss and I invited Joe Sheehan to participate in a draft of the Greatest Sports One-Hit Wonders. We were allowed to draft both players and teams, and we didn't limit the sports to draft in or require a particular category. Each of us drafted six of them, and had a little space to speak expansively about them.

In retrospect, I wish I would have had us draft at least eight or maybe even 10 apiece - the list of one-hit wonders in sport is so huge. To that end, I'll list some of the notable omissions at the end of the draft list, confident that you can still find many more on your own.

As always, we gave our guest the first choice in this draft. Unlike other drafts, however, we made this a non-snaking draft, because of the nature of the list, and that this is somewhat less competitive than the all-time teams drafts. Given this generosity, Joe still went in my backyard and took my favorite team of all-time, the Northwestern Wildcats team that made the 1996 Rose Bowl. Thanks Joe, what a great friend. But still, it's a great pick, because even though they've had many other good years since, including a couple of shares of the Big Ten title, they've never reached those heights (Rose Bowl, #3 in the country), and it was such an improbable run.

Liss focused on individuals with his picks, and started off the draft with Robert Griffin III. I really wonder what his career would have looked like if he didn't get hurt in his rookie season, and if the Redskins hadn't botched his recovery so badly.

For my first pick, I think I grabbed the championship team that had the most impossible preseason odds to win it all, the 2015-16 Premier League Champions, Leicester City. They entered the season as 5,000-to-1 against winning it all, and yet won it going away. Their win changed the very nature of futures bets for team sports.

Dig into the whole list - there are a ton of great stories here, and we had a thoroughly enjoyable time drafting.

First, the full draft:

RdDrafterTeam/Player
1Sheehan1995 Northwestern Wildcats
1LissRobert Griffin III
1Erickson2015-16 Leicester City
2Sheehan2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
2LissDavid Johnson
2EricksonJoe Charboneau
3Sheehan2005 Chicago White Sox
3LissBrady Anderson (1996)
3Erickson#16 UMBC vs. #1 UVA
4SheehanLarry Sheets (1987)
4LissRick Ankiel
4EricksonJeremy Lin - Linsanity (2012)
5SheehanLoyola Marymount (Gathers/Kimble)
5LissDavey Johnson (1973)
5EricksonBuster Douglas
6SheehanBoston Braves (1914) 
6LissNick Foles
6EricksonIckey Woods (1988)

Draft picks by person:

SheehanLissErickson
1995 Northwestern WildcatsRobert Griffin III2015-16 Leicester City
2002 Tampa Bay BuccaneersDavid JohnsonJoe Charboneau (1980)
2005 Chicago White SoxBrady Anderson (1996)#16 UMBC vs. #1 UVA
Larry Sheets (1987)Rick AnkielJeremy Lin - Linsanity (2012)
Loyola Marymount (Gathers/Kimble)Davey Johnson (1973)Buster Douglas
Boston Braves (1914) Nick FolesIckey Woods (1988)

And finally, a great list of notable omissions:

Notable Omissions
2006 George Mason
Harold Miner
1960 Pirates
1990 Reds
Mike Wier
Chien Ming Wang
Luis Gonzalez
Marcus Giles
Steve Slaton
Steve Beurlien
Andrew Bynum
Bob Hamlin
Kevin Maas
Mark Fidrych
Bryan Doyle
Shane Spencer
Peyton Hillis

Who else would you have added to this list? Chime in on the comments!

ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Jeff Erickson
Jeff Erickson is a co-founder of RotoWire and the only two-time winner of Baseball Writer of the Year from the Fantasy Sports Writers Association. He's also in the FSWA Hall of Fame. He roots for the Reds, Bengals, Red Wings, Pacers and Northwestern University (the real NU).
Chris Liss
Chris Liss was RotoWire's Managing Editor and Host of RotoWire Fantasy Sports Today on Sirius XM radio from 2001-2022.
Joe Sheehan
Joe is a former RotoWire contributor. A founding member of Baseball Prospectus, Sheehan writes the Joe Sheehan Baseball Newsletter, an e-mail newsletter about all things baseball, at JoeSheehan.com.