Alltime Best For California's top 50 homegrown sports figures, go to SI.com/50
Joe DiMaggio, Baseball player
The Yankee Clipper grew up in San Francisco and played for its
minor-league Seals. A graceful centerfielder, he won three MVP
awards and played on nine New York Yankees championship teams.
His record 56-game hitting streak (in 1941) is considered
untouchable.
Jackie Robinson, Baseball player
The man who broke the major leagues' color barrier in 1947 led
the Brooklyn Dodgers to six pennants in 10 seasons. Born in
Georgia and raised in Pasadena, he was the first UCLA student to
letter in four sports (baseball, football, basketball and track)
in a single year.
Bill Russell, Basketball player
The cornerstone of the Boston Celtics dynasty helped the team win
11 NBA championships in 13 years while earning five MVP awards.
The 6'10" center from Oakland led the University of San Francisco
to 55 straight wins and two NCAA titles in 1955 and '56.
Ted Williams, Baseball player
Perhaps the finest hitter ever, Teddy Ballgame won two Triple
Crowns and six batting titles for the Boston Red Sox. The San
Diego native was the last man to bat over .400 (.406 in 1941),
and he hit 521 home runs despite missing most of five seasons to
serve in the military.
Tiger Woods, Golfer
The most dominant golfer since Jack Nicklaus, Woods raised the
PGA Tour's popularity the moment he joined it, in '96. The
Stanford alum and three-time U.S. Amateur champ from Cypress has
won 40 Tour events and eight majors; in 2000-01 he won four
majors in a row.
Mark Spitz, Swimmer
At the 1972 Munich Games he turned in the greatest Olympic
performance ever, winning seven gold medals and setting seven
world records. Spitz was born in Modesto, grew up in Sacramento
and (when not in school at Indiana) trained in Santa Clara.
B/W PHOTO: INTERNATIONAL NEWS PHOTO (DIMAGGIO)
B/W PHOTO: BETTMANN/UPI/REUTERS (ROBINSON)
COLOR PHOTO: SHEEDY & LONG (RUSSELL)
B/W PHOTO: DOUBLEDAY (WILLIAMS)
COLOR PHOTO: BRIAN A. WESTERHOLT/WIREIMAGE.COM (WOODS)
COLOR PHOTO: JOHN G. ZIMMERMAN (SPITZ)