Author's note: I wrote this post for last year's 4th of July and thought I would re-post because it seemed appropriate for the occassion (ok, that and I haven't had much time to write new stuff lately!).

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I would like to take a moment to celebrate this country's birthday on this blog by putting exactly four candles on the cake.

Why only four? There is a certain symmetry to the number "4" in sports.  Four quarters.  Four bases.  Four wins to take a Best-of-Seven championship series.  Even the "Big 4" sports as we know them in the US: Baseball, Basketball, Football, and Hockey.

And over time, the number "4" has been worn in singular or duplicate by some of the greatest players in the "Big 4" of sports.

Baseball - #4, Lou Gehrig, First Base, New York Yankees, 1923-1939

Career Highlights: A lifetime .340 hitter with 493 career homers.  Won two MVP awards.  Led the league in homers three times and RBI five times.  Won AL Triple Crown in 1934.  3rd All-time in Slugging Pct (.632), 4th All-time in RBI (1995), and 5th All-time in On-Base Pct (.447).  Key contributor to six World Series winning clubs.  Hit .361 in the postseason with 10 homers in 119 AB's.  Held MLB record for consecutive games played until 1995, a staggering 2,130 games played in a row, earning him the nickname, "The Iron Horse".  The Hall of Fame waived the 5-year waiting period requirement and inducted him immediately upon his retirement in 1939.

Signature Moment: He addressed a packed house at Yankee Stadium in 1939 and told those in attendance that he considered himself "the luckiest man on the face of the Earth" before announcing his retirement from professional baseball.  Less than two years later, he was dead.  Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a fatal degenerative nerve disease, had claimed his life.  That he likely knew he was dying that day at Yankee Stadium in 1939 and still managed to express gratitude and thanks speaks volumes about his character away from the ballpark. 

Basketball - #44, Jerry West, Guard, Los Angeles Lakers, 1961-1973

Career Highlights: Two-time All-American at West Virginia University.  Co-captain of the Gold Medal U.S. Olympic Basketball team with Oscar Robertson in 1960.  Drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers with the 2nd overall pick in the 1960 NBA Draft.  13-time NBA All-Star, 10-time All-NBA 1st Team, and 4-time All-NBA Defense 1st Team.  Led the league in scoring in 1970 and in assists in 1972.  5th All-time in Points per Game and 3rd All-time in Steals per Game.  Nicknamed "Mr. Clutch" for his ability to hit crucial shots in high-pressure situations, he averaged over 29 points and 6 assists in 153 career playoff games.  Led the Lakers to nine appearances in the NBA Finals and the NBA title in 1972.  Elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1980.  He has also had a very successful post-playing career as an NBA executive, helping to build a Lakers team that went on to win three straight NBA titles (2000-2002).

Signature Moment: In the 1970 NBA finals between West's Lakers and the New York Knicks, West hit a 60-foot buzzer beater in Game 3 to send the game into overtime.  However, the Lakers ended up losing the game and, eventually, the series to New York.  So, West never liked talking about that shot.  Instead, perhaps, West's most lasting legacy is the fact that it is his silhouette that now adorns the official NBA logo.

Football - #4, Brett Favre, Quarterback, Atlanta Falcons, 1991, Green Bay Packers, 1992-Present

Career Highlights: 8-time Pro Bowler with over 53,000 career passing yards and 396 TD's.  Led the league in TD's four times and passing yards twice. Ranks 2nd All-time in TD's, Passing Yards, and Completions.  Won three consecutive MVP awards (1995-1997).  Has thrown for over 4,900 yards in the playoffs with 33 TD's.  Led the Green Bay Packers to an NFL title with a 35-21 win over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XXXI.  Has started 221 consecutive games, an NFL record for quarterbacks.

Signature Moment: In 2003, despite still grieving for his father who had suddenly passed away the day before, Favre played in a nationally televised game against the Raiders in Oakland and proceeded to throw for 399 yards and four TD's en route to a 41-7 Green Bay victory.

Hockey - #4, Bobby Orr, Defenseman, Boston Bruins, 1966-1976, Chicago Blackhawks, 1976-1977, 1978-1979

Career Highlights: Orr revolutionized the way NHL defensemen played.  He became a dangerous scoring threat as well as a stellar defender.  Orr was the first defenseman in NHL history to score more than 100 points in a season as well as being the only defenseman to lead the league in scoring.  In a Hall of Fame career, he was an 8-time Norris Trophy winner as the league's best defenseman and a 3-time Hart Trophy winner as the league's MVP.  He finished his career with 270 goals and 645 assists in just 657 games.  In the postseason, he added another 92 points in 74 career playoff games and led the Boston Bruins to a pair of Stanley Cups.  Like Lou Gehrig, his sport's Hall of Fame waived the mandatory waiting period for induction.  Orr was enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame upon his retirement in 1979.

Signature Moment: In leading the Bruins to the Stanley Cup in 1970, Orr scored the game and title-winning goal in overtime of Game 4 against St. Louis.  On the play, Orr was tripped and sent flying but still managed to get his shot past Blues goalie Glenn Hall.  The picture of Orr flying horizontally three feet above the ice remains one of the sport's most enduring images.

Four sports.  Four legends.  Not a bad way to celebrate the Fourth.

Stats courtesy of: www.baseball-reference.com ; www.basketball-reference.com

www.pro-football-reference.com ; www.bobbyorr.com