The Los Angeles Angels admitted yet another mistake, firing Joe Maddon just two months into his third season as manager. The carousel of managers and general managers continues to twirl around Mike Trout's prowess in Anaheim. Their splashy free-agent signings and hot prospects have continually fizzled, and the franchise continues to fail its living legend. If Trout never celebrates a World Series -- or a playoff series, for that matter -- it'll be one of the greatest careers ever without a ring.
With that in mind, here are the five other iconic athletes whose organizations failed them. We're not including two of the best players to never have won a championship, Patrick Ewing and Charles Barkley, since each had contenders built around them, from 1992 to 1998. They just simply couldn't break through (and a guy named Michael Jordan had something to do with that).
No. 5: Tony Gwynn -- The greatest hitter of his generation actually reached two World Series with the San Diego Padres, in 1984 and 1998. Over 27 playoff games, he hit .306, including a sizzling 8-for-16 in their 1998 World Series loss to the juggernaut New York Yankees. Gwynn never won a ring, but it certainly wasn't his fault -- he recorded over 3,100 hits, and retired with a .338 average. But, over a 20-year career, those two World Series runs were anomalies. The Padres only made the playoffs three times. He was an All-Star in 15 seasons, and an eight-time NL batting champion. Yet, he played on nine losing teams.
No. 4: Ernie Banks -- The greatest player in Chicago Cubs history was a 14-time All-Star, and won MVP twice. He hit 512 home runs and had nearly 2,600 hits. But making the postseason during his era was unforgiving. Over the first 16 years of his career, to reach the postseason meant that you had to win the National League. The Cubs never did. From 1953 to 1968, Chicago never even won 90 games, and they finished with three winning seasons. Summers were doomed on the North Side during those years, and Banks' best chance at the playoffs occurred in 1969, when the "Miracle Mets" chased down the Cubs for the NL East crown... after a black cat ran by the Cubs' dugout.
No. 3: Dan Marino -- The Dolphins' icon isn't higher on this list since early in his career, Marino was indeed supported well enough. Miami went to the AFC playoffs in each of his first three seasons, and they hosted back-to-back AFC title games. Unfortunately for Marino, in his lone Super Bowl appearance, he lost to the mighty San Francisco 49ers. Miami bafflingly missed the playoffs altogether four straight years (1986-89) in Marino's prime, which was due to an aging defense and a non-existent run game. During the 1990s, the Fins made the postseason seven times, but flamed out every year with a good-never-great roster. Three of those playoff exits happened at the hands of the Buffalo Bills which, unlike Miami, had a slew of Hall of Famers.
No. 2: Ken Griffey Jr. -- "The Kid" was the singular superstar for an entire generation of kids, yet he played in October just three times. In fact, Junior's teams missed the postseason for more than a decade during his prime (1998-2007). The 1995 Seattle Mariners are credited with saving baseball in the city, but they had a losing record in six of Griffey's 10 seasons, including 1998 and 1999, when he combined to hit 104 homers. Once Junior arrived in Cincinnati, it was just as bad -- the Reds had losing seasons in every year he was there, except his first. Not being able to watch him play in a Fall Classic was criminal.
No. 1: Barry Sanders -- No organization ever did less with its superstar than the Detroit Lions. They saddled perhaps the greatest running back of all-time with Wayne Fontes and Bobby Ross as his head coaches. Detroit was always severely hamstrung with talent on defense and the offensive line. Their QB's handing off to Barry? Rodney Peete, Erik Kramer, Charlie Batch, Dave Krieg, and Scott Mitchel. Defenses could always focus on just stopping Sanders. The Lions reached the playoffs six times from 1993 to 1998, yet never won a postseason game. Sanders was a part of only one lousy playoff win in his career (1991). Between 1992 and 1998, Sanders never had less than 1,300 yards over a full season, and he made the Pro Bowl every year. He also had 1,800- and 2,000-yard campaigns, yet Detroit was never better than 10-6.