Missouri, also known as the Mother of the West is home to many famous and successful sportsmen along with many other talents. In today’s article, we go over some of the biggest names that come from Missouri since if we had to mention every single one our article would be a very long list and how they helped shape the betting industry of today.
Sports Betting in Missouri
Even though other forms of gambling are permitted in Missouri, sports betting has always been prohibited. This is quite strange considering that Missouri is known to be a place where people are in love with sports.
Although providers are not legally permitted to operate from within the state of Missouri, accessing certain betting sites is not prohibited. Fortunately, there are several overseas betting companies that welcome players from Missouri, which may be used to get around the restrictions on sports betting. These overseas legal sportsbooks are registered and controlled in other jurisdictions, and the sites have a proven track record of having a solid reputation among players, which is vital for putting you at rest. For more information regarding sportsbooks in Missouri, sports betting experts recommend taking a look at the various guides available on the internet about the best Missouri online sports betting sites.
The use of offshore bookies will continue to be the case until legislation is enacted.
Here are some of the most famous sportsmen residing from the state of Missouri
Missouri is home to some of the most gifted people in the country. It didn’t matter if they were born or raised in the city; it was an integral part of their life.
As well as entertainers and stars, Missouri has been home to some of the greatest athletes in the world.
This is only a quick look at a few of the best athletes in the world because it’s difficult to include them all in one article.
Sonny Liston
Probably our most famous athlete on the list. Sonny Liston is considered one of the best and greatest professional boxers of all time. A fun fact about Sonny is that there is no official record of when he was born. Sonny would begin his boxing career at a young age competing and eventually becoming champion of the Chicago Golden Gloves in 1952 and later winning the Golden Gloves Tournaments of Champions in New York. It wasn’t soon after Liston turned pro, 1953 to be exact. Just under 10 years later in 1953 he would show the world his fighting prowess and become the World Heavyweight Champion by knocking out Floyd Patterson in an astonishing 1 round finish. He would retain his title till 1964 when he fought and lost to the legendary Muhammad Ali against favoring odds. The two would clash again just 9 months later ending as one of the most controversial fight endings to this day. Sonny Liston is regarded as one of the best boxers and entertaining fighters to enter the sport and has been ranked as the tenth greatest fighter of all time, he was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1991.
Pat LaFontaine
Pat LaFontaine was born in 1965 in St. Louis and quickly became a major standout player in the NHL series. Now it is worth mentioning that standing out in the NHL is no small feat. Especially when we are talking about the 1980s NHL and you’re competing with giants like Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux who were massive dominating forces. LaFontaine even outscored the legendary Mario Lemieux during the 82-83 season scoring over 100 goals. He ended his career with the highest points per game recorded by any American. In 2017 he was even granted the title of Top 100 greatest NHL players in history.
Connors, Jimmy
East Missouri was Jimmy Connors’ hometown. At an early age, he began playing tennis and was tutored by both his mother and even his grandma. In 1962, Jimmy won the U.S. boys under 12 title because of this unique coaching partnership. He was just 9 years old at the time.
After that, he joined an exclusive group of nine players who had won back-to-back Junior Orange Bowls, which were held in Florida. In 1972, Connors became a professional tennis player and ruled the tour.
Yogi Berra
He was born in 1924 in Missouri, the hometown of the legendary Yogi Berra. Marcello Pietro Berra was Dominic Berra before he became Yogi Berra.
Berra played minor league baseball prior to his service in the military during World War II. His baseball journey started as an infielder and catcher until he eventually found his niche.
With the NY Yankees, he began his career as a pro player. During his 19-year career, he won Ten Championship Game titles (more than any other player in history), drove in 1,423 runs, was selected to Eighteen All-Star games, and was named the American League MVP 3 times.
As a director, he became even more well-known and coined numerous catchphrases that are still in common usage today.
Ryan Howard
No, it’s not the Office trainee, but a professional baseball player. “the Big Piece,” who was raised in the Missouri suburb of Florissant, was an outstanding big league baseball player.
Southwestern Missouri State (formerly known as Missouri Public University) has honored his jersey after he played collegiate baseball for them.
When the Philadelphia Phillies made their MLB draft selections, they selected Howard in the fifth round. First-timer in history to hit 100 – 300 home runs, he did it in record time.