Best Polo Player of All Time

There has been some interesting discussion about who is the best polo player of all time.  Personally, I would have thought that Adolfo Cambiaso would be the obvious choice of almost everybody.  But it is not so.  Other very knowledgeable people have their own ideas of who is the best.  Two other names have come up already, Juan Carlos Harriott of Argentina, who won no fewer than 20 Argentine Opens!, and Cecil Smith of Texas who was a 10-goal player for 25 years!.  Personally I like all three of these great players, although in different ways.  Perhaps we can learn something from each of them.  But there is one who is my personal all-time favorite, and I will talk about him first.  Please feel free to post your own personal favorites.  Maybe we all can learn something.

GB

 

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Permalink Reply by GB Polo on July 25, 2012 at 0:20

Thanks again, Gustavo.  It's really fascinating to hear what Juan Carlos had to say.  From my standpoint, the more improvement the better.  It would be great if in 25 years we have a lot of little Cambiasos running around.  Who knows how good the best player of 2037 will be!

Permalink Reply by bruce cowley on July 25, 2012 at 3:30

I haven't read every post, and I bow to those with far more experience/knowlege than me, but.

Was Bautisto Heguy not the player who created the stye of polo for which Cambiaso has become so deservingly famous... if so, as such a pivotal player, with regards the evolution of the game, does he not at least deserve a mention?

Permalink Reply by Sani Umar on July 25, 2012 at 4:19
The difficulty is more with the tOpic than a choice. Records are a standard one can not wish away, I have reservation about the players of yore not being so good, Carlos Gracida easily comes to mind here he was and still is, if you get my drift. They were good then and truly inspiring. The players of yore also gave us the foundation of the good horses we have today because of their past, they just knew the kind of horses the young guns need to excel, people like Carlos, Gonzalo Sr, Alberto Heguy. And please what does being a pro has to do with being the best? Those guys played polo for joy first before money and that should count for something. Juan Carlos played amongst his peers and won the AO 20 times that gentlemen is a record yet to be broken, and will always count on the side of the best.
Permalink Reply by GB Polo on July 25, 2012 at 9:58

Glad to see you weighing in here, Bruce.  Your prior absence has been most conspicuous.  Obviously Bautista Heguy deserves mention, and you have raised a very interesting question.  But exactly what "style" are you referring to?  The dribbling and highly controlled short game as opposed to the long ball?  Please elaborate. 

Permalink Reply by bruce cowley on July 25, 2012 at 15:55

Hi GB - yes, but again, I may be wrong, and I am certainly biased :) 

Bauti controlled the ball,  moved it around at will, made it sing and dance. I forget who it was, but one of his rivals said that when Bauti was on Birra, it was better to put 3 of your team on marking him and leave the other players...

Indios Chapaleufu also played with the power-house (Bauti) up front - although I have no idea who else has used that formula - the way Cambiaso plays for La Dolfina.

Permalink Reply by GB Polo on July 25, 2012 at 23:35

Bruce, it would be great to see some video and some written commentary on Bauti's revolutionary effect on the game.  As a long-time Cecil Smith fan (after all, he was a Texan), I still love to see the long scoring shot from midfield, and that does happen occasionally.  But it's clearly not the modern trend.  If Bautista Heguy is the undisputed inventor of the "controlled dribble" as the preferred way of moving the ball down the field and scoring, that really would tend to move him into the thick of our discussion of the greatest of the polo greats of all time.  I've really never heard that theory before.  Please enlighten us.

Permalink Reply by bruce cowley on July 26, 2012 at 6:32

As I said, GB, I may be wrong, and it's a personal opinion - but if it wasn't Bauti, who was it?

anyway... this video gives you a good idea of the style of polo being played, year on year...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0EDOzWYva8&feature=related

and here's Bauti - when I. C. were still sponsored by marlboro...

http://vimeo.com/28320187

and in the US in 1991...

http://vimeo.com/27721621

At the end of the day it proves nothing, but it was fun finding them.

Permalink Reply by GB Polo on July 26, 2012 at 7:10

Thanks, Bruce.  Great stuff.  

Permalink Reply by GB Polo on July 26, 2012 at 20:19

Does anyone else have an opinion whether Bautista Heguy was a pivotal figure in the modern evolution of polo?

Permalink Reply by Maurizio Muscas on July 27, 2012 at 1:27

Definitely Memo and Carlos Gracida.Do you support me?

Permalink Reply by GB Polo on July 27, 2012 at 1:48

Of course.  I've seen Memo play and he's fantastic.  Probably the best man with a horse I've ever seen.  With a mallet, that's different.  Of course he is very, very good.  But I think I have seen better hitters.  I'm still wondering about Bruce's point about Bautista Heguy changing the basic approach of moving the ball down the field and revolutionizing the game.  Does anyone else agree with that idea?

Permalink Reply by mauricio sordelli on July 28, 2012 at 14:12

Between the long ball polo style of The Great Juan Carlitos Harriot and the dribbling and highly controlled short game  of Polo Phenomenon Adolfito Cambiaso,  a lot of water crossed under the bridge.

In 70´s Eduardo El Gordo Moore, an argentine 8 hcp all world around polo pro  determined that it was not appropriate to release the ball quickly and openly play because of the low level of some of his team mates, so he started to control the ball, dribble several yards and near the line let the ball to his patron. The Ball Control Era began.

His best pupil was Gonzalo Pieres Sr. an outstanding 10 goaler of the 80´s. Dad of Gonzalito, Facundo and Nico and discoverer of Cambiaso, Aguerre, Castagnola. Gonzalo also invited Memo and Carlos Gracida to win several AOs. Well, Gonzalo added to the ball control play  some particular tactics as to play "redondilla" -play the ball in circles instead of hitting backhander, recovering one more player in the same move - and to play from side to side of the field - or in zigzag - controling ball, speed and space of the game.

Later started Bautista Heguy´s time. 10 hcp, incredible horseman, charismatic, talented. he could play anywhere on the field. at any speed, with the ball paste on the cigar. total control, high speed. scorer of his team (with his 3 older brothers) perhaps Indios Chapaleufu 1 was the best polo team to watch. Inga, Pigmea, Birra, Rachel, his better horses.

After Bauti came Adolfito, and now is his time. much more control than bauti, better winning mentality, different rider, different horse care and all that we know about adolfito.

So the change in polo style is a long ladder who started with juan carlitos, el gordo, gonzalo, bauti, adolfito and nobody knows how it will continue to.

good polo for everybody

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