In most sports naming the greatest player usually results in an argument. In the sport of softball the answer appears to be unanimous. Lisa Fernandez is considered the best softball player ever. It is the opinion of those who played with her in her glory days and those who play with and against her on the PFX tour.

Fernandez won three Gold medals with the WNT. While those are the best known of her accomplishments she also has three ISF Gold medals and a Pan American Games Gold medal. In her collegiate career she was a four time All American and a two time NCAA Champion.

She holds the Olympic record with 25 K’s in a game and 52 in the series. At the plate she holds the best batting average having hit 545 in the ’04 Games.

Fernandez is a five tool player. She has the power of Crystal Bustos and the ability to hit for average and put the ball in play like Dot Richardson. In the circle she has the speed of Jennie Finch with the ability to paint the zone like Cat Osterman. Her defensive ability is equal to Natasha Watley. In fact, her glove work is so exceptional that when not on the mound she plays third base. She may not have blinding speed, but she runs the bases well and doesn’t make mistakes.

Perhaps the closet comparison for Fernandez would be Babe Ruth. Like the Bambino she made people aware of the game. Likewise, she is a fearsome hitter that makes the lineup better by forcing pitchers to acknowledge everyone. You don’t want to put people on with Fernandez on deck, so batters are going to get pitches to hit. And, let’s not forget, that the Babe began his career as a pitcher.

Fernandez is content to let her skill replace talk, so she is nowhere near as gregarious as the Sultan of Swat, but she is just as big of an ambassador of the game. Richardson openly acknowledges Fernandez as the greatest player and loves having her on the PFX tour. Young players who didn’t have the chance to see Fernandez during her time with the WNT can still watch her play and, more importantly, benefit from her knowledge.

Even when she isn’t on the PFX tour, Fernandez holds clinics in her home state of California. As a licensed psychologist she also works as a motivational speaker. This ability is a tool in how she works with young players. She can handle the everyday pressures of life, including the grind of a tour and still be responsive to girls who have questions and need instruction.

We know that the Babe loved kids, but Fernandez works with them in a way that Ruth never imagined. She teaches them to play a game she loves and instills the same feeling in them. Other players conduct independent clinics, but all of them agree that Fernandez is the best teacher of a game at which she holds the highest mastery.

Fernandez has worked hard to reach this level of ability. She spent countless hours in practice with both her teams and on her own. Beginning at St. Joseph’s High in Long Beach, CA she showed her ability. However, she also displayed the hard work necessary to attain that ability.

By the time she reached UCLA Fernandez was already attracting attention and gaining the reputation that she could be the best player in the NCAA. After four successful years there was no doubt that she was the best. She continued to prove her number one status in international competition and in the old WPSL.

However, while she was honing her softball skills she was also earning a degree in psychology from the prestigious university she attended. She is a licensed and practicing Clinical Psychologist and, as mentioned, appears as a motivational speaker. In short, the greatest softball player has three careers. Toss in motherhood and it is apparent that Fernandez is an extraordinary individual.

Being a parent means a great deal to Fernandez and having to juggle her careers could have cut into her ability to raise her son. She made certain that didn’t happen and she works with an organization to offer financial assistance to members of the WNT by providing fare and lodging for their children when they tour. Through the Amateur Softball Association Fernandez represents the USA Softball Child Care Fund.

The fund allows players on the WNT and other amateur teams to bring their children along when feasible. This allows them to build their relationships with their children while continuing to train and play softball. Additionally, it exposes the children to different regions and cultures.

Being the greatest player of a sport that has been removed from Olympic competition has also inspired Fernandez to petition for reinstatement of softball. Working with the Women’s Sports Foundation and the International Softball Federation she is involved in the Back Softball Campaign. The three organizations are hoping to have softball back in the Olympics by 2012.

At this point in her life Fernandez is not benefitting financially from softball. Her speaking engagements would come based on her illustrious past. The clinics are a break even affair with the money for entry covering expenses. Fernandez continues to go full force because that is what made her the greatest.

Fernandez being the greatest player is more important to others than it is to her. She is familiar and understanding of her accomplishments, but she doesn’t capitalize upon them. Instead, she uses the ability that has made her the greatest to teach others to become better players and, through interaction, better people.

Joe DiMaggio would often talk to young ballplayers about how to conduct themselves off the field, but he did not offer on the field instruction. Imagine if Alex Rodriquez was of the nature to instruct players on how to improve their game. We know he isn’t, in fact, even an individual like Derek Jeter doesn’t offer such advice. Fernandez does it constantly. She will tour through the fall with the PFX tour and then she will continue to offer clinics throughout the Golden State. This is what makes Lisa Fernandez the greatest player in every way possible.