8. Willie Mays 

The “Say Hey Kid” is arguably one of the greatest baseball players of all time and perhaps the the best five-tool player ever. Just one season after he was the National League’s Rookie of the Year for the New York (later San Francisco) Giants, Mays was drafted into the Army for service in Korea in 1952. He spent nearly all of the 1952 season and all of 1953 in the Army, however, he did not see active combat and was stationed at Fort Eustis, Virginia for most of his time.

In his 22 years, he was selected to the all-star game in all but three seasons, won 2 MVP awards, 12 Gold Gloves, and 1 World Series. He also posted a .302/.384/.557 slash line to go along with 660 home runs, 1,903 RBI, 338 steals, 3,283 hits and was inducted to the Hall of Fame in 1979. Notably, if Mays had not missed nearly two seasons due to service, he could have very likely passed Babe Ruth’s then record of 714 home runs and 2,220 RBI, and amassed over 3,500 hits.

However, serving his country was more important, and was quoted in saying, “I was brought up saying ‘Yes, Sir’ and I always respected authority, so the Army and I got along well.”