Contents INTRODUCTION BY STEVE WULF SOCK IT AWAY: John Wooden on the Importance of Hosiery UNTOUCHABLE: Jerry Rice on How to Run a Pass Pattern THE PITS: 13 Seconds with a NASCAR Pit Crew LARCENOUS LOU: Sitting Down? Lou Gehrig Stole Home 15 Times WHISTLE WHILE YOU WORK: How to Whistle Like a Major Leaguer SPECIAL K: Why K Stands for Strikeout IN THE BAG: Inside Phil Mickelson’s Golf Luggage GENIUS IN A JIFFY: The Five Best Sports Leads THE WRITE STUFF: David Wright on How to Get an Autograph THROWDOWN: The Secrets to Rock, Paper, Scissors REEL GOOD: Jeffrey Lyons Picks the Five Best Sports Movies A MIGHTY LONG GAME: Cal Ripken and Wade Boggs Play 33 Innings FAMOUS AMOS: The Amazing Mr. Stagg THE PUCK STOPS HERE: Wayne Gretzky on How to Tape a Stick GLASS CEILING: The First Female Dunk BREAKFAST OF CHAMPION: A Breakdown of Michael Phelps’s Morning Meal CHAMPION OF BREAKFAST: How Wheaties Got That Slogan GLOVE AFFAIR: Omar Vizquel on How to Break In a Mitt NET RESULT: On the Origins of Cutting Down the Net JIMMY V: An Excerpt from Jim Valvano’s Famous Speech SUB TITLES: From Bambi to Thumper—A Nickname Quiz SIGN LANGUAGE: Rich Donnelly on How to Give Signs FOR PETE’S SAKE: The Day a Clubhouse Guy Scored a Touchdown JUST FOR KICKS: Landon Donovan on How to Score on a PK MIGHTIEST FIGHT (BOXING): The First Ali-Frazier Bout BRAZIL NUTS: You, Too, Can Have a Brazilian Soccer Name BY THE NUMBERS: Howie Schwab Counts Up the Uniforms BILL OF RIGHTS: The Orioles on How to Wear Your BB Cap JOCK IN CHIEF: Curly Lambeau Writes to Gerald Ford READY FOR PRIME TIME: The Ins and Outs of Playground Hoops GOLDEN PARACHUTES: Sports Kicked Out of the Olympics THE MASTER: A Golf Lesson from Bobby Jones “BOOM GOES THE DYNAMITE”: A Sportscast for the Ages THE HEATER: Chris Young on How to Throw It by Them THE CHANGEUP: Todd Jones on How to Fool Them PRIVATE QUARTERS: Inside Donovan McNabb’s Locker TRUE CALLING: How Many Cy Youngs Would Cy Young Have Won? SIGH YOUNG: The Wrong Delivery for a Pitcher SEVEN WONDERS: You Have to Be There to Appreciate Them THE ROPES: Get a Jump-Start with Sugar Shane Mosley STARTLING FIVE: Steve Hirdt’s Favorite Stumpers UNCOMMON SCENTS: Don’t Stop to Smell the Hockey Bags REEL BAD: Jeffrey Lyons Picks the Five Worst Sports Movies BEND IT LIKE KLJESTAN: A Team USA Player on How to Curve a Free Kick SPORTUGUESE: What’s a Blutarsky? A Quiz on Sports Lingo MIGHTY CASEY: The Man Who Wrote America’s Best-Known Poem FROM THE PEN: A Poem by the Late Dan Quisenberry MIGHTIEST FEAT (OLYMPICS): The Day Bob Beamon Did the Impossible SUPER STARS: Super Bowl Score—Carol Channing 2, Lions 0 SECOND HELPING: Robert Lansdorp on How to Hit a Second Serve MEASURE FOR MEASURE: What the Quarterback Rating Really Means PASS KEY: An NFL QB Guru on How to Throw a Spiral VINE YARD: The Story Behind the Ivy at Wrigley Field BAND LEADERS: The Five Greatest College Fight Songs UNDERHANDED WAYS: How to Make Hitting a Softball Hard MIGHTIEST GAME (HOCKEY): Why the Miracle on Ice Wasn’t Really REAL SORRY: Missing the Triple Crown by a Nose ACE OF CLUBS: The Master of the Hole in One MIGHTIEST GAME (BASKETBALL): The Night Wilt Chamberlain Scored 100 AIR BALLS: The Family Secrets of the Wiffle Ball COLOR FAST: Why the Tour de France Leader Wears Yellow ALL THE RAGE: The Five Best (or Worst) Sports Tantrums MAKING WAVES: Gertrude Ederle Never Stopped Swimming TAKE A HIKE: A Long Snapper on Why It’s Not a Snap ROLL THE DICE: Strat-O-Matic’s All-Time Baseball Team BOOK MARKS: Five Reasons Sports Literature Isn’t an Oxymoron HIDING IN THE HALLS: Behind the Scenes in Cooperstown and Canton FACE VALUE: A WSOP Winner on How to Hide Your Emotions 10 COMMANDMENTS: A Decalogue of Sports Sins BIG FLAP: How Not to Trot Around the Bases IN FOCUS: So You Want to Be a Sports Photographer? MIGHTIEST GAME (FOOTBALL): Hail Mary, Full of Grace MASKED MEN: Meet the Patron Saint of Goalies LUCKY CHARMS: Athletes Are a Superstitious Lot TABLETOPS: How to Rule at Table Tennis BREAKING ANKLES: Chris Paul on How to Fake Out an Opponent TAPING ANKLES: Kevin Carroll on How to Wrap an Ankle MIGHTIEST GAME (BASEBALL): The Story of the Merkle Boner MISSPELL CHECK: It Pays to Make a Mistake—on Baseball Cards CARD GAMES: How to Play with Major Leaguers TAKE 2: Error-Director: Five Sports-Movie Errors LEADING LADIES: The Woman Behind Title IX SIT FOR THE GOLD: The Importance of the Coxswain PAPER PIGSKIN: How to Join the Fold of Paper Footballers FALL CLASSICS: Yogi Berra’s Five Favorite World Series Games THE REAL GIPPER: The Man Who Inspired the Famous Speech HORSES CALLED MEN: Thoroughbreds Named After Famous People GETTING NOTICED: How to Shine at a Tryout SLIM AND NONE: Your Chances of Becoming a Pro THROWS LIKE A GIRL: The Woman Who Struck Out Ruth and Gehrig CREATURE FEATURE: The Original Phanatic’s Best and Worst UP A TREE: What It’s Like to Be the Stanford Mascot GREENER GRASS: Tips from George Toma, a Legend in His Field THE CRADLE: The Essence of Lacrosse THE BIGGER THEY COME …: A Sports Promotion Gone Wrong MIGHTIEST FIGHT (NONBOXING): The Day Santa Claus Dropped His Gloves FORE SCORE: The Best Presidential Golfer Might Surprise You HARDWARE STORIES: The Tales Behind Some Famous Trophies A BUMP UP: You May Never Be a Mogul, But You Can Ski One THE VOICE OF GOD: The NFL’s Greatest Storyteller, John Facenda THE LUCKIEST SPEECH: Lou Gehrig Almost Didn’t Give a Farewell Address ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Native American youths in Florida circa 1564 shoot arrows, throw balls at targets placed atop poles, and run races. This engraving, inspired by the paintings of sixteenth-century explorer Jacques le Moyne de Morgues, was originally published in 1591. Introduction BY STEVE WULF A few of our favorite things: the wooden frame that once held Carl Hubbell’s Hall of Fame plaque; a 1924 New York Baseball Writers Dinner program, signed by Babe Ruth; a Babe Parilli model leather helmet; a pin signed by members of the PBA tour, circa 1985; an Andy Seminick model catcher’s mitt. A Babe Parilli leather helmet. A program autographed by Babe Ruth. A Mickey Mantle Louisville Slugger bat. A bowling pin signed by members of the PBA tour. A Jerry West figurine. An empty bag of 4 Bagger chewing tobacco. A Bo Belinsky button. A Bo Jackson Raiders jersey. Those are just some of the things I’ve acquired over time. A lot of stuff, most of it scattered about my office, much of it having to do with baseball: a Carl Yastrzemski McDonald’s glass, an ancient catcher’s mask, two seats from Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, a Russian baseball poster, a sanitary sock once worn by Doc Gooden, a ball autographed by the members of the 1936 Washington Senators, an old portable typewriter, a lineup card from the 1993 World Series, a T-shirt that reads I COVERED THE PINE TAR GAME. And a lot of years, most of them spent as a sportswriter who’s often on the lookout for something that evokes the past or celebrates the moment. My secret vice is pulling over at antiques stores or flea markets. I once tried to buy a Duke Snider bat at an antiques store in Westmoreland, New York, only to be told it was not for sale. “That’s what I use to confront shoplifters,” said the lady proprietor. No bat, but I did get a San Francisco Giants calendar with all three Alou brothers (Felipe, Matty, and Jesus) on the cover. In its own way, this book is kind of a flea market. A lot of stuff. A lot of years. There are anecdotes, arguments, quotes, quizzes, lists, lessons, histories, mysteries, speeches, facts, curios. It’s haphazard enough that you can drop in anywhere. But it also has a logic to it that will become apparent as you leaf through the pages. I should point out that I am not the sole proprietor of the book. Most of these items were suggested or written by others: colleagues at ESPN The Magazine, ESPN Books, and Ballantine; friends and family; fellow youth coaches; professional acquaintances. What they all had in common was a curiosity about sports: these are some of the things they wanted to know more about. There are 101 entries here, as well as an almost equal number of random oddities and quotes.