In this week’s issue of Sports Illustrated, the magazine chronicles the moment Derek Jeter got his 3,000th career hit and the cover is a shot of Yankee Stadium right as the ball left the bat. Joe Posnanski writes the cover story. SI also has Philadelphia Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz on its cover for editions in Philadelphia and the Mid-Atlantic States. Here’s a press release explaining what’s in Sports Illustrated in the edition that comes out today on newsstands and through your mail if you still subscribe to magazines that way.
Joe Posnanski Relives the Moment of Jeter’s 3,000th Hit in Vivid Detail
Plus: How Much Does He Have Left At Age 37?
Carlos Ruiz: The Best Seat in the House for Baseball’s Best Rotation
MLB Players Vote on Their Favorite Fictional Baseball Player
The 2011 Women’s World Cup: Exporting Title IX On a Global Level
The Swinger: An Exclusive Excerpt From a Fable of Modern Golf(NEW YORK – July 13, 2011) – The newest member of the 3,000-hit club, Derek Jeter, graces the cover of Sports Illustrated for the 13th time—tying him with Mickey Mantle for the most covers ever by a New York Yankee. Jeter and Mantle are also tied with Tom Brady and LeBron James for 14th in alltime cover appearances. This week’s issue is dated July 18, 2011, and is on newsstands now.
Joe Sheehan (@joe_sheehan) is quick to point out that Jeter didn’t need his 3,000th hit to become a Hall of Famer or burnish his legacy, writing (page 48): “The focus on a single hit detracts from an appreciation of the whole, and the whole shows that Derek Jeter is one of the top five or six shortstops in major league history and one of the game’s 75 or so greatest players.”
Senior writer Joe Posnanski (@JPosnanski) goes into vivid detail describing the circumstances surrounding Jeter’s historic hit while also acknowledging how happy the Yankee captain was for it to be over. Posnanski writes (page 44): “He has worked hard through the years to keep many of his feelings private. He has worked hard through the years to say the right things, to do the right things, to exemplify grace and class and confidence and humility, all at the same time. He is a proud athlete, and he has been growing old in front of America, and that cannot be easy. He has not talked about it.”
To read the full online version of Sheehan’s story A Career in Full, click here. To read the full online version of Posnanski’s story 3,000 Reasons to Party, click here.
On the Tablets: Video of Jeter’s 3,000th hit, a gallery of the best candidates to reach the milestone next and hot spots of past fans who have caught historic balls.
POINT AFTER: THE AGE OF DESCENT – CHRIS BALLARD (@SI_ChrisBallard)
There’s something about the age of 37 in sports. It’s when Reggie Miller turned into a role player, when Joe Montana became human, when Muhammad Ali retired for the first—and what should have been the last—time. So what to make of 37-year-old Derek Jeter, who reached 3,000 hits and had the best day of his career last Saturday? Ballard writes (page 64): “What is the game telling Jeter now? Does it tell him he’s the guy who can go 5-for-5 or the guy who went 1-for-4 with two strikeouts the following afternoon? If it’s the latter, should he listen? Because there are many nights these days—more than Derek or I care to admit—when the game has unkind, if not downright cruel, things to say. When it suggests it is time to join the Senior tour of our lives. And then: 5 for 5. How can one concede after that?”To read the full online version of The Age of Descent, click here.
THE LEGION OF ARMS PART II: BROTHERLY GLOVE – GARY SMITH
Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz appears on a regional cover for this week’s issue. It is the third time he has appeared on the cover; he made back-to-back appearances on Nov. 3 and Nov. 10, 2008.The dominance of the Phillies rotation has been quite a sight during the first half of the season, and Ruiz has had the best seat in the house. “Chooch” has been the glue that keeps what many consider the best rotation in baseball together. Says Ruiz (page 32): “When I am catching, it is not two people out there—a pitcher and a catcher. It is one person. It is my fault if something goes wrong. Whatever is happening to him is happening to me. One person. That means I am a different man with each pitcher.”
Born in Panama, Ruiz lost his father in a car accident when he was seven years old. The eldest of three brothers, Ruiz vowed that he would take care of the family moving forward. At age 27, after eight years in the minors, he was called up to the Phillies, finally fulfilling his promise.
SI subscribers can read the first installment of Gary Smith’s series on the Phillies’ rotation of aces (4/4/2011) on the web at SI.com/magazine and on the Sports Illustrated magazine app, which is available on the iPad, HP Touchpad and Android tablets and smartphones. To read the full online version of Brotherly Glove, click here.
On the Tablets: Read Part I of Gary Smith’s story on the Phillies’ rotation and listen to his Sports Illustrated audio podcast interview with media writer Richard Deitsch (@richarddeitsch).
SI PLAYERS MLB POLL
Who is your favorite fictional baseball player? (page 13)
Roy Hobbs, The Natural….26% Billy Chapel, For Love of the Game….8%
Crash Davis, Bull Durham….13% Ricky (Wild Thing) Vaughn, Major League….7%
Nuke LaLoosh, Bull Durham….9%[Based on 285 MLB players who responded to SI’s survey]
FAST FACTS: Seven characters from the Major League films received votes, the most from any work of fiction: Vaughn, Willie Mays Hayes, Pedro Cerrano, Roger Dorn, Jack Parkman, Jake Taylor and Clu Haywood…. The Sandlot had four vote-getters…. Sidd Finch, the make-believe subject of a 1985 April Fool’s profile in SI, received one vote.
Facebook Fan Picks
Roy Hobbs….28%
Ricky Vaughn….19%
Crash Davis….18%SCORECARD: GLOBAL WARMING – GRANT WAHL (@GrantWahl)
Right now, the world’s most popular sport is being dominated by women thanks to the 2011 Women’s World Cup. The exhilarating U.S.–Brazil quarterfinal match garnered Twitter fist bumps by everyone from Lil Wayne to Ellen Degeneres, over 700,000 tickets have been sold for the Cup’s 32 games and 16.6 million Germans—more than one fifth of the country’s population—tuned in when the women’s national team took on Nigeria. If the ’99 Women’s World Cup was vindication of Title IX in the U.S., this year’s tournament is exporting Title IX on a global level (page 12).To read the full online version of Global Warming, click here.
EXCERPT FROM THE SWINGER – MICHAEL BAMBERGER AND ALAN SHIPNUCK (@AlanShipnuck)
July 12 marked the release of The Swinger, co-authored by senior writers Michael Bamberger and Alan Shipnuck. In an exclusive excerpt from the novel—which details the life of PGA Tour superstar Herbert X. “Tree” Tremont Jr.—the golfer kicks off his season with two spectacular rounds at Kapalua. At the same time sportswriter Josh Dutra, the book’s narrator, suspects that Tree is being stalked by reporters from a tabloid magazine who threaten to turn Tree’s seemingly perfect world upside down (page 50).To read the full excerpt online, click here.
On the Tablets: Buy a copy of the book and hear the authors talk about it in a Sports Illustrated audio podcast interview.
NASCAR: BACK ON (A NEW) TRACK? – LARS ANDERSON (@LarsAndersonSI)
Amidst declining attendance, the departure of sponsors like Red Bull and Crown Royal and the potential move of up to six races away from network television, NASCAR experienced a victory last Saturday: The first Sprint Cup race at Kentucky Speedway before an estimated crowd of 120,000—only the second sellout of the NASCAR season. Combined with changes made to the year-end Chase in addition to a slight uptick in TV ratings, it signifies hope for a sport eager to regain its momentum (page 42).To read the full online version of Back On (a New) Track?, click here.
On the Tablets: Video of Chad Ochocinco going racing.
GRAND TETON RESCUE: COUNTDOWN TO TRAGEDY – BRAD WIENERS
One year ago next week three parties comprising 17 climbers set off to summit Grand Teton in Wyoming. Within a few hours one had fallen to his death and the rest were pinned down by lightning, which was striking the mountain and sending near-fatal charges through several of them. Recalls one such climber, Betsy Smith (page 54): “It was the most painful thing. I’ve been through childbirth, and that was zero compared to this. It was like someone injected hot oil directly into my veins. I was screaming.”Smith and 15 of the other climbers were saved in the most harrowing rescue in Grand Teton’s history. The one fatality was Brandon Oldenkamp, a senior-to-be at Dordt College in Sioux City, Iowa. A lightning bolt threw Oldenkamp off the ledge and over the side, and his rope did not catch and go taut. Says his father, Bob: “I still weep sometimes. We weren’t ready for him to go. . . . But I do know that in those mountains Brandon saw the best the Creator has ever made. And, in a heartbeat, he got to see Him who made it.”
To read the full online version of Countdown to Tragedy, click here.
JOHN MACKEY: HE GAVE HIS ALL. MAKE IT MATTER – Dick Friedman (@DickFriedman24)
Former Baltimore Colts tight end John Mackey was not the only retired football player to suffer from long term medical issues, but he was one of the most influential. Mackey, who died on July 6 at age 69, was the inspiration for the 88 Plan. Named for his old number, it provides up to $88,000 a year to retirees suffering from football-linked dementia. Alas, it does not always defray the full-time cost of Alzheimer’s care. As lockout talks continue, players and the NFL struggle to decide how much we take from the current working generation to provide for the needs of the elderly (page 40).To read the full online version of He Gave His All Make It Matter, click here.
On the Tablets: Video of Mackey’s highlight as a player in addition to the Oct. 2009 segment on PBS Newshour documenting his struggles with dementia.
THIS WEEK’S FACES IN THE CROWD (page 20)
- Lauren Burress (Stanley, N.D./Stanley High) – Freestyle Kayaking
- Cam Richards (Garden City, S.C./St. James High) – Surfing
- Leila Hurst (Kilauea, Hawaii/Kapaa High) – Surfing
- Willie Mack III (Flint, Mich./Bethune-Cookman) – Golf
- Rachel Young (Blue Bell, Pa./Purdue) – Rowing
- Chris and Nick Downer (Stamford, Conn./Dartmouth) – Rugby
Follow Faces in the Crowd on Twitter @SI_Faces
INSIDE THE WEEK IN SPORTS (page 24)
- Baseball: Plenty of Relief – In a trade market long on contenders and short on confirmed sellers, these players are likely to move by July 31. (Jon Heyman, @SI_JonHeyman)
- Golf: The Survivor – So-yeon Ryu outlasted a fellow Korean and five weather delays en route to a surprise win at the U.S. Women’s Open. (Rick Lipsey)
- Tennis: Falling Star – Andy Roddick’s losing Davis Cup effort is only the latest disappointment in a tough year. (Andrew Lawrence, @SI_DrewLawrence)
That will complete this press release post.
