Table of Contents

THE CHASE OF THE DOC AT OAK HILL 6
Cary Middlecoff wins golf's greatest prize, the National Open. By HERBERT WARREN WIND

SPECTACLE: DIVING THE SKY 10
Vivid pictures of a free-falling aeronaut IN COLOR by HY PESKIN, with a report by COLES PHINIZY

RHUBARBS AND BASEBALL—THE ROMAN WAY 24
Often colorful, sometimes loud, the game is catching on in sunny Italy. By GEORGE WELLER

ARE LEFTIES HUMAN? 41
Who can forget Rube Waddell? asks ROBERT CREAMER. And CLEON WALFOORT tells of southpaw athletes who don't pitch

SPORTING LOOK: CHANGES IN THE SEASCAPE 54
Costume doctrine for 1956 beaches, in a COLOR gallery by JERRY COOKE

THE DEPARTMENTS

•EVENTS & DISCOVERIES 15
•THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF SPORT 19
•SCOREBOARD 31
•COMING EVENTS 33
•THE OUTDOOR WEEK 60
•THE 19TH HOLE 65
•PAT ON THE BACK 68

•Hotbox: JIMMY JEMAIL asks: Is cockfighting cruel and sadistic? 4

•Horse Racing: WHITNEY TOWER reports the Belmont and salutes Needles as 3-year-old champion 34

•Boating: EZRA BOWEN outlines the Cornell-Yale-U.S. Navy battle for the Olympic eight-oar berth 38

•Track & Field: ROY TERRELL on the NCAA championship and its outstanding performers 46

•Horses: WILLIAM ROSPIGLIOSI recounts the rains and games at Stockholm's Equestrian Olympics 48

•Boxing: MARTIN KANE examines Julius Helfand's compromise and Tony DeMarco's comeback victory 50

•Tip from the Top: LOUISE SUGGS tells the ladies how to position the hands when addressing the ball 53

Acknowledgments on page 52

COVER: WARREN SPAHN

Photograph by Marvin Newman

Warren Spahn of the Milwaukee Braves is 35 years old and very possibly approaching the declining years of his fine career as a major league pitcher, but he is still one of the most successful and most impressive of the curious breed called "lefties." For a look at Spahn and other lefties, both historical and current, see Are Lefties Human? on page 41.

THREE PHOTOS

IN NEXT WEEK'S ISSUE

PREVIEW: AMERICA'S OLYMPIC TRYOUTS
The top stars are competing in California for Olympic berths, and Roy Terrell reviews the prospects from the scene

AMERICA'S NEW GIBSON GIRL
From paddle ball in Harlem, Althea Gibson has fought her way to Wimbledon. Here is the story of how she did it