Contents

18 The Curse of the Endless Playoff
It has long afflicted pro hockey and basketball and it's now spread to baseball. Pro football, alas, is next

22 It May Be a Two-Horse Derby
As Majestic Prince and Top Knight ran away from their rivals a match race in Kentucky became likely

26 Now Playing Right Field.
Boston's Tony Conigliaro, unable to play last season after being beaned in 1967, has won his old job back

Moments of the Masters

34 Meet Bert Yancey, whose moment may have come
36 Past triumphs and tragedies in paintings and words

52 Love-In with the Red-Hot Blues
The romance between town and team warms up as St. Louis begins pursuit of the Stanley Cup

67 Some Boys Do a Man's Work
Five Indiana freshmen, including a record-breaking Mark Spitz, helped the Hoosiers win the NCAAs

78 A Not-So-Melancholy Dane
Torben Ulrich is a renegade in the tennis world, a player whose real joy comes from the ballet of the game

The departments

11 Scorecard
62 People
67 Swimming
72 Wrestling
74 Hockey
89 For the Record
90 19th Hole

Credits on page 89

Cover photograph by Eric Schweikardt

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ILLUSTRATION

52

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78

Next week

IT'S A NEW BALL GAME. One hundred years after turning pro, baseball begins the 1969 season with four new teams, two new divisions and, William Leggett reports, new problems. In the annual preview, Harold Peterson turns back to the origins of the American game, which was not invented by Abner Doubleday but by an amiable success named Alexander Cartwright, who carried it west. Peterson follows his route and makes some surprising discoveries about baseball today. Present-day Iron Men are presented in color, scouting reports assay the 24 major teams and, as always, the magazine offers a full complement of news and features.