
CONTENTS
22
LAST DANCE?
Larry Bird and Magic Johnson may have one more playoff fling
BY HANK HERSCH
28
EVANS CAN'T WAIT
Janet Evans wasn't the only female star at the U.S. swim meet
BY MERRELL NODEN
BASEBALL PREVIEW 1991
34
WANNA BUY A TEAM?
The Astros are on the block, and we're ready to make a deal
BY WILLIAM OSCAR JOHNSON AND ALBERT KIM
42
GOING, GOING, GONE
When the subject is baseball history, most players today flunk
BY STEVE RUSHIN
52
THE ANYWHERE GAME
Baseball's appeal is as diverse as the places where it's played
74
SIGN LANGUAGE
Is the flashing of signs a higher art form than stealing them?
BY PETER GAMMONS
84
GENTLEMAN AND SLUGGER
John Olerud of Toronto talks softly bin carries a big slick
BY HANK HERSCH
90
AMERICAN LEAGUE '91
The Angels and the Red Sox rate as the two teams to beat
BY TIM KURKJIAN
104
INVINCEABLE
Mets newcomer outfielder Vince Coleman is off and running
BY FRANZ LIDZ
112
NATIONAL LEAGUE '91
The Cubs and the Reds figure to be the leading contenders
BY STEVE RUSHIN
120
CITIZEN RYAN
Down home in Texas, Nolan Ryan is an old-fashioned cowboy
BY LEIGH MONTVILLE
133
STATURATED
The author asks, Where are stats when you really need them?
BY ROY BLOUNT JR.
DEPARTMENTS
6
LETTERS
15
SCORECARD
136
FOR THE RECORD
138
POINT AFTER
COVER PHOTOGRAPH BY RONALD C. MODRA
PHOTO
CHUCK SOLOMON
Here's the Pitch
In a scene like that played out in five other major league cities on Monday afternoon, the Mets Doc Gooden wings one of the season's first deliveries plateward at a sunny Shea Stadium. For Gooden, who threw eight sharp innings, and the Mets, who beat the Phillies 2-1, Opening Day was also a good day.