Lineup
FEATURES
MOTOR SPORTS
28 Forget theHype
After 17 years in racing Danica Patrick faces the strongest Indy 500 field in ageneration. She believes this is her time
By Lars Anderson
STANLEY CUPPLAYOFFS
34 Winning inStyle
Changing the color of his pads was just one step in the remaking of standoutPenguins goalie Marc-André Fleury
By Michael Farber
NBA PLAYOFFS
40 Kobe's BenchMob
The subs are the key to L.A.'s title hopes
By Jack McCallum
WNBA PREVIEW
44 Sparks AreFlying
This isn't your daddy's WNBA anymore
By Kelli Anderson
BASEBALL
50 May Days
A rough road trip for the young Brewers
By Lee Jenkins
THE HORSE WE RODEIN ON
He was borncrippled, unable to stand and nurse without human assistance. For a while hepulled a grocer's wagon. But Dan Patch became an undefeated champion—and themodel for the modern sports star
BY CHARLESLEERHSEN
Page 56
Departments
6 Leading Off
12 Letters
14 Players
• On recruiting eighth-graders
• Walk-year wonders
• First Person: Boo Weekley
• The new U.S. sports museum
24 Faces in theCrowd
26 Just My Type byDan Patrick
• Enter Sandman
• A sequel to Bull Durham?
80 Point After
We can handle the truth: If athletes only said or did what they really felt
by Chris Ballard
Inside ...
76 Baseball
• Ken Griffey Jr.'s trade value
78 OlympicSports
• U.S. divers' medal chances
SI.com
Sports in Real Time• All the Time • All Free
Small Ball
The American Leagueis on pace to finish with the fewest runs since 1992 and the lowest battingaverage since 1976. This week, senior writer Tom Verducci explains why scoringis in such short supply. For more on the AL's shrinking offense, check out...
• A statistical analysis of the trend by Joe Sheehan of Baseball Prospectus
• Jon Heyman on Indians lefty Cliff Lee, the league's surprising ace
• SI Vault: The 2005 cover story Baseball's Incredible Shrinking Slugger
DAILY BASEBALLNEWS, SCORES AND ANALYSIS AT SI.COM/MLB.
FEATUREDWRITERS
TIM LAYDEN
Inside Horse Racing
Preakness preview, plus how racing can recover from the Derby tragedy
SI.com/layden
ANDY STAPLES
Inside Recruiting
Updates on the nation's top basketball and football prospects
SI.com/staples
ALLAN MUIR
Inside the NHL
Handicapping the favorites for the Conn Smythe Trophy
SI.com/muir
MIXED MARTIALARTS
Plenty of Fight
SI.com has rolled out its new Mixed Martial Arts section, including fightpreviews and recaps, breaking news, rankings, Q&As, photo galleries and afighter database. Look for Ben Fowlkes's column, in which he covers lightweightSean Sherk (left) and his upcoming UFC 84 bout, and the steroid stigma in MMA.Also check out Nicki Jhabvala's interview with fighter Renzo Gracie.
Check out the newMMA coverage at SI.com/mma.
FROM SPORTSILLUSTRATED APRIL 25, 1966
SI.com regularlydigs into the archives for a classic SPORTS ILLUSTRATED story. This week it'sMartin Kane's 1966 piece about the bitter series between the Detroit Red Wingsand the Chicago Black Hawks in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
SID ABEL, coach ofthe Red Wings, had declared quite brazenly before the playoffs that his solehope of beating a Chicago team that had overwhelmed him throughout the regularseason was to "hit" the Hawks. The Wings did hit the Hawks and hit themhard in the very first game. They lost 2--1, but the new strategy made themlook respectable against Chicago, and Abel determined that he would continueit.
Check out thelatest classic SI story at SI.com/classic.
Cover
PHOTOGRAPH BY SIMONBRUTY
For reprints of SIcovers, visit SIcovers.com.
SI Extra
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PHOTO
LOU CAPOZZOLA (NHL)
34 WISTFUL THINKING Penguins defenseman Hal Gill (2) watched the puck trickle past goalie Marc-André Fleury in Game 1 of their playoff series against the Flyers.
PHOTO
COURTESY OF HARNESS RACING MUSEUM, GOSHEN, N.Y. (DAN PATCH)
PHOTO
BILL KOSTROUN/AP (LEE)
UPPER HAND Lee hasn't made scoring any easier.
PHOTO
JEFF CHIU/AP (SHERK)
PHOTO
JAMES DRAKE (SI COVER)
FIVE PHOTOS