Lineup

34 | BASEBALL

Randy Johnson
Approaching a landmark win at 45, the 6'10" lefty caps a career thatrepresents a feat of pitching engineering on a monstrous scale
By Tom Verducci

40 | PREAKNESS

A Filly's HistoricRace
Rachel Alexandra outran the colts and ruined Mine That Bird's bid for a TripleCrown. Will they meet again in the Belmont on June 6?
By Tim Layden

46 | INDIANAPOLIS500
Helio Castroneves
Acquitted of tax-evasion charges, the Brazilian driver got his racing careerback up to speed in time to contend at the Brickyard
By Lars Anderson

50 | SWIMMING
Michael Phelps's Return
Competing for the first time since Beijing, the Olympic champion donned an oldsuit, tried a new stroke and won two of four races
By Brian Cazeneuve

54 | NBAPLAYOFFS

City of Hope
Clevelanders, including the author, nervously look to LeBron James to end theirdecades of suffering by bringing home a championship
By Joe Posnanski

Departments

4 Leading Off

12 Letters

14 Scorecard
• Dungy on Vick
• Federer over Nadal

24 Just My Type
LeBron's Fab Five
by Dan Patrick

26 Faces in theCrowd

28 Inside ...
• Soccer
Epic showdown
• NHL
Blackhawks' spark
• Baseball
Latest trade buzz

70 The Vault
When Tom Seaver won his 300th

74 Point After
Second thoughts on Allen Iverson by Chris Ballard

Cristiano Ronaldogets up for the Champions final (page 28).

ON THE COVER
Photograph by David Liam Kyle/NBAE/Getty Images Insets: Brad Mangin (Johnson);Simon Bruty (Phelps); Bill Frakes (Preakness)

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JOHN PETERS/MANCHESTER UNITED VIA GETTY IMAGES (RONALDO)

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