| RETIRED |
After 15 years in the majors, Cubs righthander Kerry Wood. He fanned White Sox outfielder Dayan Viciedo on three pitches in the eighth inning at Wrigley Field last Friday, a fitting end to a career that included one of the most memorable performances in history—when, as a 20-year-old rookie making just his fifth big league start, Wood hurled a 20-strikeout, one-hit complete game to beat the Astros 2--0 on May 6, 1998. Wood (above) had 16 stints on the disabled list, totaling 946 days, and was switched from starter to reliever in 2007 to preserve his arm. The change prolonged his career, and he became the only pitcher in history with at least 75 wins, 50 saves and 10 strikeouts per nine innings. "You know when it's time," Wood, 34, said last Friday. "I've got no regrets."
| DIED |
At 59 of a heart attack, former West Virginia football coach Bill Stewart. Stewart spent 24 years as an NCAA assistant, two years as a CFL assistant and three years as the coach at VMI before, as the interim coach in Morgantown, he led the 11th-ranked Mountaineers to a 48--28 upset of No. 3 Oklahoma in the 2008 Fiesta Bowl following the abrupt defection of Rich Rodriguez to Michigan. The victory propelled Stewart (right), who always liked to refer to his players as "lads," to the job full time. But though he went 27--12 over the next three seasons, he was never able to duplicate the spectacular result. And his departure from the head coaching position made more headlines than his performance. On Dec. 16, 2010, athletic director Oliver Luck announced that Stewart would be replaced by Dana Holgorsen after the 2011 season. The next June, the lame-duck Stewart was forced to step down when a former reporter with The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said that Stewart had asked him to dig up dirt on Holgorsen and smear his name. Although Luck could not confirm any wrongdoing by Stewart, the university requested and received his resignation.
| DIED |
Of cancer at 89, Peter D. Fuller, owner of Dancer's Image, who won the 1968 Kentucky Derby by a length and a half and then became the only horse to be stripped of the roses after the painkiller phenylbutazone was found in his urine on race day. (Kentucky relaxed its ban on the substance in '74.) Fuller maintained for the rest of his life that someone else had given Dancer's Image the drug or that the test results had been forged, saying he had been targeted by racist Southerners because of his support for civil rights, including his donation of a $62,000 winner's purse to Coretta Scott King after her husband's assassination. (One of Fuller's stables was set on fire, and he received death threats after his gift to King.) Fuller vowed he wouldn't take another horse to the Derby unless he thought it could win. He never found that horse, and thus never got to use the name he had chosen for it: Dancer's Revenge.
| REJECTED |
By the International Olympic Committee, proposals from the government of Israel and two members of Congress to observe a moment of silence at the London Games in recognition of the 40th anniversary of the 1972 terrorist attacks that killed 11 Israeli coaches and athletes. In the years since, the families of the victims have frequently lobbied the IOC for an official moment of silence to be observed at all future Olympics. The request by the Israeli government was made specifically for the 2012 Games. IOC president Jacques Rogge, who competed as a yachtsman for Belgium at the '72 games, said last week that the IOC "has officially paid tribute to the memory of the athletes on several occasions and will continue to do so in close coordination with the National Olympic Committee of Israel." IOC members have previously said that they were reluctant to alienate other members of the Olympic community with any specific reference to the attacks.
| DIED |
Of a brain aneurysm at 75, former college, Olympic and NBA player Bob Boozer. A two-time All-America at Kansas State, Boozer (left) was the first pick of the 1959 NBA draft, but he delayed playing for the Cincinnati Royals for a season so that he could maintain his amateur eligibility and play for the U.S. at the Rome Games. He was a reserve and played mostly a defensive role, scoring 6.8 points per game for a U.S. team that won eight games by an average of 42.4 points on the way to a gold medal. He then averaged 14.8 points and 8.1 rebounds over an 11-year NBA career with the Royals, Knicks, Lakers, Bulls (with whom he was an All-Star in '68), SuperSonics and finally the Bucks, with whom he won a title in '71, his last season. He and his '60 Olympic teammates were inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010.
| SOLD |
To a range of buyers at Sunday's SCP Auctions sale, a lineup of Babe Ruth memorabilia. Back in 1920, Ruth himself was sold by the Red Sox to the Yankees for $125,000, which was a lot of money at the time. It proved to be a pretty good investment—as, it seems, is almost anything connected with the Babe. Consider the prices paid for this array of Sultan of Swat swag.
Baseball Card
1916 Red Sox
$30,343
Brooklyn Dodgers Uniform Worn as manager in 1938
$207,142
Cap
Later owned by David Wells
$537,278
Bat
Game-used 1927-30
$591,007
Uniform Top
Game-worn 1920 road jersey
$4,415,658*
* New record for sports memorabilia
NBA PLAYERS POLL
Who is your favorite NBA announcer?
CHARLES BARKLEY 20%
JEFF VAN GUNDY 14%
STEVE KERR 10%
REGGIE MILLER 9%
MIKE BREEN 6%
FAST FACTS In Barkley, Kerr and Miller, TNT announcers landed three of the top five spots. ESPN is represented by Van Gundy and Breen (who also handles play-by-play for the Knicks on MSG).... Former Knicks star Walt Frazier, Breen's broadcast partner at MSG, placed 10th, with 2% of the vote.... Bill Walton, whose bad back forced him to retire as an analyst at ESPN in 2009, placed eighth, with 3%, ahead of Shaquille O'Neal.... In a similar poll on Facebook, Sir Charles ruled again, as he was named favorite by 52% of SI readers.
BASED ON 124 NBA PLAYERS WHO RESPONDED TO SI'S SURVEY
GO FIGURE
55
Score for 18 holes shot by Rhein Gibson of Australia at River Oaks Golf Club in Edmond, Okla., last Saturday. The 16-under round by Gibson, who plays on the Golfweek National Pro Tour, is thought to be the lowest 18-hole score ever.
17
Length, in minutes, of the flight from New York City's LaGuardia Airport to Newark Liberty International provided free by Delta last Saturday to Rangers fans holding tickets to New York's game that day against the Devils.
90
Pounds lost by Jets head coach Rex Ryan since undergoing lapband surgery in 2010.
15
Strikeouts—in seven innings of work—by the Tigers' Max Scherzer, in a 4--3 win over the Pirates, the most K's in a game in the majors this season, and the most by a Detroit pitcher since Mickey Lolich fanned 15 Red Sox on Oct. 2, 1972.
$177
Amount of the citation issued by police to Oconto Falls (Wis.) High School softball coach Dawn Larsen for allegedly swearing at her players.
PHOTO
PHIL VELASQUEZ/CHICAGO TRIBUNE/MCT/LANDOV (WOOD)
PHOTO
MARK RUCKER/TRANSCENDENTAL GRAPHICS/GETTY IMAGES (RUTH)
PHOTO
RANDY SNYDER/ICON SMI (STEWART)
FIVE PHOTOS
SCP AUCTIONS
PHOTO
VERNON BIEVER/NBAE/GETTY IMAGES (BOOZER)
PHOTO
NATHANIEL S. BUTLER/NBAE/GETTY IMAGES (BARKLEY)
