Sports
What baseball legend was known as the Iron Horse? page 228
C an you drive to the hoop like LeBron? Hit a backhand
smash like Venus and Serena? Flip and twist on a
board like Shaun White? It doesn’t matter whether you
play like a pro or just play for fun. Baseball or biking,
hockey or hiking—there are plenty of awesome ways to
stay fit, have fun, and get your game on.
FAVORITE SPORTS
Here are the most popular sports and activities among kids in the United States in 2008.
Boys (ages 6–17) Girls (ages 6–17)
1. Bicycling 8.2 million 1. Bowling 5.3 million
2. Bowling 7.7 million 2. Bicycling 5.2 million
3. Basketball 7.4 million 3. Walking 5.1 million
4. Freshwater Fishing 6.6 million 4. Running/Jogging 3.9 million
5. Baseball 6.6 million 5. Outdoor Soccer 3.3 million
6. Running/Jogging 5.5 million 6. Freshwater Fishing 3.3 million
7. Outdoor Soccer 5.0 million 7. Basketball 3.2 million
8. Walking 4.3 million 8. Inline Skating 2.6 million
9. Skateboarding 4.3 million 9. Slow-Pitch Softball 1.4 million
10. Billiards/Pool 3.9 million 10. Skateboarding 1.2 million
Source: Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association’s Sports & Participation Report, 2009
LITTLELEAGUE
Little League Baseball is the largest youth sports
program in the world. It began in 1939 in Williamsport,
Pennsylvania, with 45 boys playing on three teams.
Today, more than 2.6 million boys and girls ages 5 to
18 play on more than 176,000 Little League baseball
and softball teams in more than 75 countries.
www.littleleague.org
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SPORTS
You’ve probably seen—or played—soccer,
STRANGE basketball, tennis, and other popular sports.
But what about volleyball played with your feet?
Or hockey played at the bottom of a pool? There are
SPORTS plenty of sports that you probably won’t find on local
fields or courts. Here are some of the most unusual.
FOOTVOLLEY Footvolley is a game that combines soccer and
beach volleyball. People started playing it on Brazilian beaches in the 1960s, but it has
become popular in other countries, too. The net is the same as the one used in beach
volleyball, but players use a soccer ball instead of a volleyball. Unlike volleyball, players
cannot use their hands. They may use only their feet, head, and chest to get the ball over
the net. Otherwise, the rules are the same as those in beach volleyball. Tournaments are
held all over the world.
BICYCLE POLO Bicycle polo is a combination
of polo (a hockey-like game that is played on horseback) and bicycle
riding. There are two teams in bicycle polo. Each player has a
mallet, which is slightly shorter than the ones used in traditional
polo. They use these mallets to hit the ball. The object of the
game is to maneuver the ball down the field and hit it into the
opponent’s goal. Players are not allowed to hit each other with
their mallets, and their feet must stay on the bike’s pedals at all
times. If a player’s feet touch the ground, he or she has to ride
out of bounds and back in before hitting the ball again.
bicyclepolo.org
UNDERWATER HOCKEY Underwater hockey,
also known as “octopush,” was invented by four English scuba divers in 1954. The game
is played at the bottom of a swimming pool between two teams of six. Players wear fins,
a diving mask, and a snorkel to play. They use a short stick that is about 12 inches long to
slide a 3-pound puck into the opposing team’s underwater goal. Everyone on a team has
to work together to score, since no one can go too long without coming up for air! World
championships are held every two years. The 2008 tournament took place in Durban, South
Africa. The next tournament will be held in Medellin, Colombia, in July 2010.
WHO
?
t I was born in Bellevue, Washington, in 1984.
I was a star pitcher for the University of
AM I Washington before being selected by the
San Francisco Giants as the
10th pick of the 2006 draft. I reached the major leagues the
following year and won seven games as a rookie. In 2008,
I led the majors with 265 strikeouts and won the Cy Young
Award as the top pitcher in the National League (NL). I was
the starting pitcher for the NL in the 2009 All-Star Game. I
am short and skinny for a pitcher, but my fastball has been
clocked at 98 mph. My teammates call me the Freak. I have
long black hair that I always keep covered with a baseball
cap or wool cap. Answer:
Tim Lincecum
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BASEB AL L
The 2009 baseball season got underway on April 5, with the Atlanta Braves
beating the 2008 World Series Champion Philadelphia Phillies. For only the
second time ever, the season didn’t end until November. (The first was in
2001, when the season was interrupted by the terrorist attacks on September
11.) On July 14, the top players from the American League (AL) and the
National League (NL) met in the 80th All-Star Game, in St. Louis. The AL won
4–3 and has not lost to the NL since 1996. Carl Crawford of the Tampa Bays
Rays earned the game’s MVP award for his game-saving catch in the seventh
inning (left). Here are some other highlights of the 2009 season:
• On July 23, pitcher Mark Buerhle of the Chicago White Sox threw only the
16th perfect game since 1900. He retired all 27 Tampa Bay batters he faced in
a 5–0 win.
• On September 11, Derek Jeter became the New York Yankees all-time
leader in hits. Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Lou Gehrig (see box
below) and other legends have played for the team, but none had more hits in
a Yankee uniform than Jeter.
2009 MAJOR LEAGUE STANDOUTS
HITTERS PITCHERS
BATTING CHAMPS WINS LEADERS
NL: Chipper Jones, Atlanta Braves, .364 NL: Brandon Webb, Arizona Diamondbacks, 22
AL: Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins, .328 AL: Cliff Lee, Cleveland Indians, 22
HOME RUN CHAMPS STRIKEOUTS LEADERS
NL: Ryan Howard, Philadelphia Phillies, 48 NL: Tim Lincecum, San Francisco Giants, 265
AL: Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers, 37 AL: A.J. Burnett, Toronto Blue Jays, 231
RUNS BATTED IN CHAMPS EARNED RUN AVERAGE LEADERS
NL: Ryan Howard, Philadelphia Phillies, 146 NL: Johan Santana, New York Mets, 2.53
AL: Josh Hamilton, Texas Rangers, 130 AL: Cliff Lee, Cleveland Indians, 2.54
THE LUCKIEST MAN
From 1925 to 1939, Yankees slugger Lou Gehrig played in 2,130 straight games, earning
the nickname “the Iron Horse.” He batted .340 for his career and led the Yankees to six
World Series titles. The team honored Gehrig with a special
day on July 4, 1939. In his speech that day (right), Gehrig said
he was “the luckiest man on the face of the earth.” Fans
didn’t know that he was suffering from ALS, a severe nerve
disease that took his life less than two years later. On July 4,
2009, all 32 major league teams honored the 70th anniversary
of his famous speech to help raise awareness of ALS, which
today is often called Lou Gehrig’s disease.
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SOME MAJOR LEAGUE RECORDS*
SPORTS
Most Home Runs Most Strikeouts
Career: 762, Barry Bonds (1986-2007) Career: 5,714, Nolan Ryan (1966-93)
Season: 73, Barry Bonds (2001) Season: 383, Nolan Ryan (1973)
Game: 4, by 12 different players Game: 20, Roger Clemens (1986, 1996);
Most Hits Kerry Wood (1998)
Career: 4,256, Pete Rose (1963-86) Most Wins
PITCHERS
Season: 262, Ichiro Suzuki (2004) Career: 511, Cy Young (1890-1911)
BATTERS
Game: 7, Rennie Stennett (1975) Season: 41, Jack Chesbro (1904)
Most Stolen Bases Most Saves
Career: 1,406, Rickey Henderson Career: 554, Trevor Hoffman (1993-2008)
(1979-2003) Season: 62, Francisco Rodriguez (2008)
Season: 130, Rickey Henderson (1982)
Game: 6, Eddie Collins (1912);
Carl Crawford (2009)
*Through the 2009 season. Players in bold played in 2009. Game stats are for nine-inning games only.
The Fall CLassic
No championship in American sports can match the rich history of the World Series. It all
began in 1903, when the well-established National League (NL) and the upstart American
League (AL) decided to hold a championship to determine which league was best. The
owners of the NL champion Pittsburgh Pirates
and the AL champion Boston Pilgrims scheduled
the best-of-nine “World’s Championship Series.”
Legendary pitcher Cy Young helped Boston upset
Pittsburgh and win the series five games to three.
The Fall Classic was born.
There was no series held the following year,
because the NL champion New York Giants refused
Jackie Robinson
to play Boston. But the Giants agreed to play the
of the Brooklyn
AL’s Philadelphia Athletics in 1905 and won the best-
Dodgers steals
of-seven series. Since then, the World Series has
home in the 1955
followed the best-of-seven format (except from 1919
World Series.
to 1921, when it again was a best-of-nine series).
Over the years, the Fall Classic has seen many amazing performances—from pitchers
Grover Cleveland Alexander and Sandy Koufax to hitters Babe Ruth and Reggie Jackson.
Through 2008, the New York Yankees held the record for most World Series championships
with 26, followed by the St. Louis Cardinals with 10.
BASEBALL Hall of Fame
The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum opened in 1939, in Cooperstown, New York.
To be eligible for membership, players usually have to be retired from baseball for five years.
Three new members were inducted in 2009, which brought the total number of members to
289. Topping the list of 2009 inductees was Rickey Henderson, baseball’s all-time leader in
stolen bases and runs scored. Joining him was Jim Rice, who clubbed 382 home runs in 16
seasons with the Boston Red Sox. The third new member was Joe Gordon, a nine-time All-
Star with the Yankees and Cleveland Indians. www.baseballhalloffame.org
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