Past Our Prime

The pitchers with the most wins in the 1970’s is a grocery list of Hall of Famers. Gaylord, Carlton, Fergie & Catfish to name just a few… but on the cover of Sports Illustrated July 21, 1975 were two other future Hall of Famers who SI called Baseball’s Toughest Pitchers: Tom Seaver and Jim Palmer. After they each won the Cy Young Award in 1973, both of these aces suffered through injury-plagued, d...

50 years ago Jimmy Connors was at the top of his game and ready to defend his Wimbledon title from a year ago… coming into the finals at the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club, Jimbo hadn’t lost a set to any of his 6 opponents. Arthur Ashe was a huge underdog against the World’s #1 player and in fact, many of Ashe’s friends didn’t attend the match for fear of Jimmy winning convincingly like he...

In the summer of ’75 it was becoming clear that something special was happening in Boston. A rookie centerfielder was having a season for the ages. Fred Lynn would lead the Sox to the pennant behind one of the greatest, if not THE greatest rookie season in baseball history. The first year sensation would become the first player to win Rookie of the Year and MVP in the same season. It culminated in...

In 1975, the world of Track & Field was sent into a state of shock at the sudden death of Steve Prefontaine. The charismatic 24-year old perished in a car accident shortly after dropping off his good friend and fellow distance runner, 1972 Olympic Gold Medalist in the marathon, Frank Shorter. Frank would be the last person to see Pre alive. A month later at the AAU Track n Field championships in E...

Growing up in the 70’s, soccer was barely a footnote when it came to the sports culture here in the States. The North American Soccer League was trying to compete with the other leagues, but the game just didn’t have the appeal that it does in much of the world. It lacked the star power that other sports had. Until…   In 1975, the New York Cosmos signed Edson Arantes do Nascimento, the Brazilian s...

The Ryan Express was rolling along in June of 1975 as Nolan Ryan had just thrown the 4th no-hitter of his career while pitching for the California Angels. The flame throwing righty was doing things nobody had ever seen before, and would continue to do until his bionic arm finally gave out while with the Rangers in 1993. 27 seasons, 5,714 strikeouts, and 7 no-hitters later, Ryan finally was put out...

When Rocky Bleier went to Vietnam he had just finished his rookie season with the Pittsburgh Steelers… wounded in action, Rocky would return to the States and begin a long and arduous rehabilitation. Doctors told him if all went well, he should be able to walk again… but Rocky was having none of that. He was determined to make it back to the NFL… He missed the entire 1970 season and made it back t...

Before Billy Martin ever wore the pinstripes as a manager, he guided three different American League clubs. The Twins in 1969; the Tigers from 1971-73 and the Rangers from 1973-75. In each case, Martin did what he would always do: take a losing club and turn them around. The Twins improved 18 games to 97-65 in 1969, and won their division. In 1971, Detroit won 12 more games than they did the year...

In 1975, track and field was a major sport in the U.S.A. and across the globe and there was no bigger race than the mile. So in Kingston, Jamaica, they had the best milers in the world gather for the latest Dream Mile, and for Filbert Bayi of Tanzania, that’s just what it was… a dream mile. He hit the tape with a time of 3 minutes and 51 seconds, setting a world record by a tenth of a second and l...

His name is synonymous with sports in the 70’s. You didn’t have to follow racing to know who AJ Foyt was. He’s a part of Americana and in 1975 he was looking to win his 4th Indy 500. A week earlier, he was on the cover of Sports Illustrated after winning the pole position in true Foyt fashion. His first lap in qualifying was a blistering 195.313 mph and his 4-lap average of 193.975 secured the pol...

In the middle of the 70’s horse racing was huge, and in the middle of it all in 1975 was Hall of Fame jockey Jacinto Vasquez who had the pleasure of riding some of the greatest horses of that era. And on May 12, 1975, he was on the cover of Sports Illustrated as he helped guide Foolish Pleasure to victory in the Kentucky Derby. The great horse had lost but once entering the race at Churchill Downs...

In the spring of 1975, the Red Sox came racing out of the gate led by a trio of outfielders who were making a mark in the American League… Dwight Evans first came on the scene in 1972 and was now the everyday right fielder. Joining him in ’75 in left was future Hall of Famer Jim Rice who would have a spectacular rookie season finishing 3rd in the league in the MVP race and 2nd in Rookie of the Yea...

It’s April 28th, 1975 and the best basketball player in the NBA plays in Buffalo. Bob McAdoo wins the MVP for the Buffalo Braves who are in the playoffs and taking on Wes Unseld, Elvin Hayes and the Washington Bullets in a fierce series that would eventually go 7 games. One of the unsung heroes for the Braves is on the cover of Sports Illustrated from 50 years ago as he soars to the basket during...

The week of April 21, 1975 saw Jack Nicklaus on the cover of Sports Illustrated after he had won his 5th Masters in a classic tournament by one stroke over Tom Weiskopf and Johnny Miller. It was the Golden Bear’s 13th major championship and came one year after he had already been inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame. Inside that issue was another excerpt from the book Nice Guys Finish Last by...

The strongest man in the world 50 years ago was Vasily Alekseyev of the Soviet Union and there he was on the cover of Sports Illustrated on April 14th, 1975. The question is… was he a nice guy? Apparently the answer was no. Because also in that issue was the 2nd part of a 4 part series from the book, “Nice Guys Finish Last,” from former player and Hall of Fame manager, Leo Durocher. The “Lip” was...

On March 31, 1975, the UCLA Bruins beat the Kentucky Wildcats 92-85 for the 10th and final championship under the legendary Wizard of Westwood, John Wooden. The greatest collegiate coach in U.S. history retired after his team’s 7-point win at the Sports Arena in San Diego. UCLA was the best in college basketball in 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973 & 1975. An astonishing 10 titl...

1975 was a banner year for Rookies in Major League Baseball. Fred Lynn broke onto the scene in Boston and won Rookie of the Year and MVP… the first player ever to do that. And in the National League, John, “The Count” Montefusco took home the honors of National League Rookie of the Year. The Giants hurler narrowly beat out The Kid, Gary Carter, who went on to have a Hall of Fame career as a catche...

After beating Joe Frazier and George Foreman in two of the biggest fights in boxing history, Muhammad Ali was looking for an easy win over somebody. Enter Chuck Wepner... This would be a walk in the park for the champ before he could move on to bigger things. Chuck had other plans. After knocking Ali down in the 9th round Wepner told his trainer Al Braverman to start the car... "We're going to the...

In 1975, the University of North Carolina basketball team was being led by two men... A 44 year old coach named Dean Smith, and a 19 year old Freshman Point Guard by the name of Phil Ford. The two of them were about to change the program forever. The ACC tournament was Ford's coming out party as he averaged 26 points a game and was named the MVP of the conference tourney as he helped the Tar Heels...

In 1947, Jackie Robinson changed the scope of sports and the entire country when he broke baseball's color barrier, becoming the first black man to play Major League Baseball. But it would take another 28 years for a man of color to play The Masters in Augusta, Georgia. That man was Lee Elder, and on March 10, 1975, Elder was on the cover of Sports Illustrated exactly a month from when he would te...

Towards the end of the March 3, 1975 issue of Sports Illustrated a reader wrote in on the exploits of a little known swimmer who had appeared in two issues of SI the previous month. The woman wrote, "Thank you for a beautifully written piece on an incredible woman. Lynne Cox. How refreshing it is to read a story written by a man (Sam Moses) about a woman that does not go on about the color of her...

In February of 1974, a high school junior by the name of Bill Cartwright showed up in Sports Illustrated's Faces in the Crowd after the Elk Grove start scored 62 points in a game. A year later, the senior was once again in SI as he was once dominating the high school basketball scene in Northern California. Soon, the hard-working, laid back 7-footer would be headed to San Francisco to play for the...

The final All-American to play for UCLA's John Wooden was Dave Meyers and on February 17, 1975, Meyers was on the cover of Sports Illustrated as the leading man in the final championship run for the Wizard of Westwood. A bruising big man, Meyers was the center on a team that wasn't supposed to make another run at a title. The dynasty was ended by North Carolina State the year prior... right? Not s...

In February of 1975, fans in the NHL had to do a double take when they looked at the standings. That's because alongside the Montreal Canadiens and the defending champion Flyers was a rag-tag group of castoffs who scored just often enough to give their goalie a lead, and he would do the rest. Rogie Vachon and the L.A. Kings were playing inspiring hockey and were on the cover of Sports Illustrated...

The latest Past Our Prime podcast takes us to the heartland and the beginning of the changing of the guard in college basketball. 1975 would be the last season for John Wooden and his UCLA dominance, and the Indiana Hoosiers were set to claim their spot atop the college basketball world. They would go 31-1 in '75 and follow that up in 1976 with a perfect 32-0 and the first National Championship fo...