Letters

Career to Cover
Your cover photograph of Joe DiMaggio raises a question: What is the longest period of time to elapse between the end of an athlete's career and his appearance on your cover? DiMaggio appeared 42 years after he retired. Babe Ruth was on the March 18, 1974, cover, 39 years after he quit playing. Do you know of any larger gaps between retirements and cover appearances?
JOHN H. GILLETTE
Mountain View, Calif.

?The record for a regular issue does indeed belong to DiMaggio, but a close second is Jess Willard, who was on our Jan. 13, 1964, cover, 41 years after his last fight. The illustration depicts Jack Dempsey punching Willard during their controversial heavyweight title bout on July 4, 1919. ( Dempsey, by the way, had not fought for 37 years when this cover appeared.) Red Grange was on the Fall 1991 cover of SPORTS ILLUSTRATED CLASSIC, 57 years after his final game.—ED.