July 30, 2007 | Volume 107, Issue 4

Slap Happy

To boost their earning power jocks are going for yuks

THE ASTROS ARE struggling—but not so their big-ticket free agent acquisition. Leftfielder Carlos Lee signed up for six years and $100 million, then started doing what he does best: rake. His 80...

WHO'S Hot

Who has the majors' best pickoff move?

Debuted With a 16-minute appearance as a substitute against Chelsea, David Beckham. The Los Angeles Galaxy's newest player began the friendly on the bench against the English giants due to an...

MAYBE NOT all records are made to be broken. That's what some in track and field were thinking about Steve Scott's American mile record of 3:47.69, which was set in 1982.

BUD BLACK Padres manager and former major leaguer, when asked if he'd ever throw batting practice without a screen: "Some people thought I was when I was pitching."

39,977 Average attendance at the 16 major league games last Saturday, the highest single-day average ever.

The new video game All-Pro Football 2K8 features O.J. Simpson playing for a team called the Assassins.

Mixing politics with sports can be a recipe for disaster

Chinook?

LAST YEAR'S World Series of Poker winner, Hollywood producer Jamie Gold, cheated during the tournament (he flashed one of his cards to an opponent) and later went to court in a squabble with a...

Two NHL toughs offer tips to would-be enforcers

PHILLIES CF

Drivers recall unscheduled flights, and unhappy landings

A new DVD examines the MLB records most likely to last

AS MUCH fun as it is to watch elite athletes perform gracefully, it can sometimes be just as fun to watch them flounder. That's part of the charm of a pair of Adidas clips featuring Reggie Bush...

HOLLYWOOD IS looking for two actors who can handle roles requiring drama chops as well as athleticism. Unfortunately for Leo and Brad, they also require four legs. Earlier this month Universal...

What to watch and watch for

Brayan Martinez WEST ORANGE, N.J. > Soccer Martinez, a recent graduate of West Orange High, is Gatorade's national boys' player of the year. The midfielder scored 85 goals and had 90 assists in...

Spoil Sports

SI's George Dohrmann annotates and analyzes the federal indictment to shed light on the charges

Woe is the Open leader who comes to the 18th at Carnoustie on Sunday. It sucked the life out of Sergio García, but Padraig Harrington recovered from his own disaster to win a playoff

Indelible Images

Chicago Heat Find out how high the Cubs have reached, in John Donovan's Power Rankings. ONLY AT SI.COM

Despite isolated doping allegations, which hit even race leader Michael Rasmussen, the Tour de France was buoyed by signs that riders might be cleaning up their acts

Mountain High

Quiet Suffering A hush fell over the crowd around the 18th green at Carnoustie on Sunday, after Sergio García (center, bent over) missed a 10-foot putt and a chance to set off a celebration over...

Baseball A-Rod positions himself for another jaw-dropping deal • Is the Rangers' Mark Teixeira headed to Baltimore? • David Ortiz loses his clutch touch

On the Money

With the nonwaiver trade deadline next Tuesday, the market for the Rangers' Mark Teixeira (right) heated up at week's end. Texas talked to the Orioles about dealing Teixeira, a Maryland native,...

In a reversal of form, Red Sox slugger David Ortiz (right), widely regarded as the king of clutch, has faltered in key situations this year, while the Yankees' Alex Rodriguez, who has had a...

Summer Fun

1 After finishing sixth at the Gateway 250 in Madison, Ill., last Saturday night, Carl Edwards holds a mammoth 852-point lead in the standings over second-place David Reutimann. Edwards is on...

FOR SOME, joy comes from the smile of a toddler. For others, a simple daffodil. For me, it's golf pros getting crushed like a grape under B.B. King.

Andrés Romero's wild, 10-birdie ride on Sunday took him to the top of the leader board, but ended with a dispiriting collapse

Irish teenager Rory McIlroy was king for a day at Carnoustie and provided a glimpse of the coming generation of post-Woods pros

The shirts, gloves and unused lotions of Carnoustie

Bye-bye, Ballesteros Seve Ballesteros's retirement hit me hard. Seve was at his flamboyant best during my formative years, and I remember being glued to the television during every Open...

Who: Sergio García

Do you believe, like Gary Player, that there are Tour players who use steroids?

An avid golfer and fisherman gets a (wee) piece of the auld sod

Yes, Carnoustie was tough, but a certain Frenchman saw few similarities between this year's course and the weedy beast that swallowed him up in 1999