10 iconic Sports Illustrated covers that taught us to love baseball
The iconic Sports Illustrated gave us some of the best covers in all of the sports magazines. Here I'll take a look at 10 that give you chills and have dreams of hitting that home run or pitching that gem.
“I read the news today, oh boy." The Beatles song that starts with those lyrics was exactly how I felt when I first heard that Sports Illustrated was laying off most of its staff and was in danger of closing completely.
I had such great childhood memories of waiting for the magazine to enter my mailbox and settling down to read the articles. Of course, what caught your eye was the cover. Oh, those covers! It seemed like the players leaped off the page and came right into your living room. Many of those covers ended up on my wall when I was a kid. If you entered my room, you would have been showered with the likes of Mike Schmidt, Nolan Ryan, Roger Clemens, Rickey Henderson, and tons more. Didn’t matter the league or the team; if you were a great player, you had a spot on my wall.
To choose the best covers is an impossible task ... there are simply too may great ones to count. Instead of worrying about the definitive rankings, this is a simple list of 10 covers to spark your nostalgia for the mighty Sports Illustrated.
10 Sports Illustrated Baseball Covers We'll Never Forget
No. 10: Ghosts of Astros Future
June 30, 2014. SI decided to predict the 2017 Houston Astros as your World Series champions three years before it happened. I’m not sure if Marty McFly was involved or a certain silver car, but they were spot on, and that’s a great example of what made SI so great. Be bold!
No. 9: Henry Aaron Does It
April 15, 1974. SI put the great Henry Aaron on the cover, featuring the slugger holding up the ball he hit out for his 715th home run. If you’ve watched any of the footage of that home run, you will remember that moment and also hear in your head, “Here’s the pitch by Downing, swinging!” Fantastic moment.
No. 8: The Iconic Mr. Berra
July 11, 1955. SI put the great Yogi Berra on the cover. Just look at this cover! If you know who Yogi Berra is, you can picture him exactly without the face mask. It kinda doesn’t look all that different!
No. 7: Oakland's Unstoppable Fivesome
April 27, 1981. SI once featured the five aces from the Oakland A’s. Together, they brought baseball back 20 years, with them completing games like they were pitching in 1965. Sadly, it couldn’t last and they all wore out their arms too early. I loved watching Mike Norris and Rick Langford go the distance almost every time.
No. 6: Red Sox Fans Have Longed to Hear It...
The 2004 World Series Championship Commemorative issue. This one holds a place in my heart. Those two weeks, I hardly slept and couldn’t wait to go into the office near the water cooler to discuss what the Sox did the night before. Made me feel like I was 12 years old again.
No. 5: The Remarkable Ryan
July 23, 1979. SI put the great Nolan Ryan on the cover. By this time, he was already a legend, and being 32 years old at the time, you didn’t know he was going to still be pitching in the 1990s and still throwing no-hitters. The cover is great because it looks like the ball is coming right at you. Just TRY to hit a Nolan Ryan fastball!
No. 4: A New Face Emerges
June 6, 1977. The year before was known as the Year of the Bird. The Bird was Mark Fidrych, and his antics on the mound made Detroit Tiger fans come flocking to the stadium (see what I did there?). The cover and his return from injury represented a hope that the remarkable hurler would return to form. Too bad it didn’t last … but all great things seldom do.
No. 3: Baseball Isn't for Everyone
March 14, 1994. This one was more negative. It featured the greatest basketball player ever trying to make his way in baseball and swinging and missing. The Michael Jordan watch was a train wreck. You couldn’t look away, no matter what side of the fence you were on. For me, I wanted him to succeed. Just didn’t turn out that way. It’s OK, he went back to the Bulls and did what he did on the hardwood: win.
No. 2: Every '70s Sox Kid's First Hero
June 22, 1970. What an amazing cover. Tony Conigliaro was a kid made good in Boston, hitting home runs at a pace not seen before by such a young player. One errant pitch derailed his career. One of the sadder moments in all of baseball history. You never want to see talent like that squandered by injury.
No. 1: This Cover IS '70s Baseball
May 28, 1979. Wow … just an amazing picture. Pete Rose at the plate, ready for the pitch. I look at this cover and I cannot think of anything more baseball than that. The dirt on the uniform. The batting stance. Magical
I know I left out tons of other great covers. You could do a top 100 and still not get them all. Got to give a shout-out to Sports Illustrated for allowing me to become a part of the great sport we call baseball.