An easy way to measure an athlete’s influence on his or her sport is to consider what they meant to different groups of fans. Don Baylor, who died of cancer today at age 68, was many things to many people.

This story originally appeared in Philadelphia Magazine (October, 1979). It is reprinted here with the author’s permission.

This feature originally appeared in Inside Sports and appears here with permission.

This story originally appeared in the March 1994 issue of GQ.

This story original appeared in the June, 1990 issue of GQ and appears here with the author’s permission.

Thirty years ago The Untouchables, Brian De Palma’s most commercial movie to that point, was released and helped launch Kevin Costner as an All-American star. This review by Pauline Kael originally appeared in The New Yorker and appears here with permission from the author’s estate.

This story originally appeared in the August, 1980 issue of Inside Sports and appears here with permission.

This piece originally appeared in the December 1981 issue of Inside Sports. It also appeared in The Breaks Of The Game, and it reprinted here with permission.

This feature first appeared in Sport magazine and appears here with the author’s permission.

This piece was originally published in the October 30, 1978 of the New Times. It is reprinted here with the author’s permission.

This piece was originally published in the February, 1990 issue of GQ. It is reprinted here with the author’s permission.

This piece was first published in May 8, 1984 issue of the The Village Voice. It is also included in Shake It Up: Great American Writing on Rock and Pop from Elvis to Jay Z, edited by Jonathan Lethem and Kevin Dettmar.

From the new anthology, Bittersweet Science, edited by Carlo Rotella and Michael Ezra.

This piece originally appeared in the June 1992 issue of Vanity Fair. It is republished here with the author’s permission.

The following is excerpted from Leigh Montville’s new book, Sting Like a Bee: Muhammad Ali vs. The United States of America, 1966-71.

This article was originally published in the December 2011 issue of Playboy and is featured in Oney’s new anthology, A Man’s World. It appears here with the author’s permission. 

This article originally appeared in the premiere issue of Inside Sports (April, 1980) and appears here with permission from the author’s estate.