Sports

Sherpa guides are 10 times more likely to die than commercial fishermen, the most dangerous, nonmilitary occupation in the U.S. But they're offered little financial protection by companies who charge Western climbers thousands of dollars for a trip up the mountain.

Do big league hitters have naturally faster reflexes? Are African-Americans predisposed to be better athletes? In his new book, Sports Illustrated's David Epstein says science now has answers — or at least insights — to all these questions.

Marathoner and Runner's World contributor Amby Burfoot talks about the vulnerability of running 26.2 miles of public space, the Boston Marathon as a holy grail and the importance of being cheered on. Burfoot won the Boston Marathon in 1968 and has run every five years since. He was there Monday.

Sports columnist Dan Shaughnessy talks with Fresh Air's Terry Gross about Monday's events at the Boston Marathon, the place the marathon holds in the life of the city, its importance in the international world of running, and the history of attacks at sporting events.

In a new memoir, the Major League Baseball catcher opens up about getting drafted in the 62nd round, his feud with Roger Clemens and what it's like to go into retirement. Leaving the game, he says, was "like a small death."

Over the course of his 14-year career as a pitcher, Bob Ojeda threw more than 1,000 strikeouts and countless pitches across the plate. During that entire time, the lefty's pitching arm hurt. "The act itself is sort of violent and completely unnatural," he says. "I think most pitchers certainly feel a level of pain."

Two reporters for The New York Times detail their monthlong investigation of America's racetracks. Since 2009, more than 6.600 horses have broken down or showed signs of injury at U.S. racetracks, a rate much higher than in other countries.

New York Mets pitcher R.A. Dickey is currently the only knuckleball pitcher in the major leagues. His new memoir, Wherever I Wind Up, explains how his life — and career — have mimicked the unpredictable trajectory of the difficult pitch he throws game after game.

For years, former sports agent Josh Luchs provided money and other benefits to college athletes, in clear violation of NCAA and NFL Players Association rules. He comes clean in a new memoir, Illegal Procedure.

A new book follows an American basketball veteran as he coaches a struggling Chinese pro basketball team. Pulitzer Prize winner Jim Yardley has a courtside seat from which to observe China's frantic capitalist expansion and its ambivalent fascination with all things American.