2008 Sports In Review

The Philadelphia Phillies celebrate their first World Series championship since 1980. After a two-day rain delay, they beat the Tampa Bay Rays, 4-3, in the title-clinching Game 5 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia in 78 minutes of wild and wacky baseball.  (John G. Mabanglo / EPA)

Lakers forward Lamar Odom has his shot blocked, but Boston Celtics forward Kevin Garnett gets called for a foul in Game 6 of the NBA Finals on June 17. The Celtics looked vulnerable in the first three rounds of the playoffs, but their fierce approach to defense helped them win the title with a 131-92 blowout victory over the Lakers in Game 6.  (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Tiger Woods holds his U.S. Open championship trophy after winning a sudden-death playoff against Rocco Mediate following an 18-hole playoff round at Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego. Woods won his 14th major tournament while playing with an injured left knee that required reconstructive surgery.  (Chris Carlson / Associated Press)

Roger Federer, left, congratulates Rafael Nadal after the young Spaniard’s 6-4, 6-4, 6-7, 6-7, 9-7 victory at Wimbledon on July 6. Nadal’s victory ended a string of five consecutive Wimbledon titles for Federer, who also lost his No. 1 ranking during the season. The Swiss star had held the No. 1 spot on the ATP from Feb. 2, 2004, until Aug. 11, 2008.  (RYAN PIERSE / AFP / Getty Images)

Michael Phelps of the U.S. displays the record eight gold medals he won in swimming events at the Beijing Olympic Games, eclipsing the mark of seven golds won by American swimmer Mark Spitz in the 1972 Summer Games. Phelps now has a record 14 gold medals and a second-best 16 medals overall (gymnast Larissa Latynina of the former Soviet Union won 18 in the 1950s and ‘60s).  (STF / AFP / Getty Images)

Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt wins his second event of the Beijing Games -- the men’s 200-meter final -- in a world-record 19.30 seconds at the Bird’s Nest stadium on Aug. 20. Bolt also won the 100 in record time (9.69 seconds) and ran on his nation’s champion 400-meter relay team, which also set a world record (37.10 seconds).  (CARL DE SOUZA / AFP / Getty Images)

Kobe Bryant kisses his gold medal after the U.S. men’s basketball team defeated Spain, 118-107, at the Beijing Olympics on Aug. 24. Bryant was selected the NBA‘s most valuable player in May.  (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Dodgers left fielder Manny Ramirez is all smiles after a win over the Colorado Rockies at Dodger Stadium on Aug. 21. Ramirez, who is now a free agent, hit .396 with 17 homers and 53 RBIs in 53 games with the Dodgers after a July 31 trade from the Boston Red Sox, helping L.A. win the NL West and beat the Chicago Cubs in the first round of the playoffs.  (Alex Gallardo / Los Angeles Times)

What appeared to be the end of a Hall of Fame career for Green Bay’s Brett Favre during a tearful announcement about his retirement on March 6 was only the beginning of a yearlong saga. The Packers had lost in the NFC championship game in January to the New York Giants. When Favre decided to come out of retirement, Green Bay wasn’t sure it wanted him back, instead turning to Aaron Rodgers to play quarterback. Favre eventually landed in New York and quarterbacked the Jets to the brink of the playoffs going into the final regular-season game.  (Cory Dellenbach / Associated Press)

Danica Patrick became the first woman to win an open-wheel race on the elite level when she captured the Indy Japan 300 at Twin Ring Motegi in Tokyo on April 20. Helio Castroneves points out to Patrick the difference between the runner-up trophy and the champion’s trophy during the podium presentation.   (Katsumi Kasahara / Associated Press)

Anthony Kim, a former junior golf champion from the Southland, celebrates a 16 1/2-11 1/2 victory over Europe in the Ryder Cup on Sept. 21 at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky. Kim was one of six rookies for the underdog American team, which hadn’t won the biennial competition since 1999.  (Harry How / Getty Images)

Yankees closer Mariano Rivera delivers to Baltimore’s Jay Payton during the ninth inning of the final game played at Yankee Stadium on Sept. 21. The Bronx Bombers will move to a new stadium in 2009. Yankee Stadium’s inaugural game was on April 18, 1923, vs. the Boston Red Sox. Babe Ruth christened the new stadium with a three-run home run in a 4-1 victory. New York won its final game as well, 7-3 over the Orioles.  (Julie Jacobson / Associated Press)

Reggie Willits is caught in a rundown by Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek after Erick Aybar‘s failed squeeze attempt in the ninth inning of Game 4 of the American League division series in Fenway Park on Oct. 6. Boston won, 3-2, eliminating the Angels for the third time in five years.  (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Bloodstock agent Frank Lyons hugs Big Brown following the Belmont Stakes on June 7. Big Brown blew away the competition in the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, but finished last at Belmont Park, pulling up down the stretch, the victory going instead to 38-1 longshot Da’ Tara.  (Kathy Willens / Associated Press)

Although it’s nothing new to older fans of UCLA, the Bruins appeared in their third consecutive Final Four this year, where they lost to Derrick Rose and Memphis in the semifinals. Darren Collison and Alfred Aboya, shown pressuring Rose into a turnover, return for another run as the heavy Pacific 10 Conference favorite.   (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Kansas guard Mario Chalmers rises to shoot the three-point shot against Memphis that would send the NCAA championship game into overtime. The Jayhawks would then capture the title with a 75-68 victory. It was Memphis’ freshman guard, Derrick Rose, who had a dominating performance by scoring 14 of his team’s 16 points during one stretch to lift the Tigers to a 60-51 lead with 2:12 left.   (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Former Santa Monica Crossroads High and UCLA star Baron Davis returned to his hometown when the Clippers signed him as a free agent this summer. Davis was part of a nearly complete overhaul of the organization, which shed Hall of Famer Elgin Baylor as general manager and brought in 10 new players, including Marcus Camby, Ricky Davis, Zach Randolph and rookie Eric Gordon, through free-agent signings, trades and the draft.   (Spencer Weiner / Los Angeles Times)

Candace Parker made a big splash, both as a personality in L.A. and a player in the WNBA, this year. She won a gold medal with legendary teammate Lisa Leslie at the Beijing Games and then finished off the WNBA season by receiving the MVP award. How did the year close? The Associated Press selected her the female athlete of the year.   (Eric Gay / Associated Press)

Serena, left, and Venus Williams won their second gold medal in doubles with their victory in the Beijing Games. The sisters now have a combined 15 victories in Grand Slam events after Serena captured her third U.S. Open title with a 6-4, 7-5 victory over Jelena Jankovic in September. Venus had added to the major total in July by winning her fifth Wimbledon crown with a 7-5, 6-4 victory over Serena.   (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor begin to celebrate their 21-18, 21-18 victory over China’s Tian Jia and Wang Jie on Aug. 20 in Beijing as they repeated as Olympic champions. The victory was the 108th in a row in professional and Olympic competition for the American duo. The streak would end at 112 matches, but the pair would eventually capture another AVP season championship.  (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Henry Cejudo celebrates his gold medal in men’s freestyle 55-kilogram wrestling after beating Japan’s Tomohiro Matsunaga at the Olympic Games. Cejudo is the son of illegal immigrants who spent part of his childhood in Los Angeles. Cejudo, who had to come from behind to win the U.S. Olympic trials, trailed in all three of his preliminary matches in Beijing but he never trailed in the final. Cejudo’s parents divorced when he was 4 and he saw his father, Jorge, only one more time before he died in Mexico City. But his mother, Nelly Rico, raised a family of six children on her own, bouncing from low-paying jobs in California to New Mexico and Arizona.  (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Driver Jimmie Johnson and his wife, Chandra, remind everyone how many NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championships that he’s won in a row after the season’s final race on Nov. 16 at homestead, Fla. Only Cale Yarborough (1976-78) had won three consecutive titles in NASCAR’s top division.  (Terry Renna / Associated Press)

U.S. men’s volleyball Coach Hugh McCutcheon guided the Americans past Brazil for the gold medal just two weeks after tragedy struck his family. McCutcheon’s father- and mother-in-law, Todd and Barbara Bachman, were visiting a tourist site in Beijing and were attacked and stabbed by a man who then committed suicide. Todd Bachman died and Barbara was seriously hurt, as was their Chinese guide. Their daughter, Hugh’s wife, Elisabeth, was with them. McCutcheon took a few days to be with his family before returning to the team.  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

China won the women’s gymnastics team title over the United States at the Beijing Games this summer. China’s (from left) Deng Linlin, Jiang Yuyuan, He Kexin, Li Shanshan, Yang Yilin, and Cheng Fei show off their medals during the awards ceremony. Although there were indications that at least three of the gymnasts were too young to compete in the Olympics, the international gymnastics federation (FIG) and the International Olympic Committee concluded that they were all eligible.   (How Hwee Young / EPA)

Driver Lewis Hamilton celebrates after his fifth-place finish in the Brazilian Grand Prix earned him the Formula One series championship. Hamilton, who became the first black driver to compete in the elite open-wheel series, is the youngest Formula One champion in history at 23. He was series runner-up in his rookie season of 2007.  (Ricardo Mazalan / Associated Press)