The first issue of Sports Illustrated magazine, with a price of 25 cents, was published on this date in 1954. The cover featured a photo by Mark Kauffman at a game played June 9 between the Milwaukee Braves and the visiting New York Giants before a large crowd at County Stadium.
The photo showed Braves star Eddie Mathews swinging at a pitch with catcher Wes Westrum and umpire Augie Donatelli in the image.
There was no story on Mathews and the Braves in the magazine itself, and longtime editor Walter Bingham said he suspected the photo was chosen because of the good crowd in the background.