In two years as TIME'S sportswriter, Philip Taubman has spoof-sparred with Muhammad Ali, volleyed verbally with Jimmy Connors and tried to keep pace with Walt Frazier. But nothing in his experience prepared him for reporting this week's cover story on Oakland A's Owner Charlie O. Finley, the P.T. Barnum of baseball. "I am 30 years younger than Finley," Taubman says, "but I could barely keep up with him. He really wore me out." Taubman followed Finley from his Chicago digs through the All-Star game in Milwaukee and on to Kansas City last week to observe the A's pennant rush. Throughout, Taubman got a unique view of Finley's long-distance powwows with A's Manager Alvin Dark, and of his frenetic night life and hustling business deals. Phil was even asked to participate by escorting a bevy of Playboy Bunnies, who were distributing to All-Star game reporters Finley's latest discovery--orange baseballs. After jetting back to New York to catch up on much-needed sleep, Taubman looked back on Finley as "the most exhausting and entertaining character I've run into. As his friends say, he really knows how to raise a little hell."

Finley's availability contrasts with the elusiveness of "Sore Throat," the man who claims to be a former high-ranking employee of the American Medical Association, and whose revelations have triggered congressional inquiries into the A.M.A. This week Washington Correspondent Marguerite Michaels received Sore Throat's latest leak (see MEDICINE). The only problem was that the leak came in a series of brief takes, as Sore Throat telephoned Michaels from phone booths. "He refused to leave numbers where I could reach him, and he wasn't very good at calling at set times," she reports. After missing an unreturnable phone call one evening, Michaels remained pinned to her desk for three long days to receive his further calls before she could begin independently verifying Sore Throat's story.

Associate Editor Mayo Mohs brought similar journalistic dedication to this week's story on the beer industry (see ECONOMY & BUSINESS). A beer connoisseur since college days, Mohs has savored on his travels such exotic brews as Red China's official Tsingtao and a Thai beer called Singhe, which is reputedly one of the world's most potent. Mohs' selfless research continued during a recent weekend trip to the White Mountains of New Hampshire. There he sampled several Northeastern small-brewery beers, savoring each bouquet as if it were a Chateau Mouton-Rothschild. Unfortunately, as his story relates, many of these regional beers could soon disappear. "And that," Mohs warns, "gives one a certain sense of urgency about drinking them while we can."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.