--- title: David Letterman's Last Show: Top 10 Sports Moments description: Highlights include Larry and Magic, training with the Yankees and Buddy Biancalana. canonical: https://time.com/3891105/david-letterman-late-show-sports-moments/ author: Sean Gregory article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-05-20T22:07:07.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T07:29:52.367Z article:section: Sports og:title: David Letterman's Top 10 Sports Moments og:description: Highlights include Larry and Magic, training with the Yankees and Buddy Biancalana og:url: https://time.com/3891105/david-letterman-late-show-sports-moments/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf3c96e8d3951f7af/6988510d8e06014be54609aa/david-letterman2.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Dave reads the "Top Ten List" on the Late Show with David Letterman og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: David Letterman's Top 10 Sports Moments twitter:description: Highlights include Larry and Magic, training with the Yankees and Buddy Biancalana twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf3c96e8d3951f7af/6988510d8e06014be54609aa/david-letterman2.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # David Letterman's Top 10 Sports Moments  by [Sean Gregory](https://time.com/author/sean-gregory/)  ## Sean Gregory Senior Correspondent May 20, 2015 10:07 PM UTC  Dave reads the "Top Ten List" on the Late Show with David Letterman, on April 24, 2015. Dave reads the "Top Ten List" on the Late Show with David Letterman, on April 24, 2015.Jeffrey R. Staab—CBS/Getty Images  by [Sean Gregory](https://time.com/author/sean-gregory/)  ## Sean Gregory Senior Correspondent May 20, 2015 10:07 PM UTC Luckily for sports fans, David Letterman has long loved the games—he even co-owns an IndyCar racing team. In his 33 years on TV, he’s interviewed countless big-name athletes, and done many goofy bits involving sports. As he signs off on Wednesday night, here’s a top 10 list for Letterman and sports: **10\. Little Buddy** As Pete Rose chased Ty Cobb’s all-time hit record in 1985, Letterman poked a little fun at diminutive Kansas City Royals shortstop Buddy Biancalana, who finished his career a .205 hitter. But Biancalana was stellar (for him) in the 1985 World Series, hitting .278 over seven games, and after KC won it all, Biancalana appeared on _Late Night_ for some self-deprecating fun. **9\. The Nash Report** Letterman knew when to enlist others for comedy help—look no further than [Rupert Jee](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9%5FUeDOZfNI). Here, Steve Nash covers the 2009 NBA Finals, between the Los Angeles Lakers and Orlando Magic, for the _Late Show_, and asks analyst Jeff Van Gundy a pretty, er, direct question about his brother, Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy. **8\. Albert Achievement Awards** For those of us who grew up without cable or ESPN—some of us really did—Marv Albert’s Letterman appearances were the only place to see sports bloopers. Earlier this year, Marv picked out his all-time favorite follies. Yes! **7\. Revenge Pitch** In 1985, Letterman called Atlanta Braves relief pitcher Terry Forster a “fat tub of goo.” Later in the year, Forster paid Letterman a visit, sporting what could only be a 1981 World Series ring, thank you very much (Forster pitched for the champion Los Angeles Dodgers that season). Forster entered the studio chomping on a “David Letterman” sandwich. “It had a lot of tongue on it,” he said. **6\. Loosening Larry and Magic** Later in Letterman’s career, he became a master conversationalist, more willing and able to put subjects at ease. He puts his skills on display in this interview with Magic Johnson and Larry Bird a few years back, probing the dynamics of their relationship. Magic, more outgoing, was inclined to be friendly with his rival; Bird, an introvert, wanted none of it. “He’s got that big smile,” Bird said of Magic. “My goal is to take three of them teeth home with me.” **5\. Oh, So That’s How You Do It!** In 1987, Minnesota Twins knuckleballer Joe Niekro was suspended for 10 days after an emery board [flew](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXLmh1dG5fY) out of his pocket while the umps searched him for suspicious items. So naturally, Niekro went on Letterman to show how to scuff a baseball—while coyly denying he did it that night. **4\. Cubs Win!** Will Ferrell broke out his Harry Caray imitation in a recent appearance: the legendary Cubs broadcaster asked “what are we going to do about this wall in Berlin?” and shouted the names of players who haven’t been on the Cubs in years. “And the 2-0 pitch is in there to Dunston, strike on the corner!” **3\. Spring Training** Dave heads up to Yankee Stadium in 1992 to workout with Yanks manager Buck Showalter and coach Frank Howard. They discuss the fine art of spitting. **2\. Olympic Mom** During the 1994 Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, dispatches from Dorothy Mengering—Letterman’s mom—became appointment TV. Her gentle midwestern demeanor, insistence on calling Letterman “David,” and dry, one-sentence answers to her son’s nagging questions made Mengering an ideal foil. “Tonya! Tonya!” Mengering shouted, barely audible, while Tonya Harding stood a few feet away. She also scored a sit-down interview with Nancy Kerrigan. “Would you like cocoa?” she asked. **1\. Baseball Biff** Speaking of comic foils, for my money nobody beats Letterman stagehand Biff Henderson, especially when he interacted with athletes. Somehow, Letterman convinced the staid, secretive New York Yankees to let their home ballpark become a _Late Night_/_Late Show_ playground. And Biff took advantage: a few hours before a 1998 World Series game—a World Series game!—he was on hand to ask silly questions and lead “Yanni” chants. For viewers, his laryngitis was well worth it. \[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geEQjDV\_8E0\] _Read next:_ [_Everything You Need to Know About David Letterman’s Last Show_](http://time.com/3890918/letterman-final-show/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3891105/david-letterman-late-show-sports-moments/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3891105/david-letterman-late-show-sports-moments/"},"headline":"David Letterman's Top 10 Sports Moments","datePublished":"2015-05-20T22:07:07.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T07:29:52.367Z","description":"Highlights include Larry and Magic, training with the Yankees and Buddy Biancalana","url":"https://time.com/3891105/david-letterman-late-show-sports-moments/","keywords":["Television","Late Night","David Letterman","New York Yankees","CBS","late show","magic johnson"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf3c96e8d3951f7af/6988510d8e06014be54609aa/david-letterman2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sean Gregory","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/sean-gregory/"}],"articleSection":"Sports","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf3c96e8d3951f7af/6988510d8e06014be54609aa/david-letterman2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Dave reads the \"Top Ten List\" on the Late Show with David Letterman","caption":"Dave reads the \"Top Ten List\" on the Late Show with David Letterman","creditText":"Jeffrey R. Staab—CBS/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/sports/","name":"Sports"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3891105/david-letterman-late-show-sports-moments/","name":"David Letterman's Top 10 Sports Moments"}}]}] ```