Weekend Hot Reads....

The SEATTLE TIMES' Jerry Brewer writes superstar athletes were recently "an endangered species in the city." But now, "Seattle teams are well-stocked with superstars again. They're everywhere. You can get whiplash looking around at them."

The BOSTON GLOBE's Peter Abraham writes, "Baseball does not have a LeBron James or Peyton Manning, a player who is the face of the game. Or is that player now David Ortiz?" He has "ascended to the top of his sport with a combination of performance and personality that crosses lines of geography, fandom, age, and race."

Elsewhere:

• As Hollywood Park gets set to close this month, the track preps for its "last hurrah."
• The time is now for the NHL to answer for "the fighting culture it tacitly condones."
• Astros GM Jeff Luhnow "has a background in negotiating few others have."
• Wives of NFL coaches learn to "accept that they're married to football."
• Jaguars GM Dave Caldwell faced a steep learning curve in his first year on the job.
• Examining the sometimes-obscure roots of nicknames in professional sports.
• For athletes and events, '13 was a "year of overcoming the odds on a global scale."
• Late A's Owner Charley Finley's "free-agency idea was chaotic, but captivating."