The Brooklyn Dodgers’ Clem Labine, pitching during spring training in 1957, was the first Rhode Islander to be on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

Last weekend I wrote that Rocco Baldelli was on the cover of Sports Illustrated, complete with the question, “Is he the first Rhode Islander to be on the cover of SI? You tell me.”

Because I didn’t really remember.

And, truth be told, it was getting a little late in the day, my crack research team had all checked out, and the last thing on my mind was spending a Friday night burrowing deep into SI’s archives, even if I even knew how to get access to them, being about as computer literate as a hamster.

So, in a sense, it was a little bit of a throwaway line on my way out the door.

You tell me.

And you did.

A lot of you.

Once upon a time, there were few things bigger in sports than to be on the cover of Sports Illustrated, back when SI was the undisputed king of sports media. And to be on its cover was like being anointed, as though you had climbed to the top of the sports mountain, at least for that week.

And the first Rhode Islander to be on the cover?

That was Clem Labine, the Woonsocket kid who became a relief pitcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers. He was on the cover on June 3, 1957, three years after the magazine had began publishing. He was brought to my attention by both e-mailers Carl DiRobbio and Chris Petit. DiRobbio said he had been friendly with Labine, to the point that Labine once gave him a baseball signed by several of the Dodgers, including Don Drysdale, Roy Campanella and Duke Snider.

Labine, who died in March 2007, was featured all by himself on the cover, the only Rhode Islander to be so honored.

It would be 13 years before another Rhode Island native made the cover.

And even that came with a certain asterisk.

So why was Nap Lajoie, also of Woonsocket, on the cover in May 1970, even though he had played in the early years of the 20th century?

Because of an issue recognizing men in the 3,000-hit club.

The next Rhode Islander was Marvin Barnes, who sneaked on the cover before the Final Four in March 1973. The cover essentially was of UCLA’s Bill Walton, with small photos of the other three big men left in the tournament, Barnes being there with Steve Downing of Indiana and Larry Kenon of Memphis State.

Several people checked in to mention Barnes, including Fred Reardon, Joe Calo and Sam Capuano, who says he lives in Ballston Spa, N.Y., and has that Sports Illustrated cover hanging on his wall.

Others thought Marvin and Ernie DiGregorio shared a cover that year, but if they did it escaped the archives, known as the Sports Illustrated Vault. Another common miss was Tommy Garrick, who several people thought appeared on a cover in March 1988, when URI made a great run through the NCAA Tournament. Maybe he was, but he didn’t make SI’s archives, either.

One who did, though, was Davey Lopes, the Providence kid who went on to play second base for the Los Angeles Dodgers, appearing in four World Series. He was in an action cover on Nov. 2, 1981, remembered by several people who wrote in, including a guy named Andrew, who always spells out his name in capital letters and has been blowing me up in e-mails for years.

Which might be a tribute to the old adage that even a blind squirrel finds an acorn once in a while.

But, hey, he was right this time.

The other Rhode Island baseball player whose face was on SI’s cover was Billy Almon, who was there in April 1981, one of many head shots for a story called “What They Made.”

But the SI cover winner?

The Rhode Island champion?

That goes to Mark van Eeghen, the Cranston kid who went on to play fullback for the Oakland Raiders in their heyday, before ending his career with the Patriots. He was on the cover twice — on Jan. 2, 1978, and on Jan. 19, 1981 — appearing in two action shots from NFL playoff games.

And people remember. Trust me.

Judging from my little unofficial survey here, more people remember van Eeghen being on the cover than any other Rhode Islander, for there was a slew of them who e-mailed me about him.

Or you can have played a long time ago, but we remember our own around here.

We even remember the ones who were ours for only a short while, as the White Sox’ Paul Konerko, who was born here but left early, was on the Oct. 3, 2005, cover. That, too, was brought to my attention.

Then there was someone who thought former Mount St. Charles hockey star Mathieu Schneider made a cover once upon a time, and Shawn Dufault e-mailed in to say his father, who was a jockey for 20 years at Narragansett and Lincoln race tracks, had once been on an SI cover. But my crack research team said it couldn’t find verification of those two. Either that, or the research team checked out early again.

And the undisputed star of my new research department?

Bob Cyr, who had all of the Rhode Island covers except Billy Almon, the only one who did, and ended his e-mail by saying, “Surprisingly, Bruce Sundlun hunting raccoons never made the cover.”

No, he didn’t.

I would have remembered that one.

R.I. cover guys

-Clem Labine, June 3, 1957

-Nap Lajoie, May 25, 1970

-Marvin Barnes, March 26, 1973

-Mark van Eeghen, Jan. 2, 1978

-Mark van Eeghen, Jan. 19, 1981

-Billy Almon, April 20, 1981

-Davey Lopes, Nov. 2, 1981

-Paul Konerko, Oct. 3, 2005

-Rocco Baldelli, Nov. 3, 2008

breynold@projo.com