Federal judges are rarely famous or widely celebrated. Yet during a brief period in 1995, Judge Sonia Sotomayor became revered, at least in those cities with major league baseball teams. She ended a long baseball strike that year, briskly ruling against the owners in favor of the players. The owners were trying to subvert the labor system, she said, and the strike had "placed the entire concept of collective bargaining on trial." More on Sonia Sotomayor