The Palm Beach Post from West Palm Beach, Florida • Page 21

Palm Beach Post High schools: Softball season preview, 5C Horses: Broken leg Basketball: Gators fall ends Second of June's out of AP Top 25 for Triple Crown hopes, 2C first time since '99, 9C TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2004 PaSmBeachPost.com GTOICfl uiD 0 jSss LiU trad Missing: A guarantee Murderers' Row II A 'concerned' Selig approves the record deal. How the Yankees' projected 2004 lineuD (with 2003 statistics) compares with the 1927 "Murderers' Row" that led the team to a 110-44 record and World Series sweep of Pittsburgh. If George Steinbrenner were a pro golfer, he would swing harder every time he made a double-bogey, and curse louder. If the Boss were a pro bowler, he would buy a heavier ball each time he failed to roll a 300 game. As an Olympic diver, he would climb higher and higher to leap from ever taller platforms whenever his score was a disappointment.

-4 fv More, more, it's always more with King and a minor-leaguer to be named. Even while the Rangers will pick up $67 million (37 percent) of the remaining $179 million that Rodriguez is due through 2010, the trade involves more money than any in history. While it was within Selig's power to revoke the trade if he deemed it against the best interests in baseball as Bowie Kuhn did when Charlie Finley tried to sell off star players of the Oakland A's in 1976 Selig remained sympathetic to the financial burden the contract had become to Rangers owner Tom Hicks. See RODRIGUEZ, 7C By THOMAS STINS0N Palm Beach Post-Cox News Service With a shrug of resignation, Commissioner Bud Selig approved the Alex Rodriguez trade Monday afternoon, sending the reigning American League MVP to the New York Yankees while sending legions of fans to distraction. Enhancing his reputation as baseball's foremost money-thrower, Yankees owner George Steinbrenner assumed the biggest contract in baseball at a hefty discount while driving the Yankees' ever-ascendant payroll to a record $200 million.

In return, the Texas Rangers received free-swinging second baseman Alfonso Soriano George, whose spending madness never ends. Now Alex Rodriguez, baseball's most expensive and best all-around player, is joining Steinbrenner's Yankees in a trade that the New York papers are comparing in importance to the acquisition of Babe Ruth. Dave George '27 Yankees '04 Yankees Pos Player HR RBI Avg Pos Player HR RBI Av. CF E.Combs 6 64 .356 CF Klofton 12 46 .296 SS M.Koenig 3 62 .285 SS DJeter 10 52 .324 RF B.Ruth 60 164 .356 3B A.Rodriguez 47 118 .298 IB LGehrig 47 175 .373 IB J.Giambi 41 107 .250 LF B.Meusel 8 103 .337 RF G.Sheffield 39 132 .330 2B T.Lazzeri 18 102 .309 LF H.Matsui 16 106 .287 3B J.Dugan 2 43 .269 J.Posada 30 101 .281 P.Collins 7 36 .275 DH B.Williams 15 64 .263 2B E.Wilson 3 15 .230 More is good. Better, however, is better.

The Florida Marlins were better than the Yankees in October. It doesn't make much sense comparing rosters now, and even less comparing payrolls. When the World Series was played, the wild-card Marlins were better than the platinum-card Yankees. Period. See GEORGE, 7C Long before the women's sports explosion, Florida Atlantic's softball coach was 'one of the greatest athletes in the history of the United States.

HURRICANES 3, PANTHERS 1 Powerless Panthers plummet again I 4 1 Florida's power-play unit goes 0-for-6 against Carolina. 4 4 1 BOB SHANLarStafl Photographer SUCCESS CARRIES INTO DUGOUT: FAU's Joan Joyce, a member of the National Softball Hall of Fame, is a five-time coach of the year in the Atlantic Sun Conference. IET ERO By BRIAN BIGGANE Palm Beach Post Staff Writer RALEIGH, N.C. A power play that has lately become powerless cost the Panthers a shot at much-needed points Monday night. From early November through late January, Florida's power play was among the best in the league, scoring on more than 20 percent of its opportunities.

But in the past eight games, the unit has gone 3-for-36 (8.3 percent), including an 0-for-6 performance in Monday's 3-1 loss to Carolina at the RBC Center. "We got our chances," said captain Olli Jokinen, whose seven power-play goals lead the team. "We didn't get any shots on net, and we didn't create anything." Coach John Torchetti said before the current six-game road trip he hoped the Panthers could come home with seven points. After an 0-2 start, that's become a tall order. Florida (20-25-11-3) has fallen 10 points behind the eighth-place New York Islanders.

Carolina, which ended a six-game winless streak, converted the first of its eight power-play opportunities when Sean Hill ripped a slap shot inside the left post just 4:33 into the game with Florida defenseman Mathieu Biron screening Roberto Lu-ongo. Pavel Brendlmade it 2-0 with 5:33 left in the first period, slipping behind defense-man Mike Van Ryn and beating Luongo between the pads on a breakaway. Jeff O'Neill, who fed Brendl that pass, became a central character to the outcome when he slammed into Florida winger Byron Ritchie in front of the Florida net early in the third period. Marcus Nilson went after O'Neill but See PANTHERS, 3C QTJ j2 i Joan Joyce lets her myriad accomplishments speak for themselves. 11 Pi II- -SW By JANE MUSGRAVE Palm Beach Post Staff Writer BOCA RATON She struck out Ted Williams and Hank Aaron.

She was supposed to face Carl Yastrzemski but he chickened out. "He said, 'No way. I'm not going to be embarrassed by a Joan Joyce said of a conversation she had later with the Red Sox great. The women's softball coach at Florida Atlantic University throws out the names nonchalantly, much like she fired fastballs, risers, drops and curves at the baseball legends so many years ago. And why not? While Joyce can walk across campus, shop at Publix or leave her name with the maitre d' at an area restaurant without a ripple of recognition, some admir ers who have followed her nearly 50-year career say she's the greatest female athlete possibly the greatest athlete period of all time.

With legends like Babe Didrickson Zaharias dominating so many history books, that's a pretty breathless claim, especially about a relatively anonymous college softball coach. But Joyce wasn't always so anonymous. The 63-year-old Connecticut native holds national records in softball, basketball and golf. She was one of the top volleyball players in the nation. When she picked up a bowling ball one day, she ended up winning the state championship.

When Sports Illustrated recently listed See JOYCE, 4C Photo courtesy of National Softball Hall of Fame NEARLY UNTOUCHABLE: Joyce pitched 150 no-hitters and 33 perfect games, and had a career 0.09 ERA. No sleep, but a Daytona sweep for Little By MIKE HARRIS The Associated Press DAYTONA BEACH All Dale Earnhardt Jr. wanted to do Monday was take it easy and enjoy his Daytona 500 victory. Instead, he slipped on his driving uniform and returned to work, weary from lack of sleep and drained emotionally. It didn't matter.

Junior held off a series of challenges and won the delayed Hershey's Kisses 300 Busch Series race. The race was postponed Saturday by rain after just 31 of 120 laps at Daytona International Asked how much rest he got Sunday night after winning NASCAR's biggest race, Earnhardt grinned and said, "A little, but it's like the guy who goes into a gas station and buys a dollar's worth of gas, just enough to get where he needs to go." Once he climbed into his No. 8 Chance 2 Chevrolet, a car he co-owns with stepmother Teresa Earnhardt, Junior found the energy to take the Daytona Busch race for the third straight year. He added Monday's win to victories in the Daytona 500 Sunday and in one of the twin 125-mile qualifying races Thursday. On top of that, Earnhardt finished second in the Budweiser Shootout, qualified third in time trials for the 500 and nearly added a victory in the Rolex 24 sports car endurance race.

His team finished fourth in that event when a broken suspension part knocked their car out of the lead with 20 minutes remaining. "I guess you'd have to say it's been a heck of a couple of weeks," Earnhardt said. He was out front for Monday's See EARNHARDT, BACK PAGE Earnhardt Jr. Wins the postponed Busch race Daytona's winners and losers, Back Page LUIS ALVAREZThe Associated Press DAYTONA DOMINANCE: Dale Earnhardt Jr. wins the Hershey's Kisses 300, his third victory in five days at Daytona International Speedway.

1 knew I could take the lead any time I DALE EARNHARDT who fell back as far as 10th on Monday.