Rodriguez restates desire to stay in NY

April 25, 2007

BASEBALL
Alex Rodriguez's torrid start has reaffirmed his intentions for after this season: He wants to stay in pinstripes. Rodriguez, whose 14 homers are tied for the most ever in April, said yesterday he has no plans to leave the New York Yankees after the season, when the third baseman can opt out of his contract. "I want to stay in New York, no matter what," Rodriguez said. "I love New York. It's the greatest place for me to play." Rodriguez is entering the seventh season of his $252 million, 10-year contract, a deal he signed with the Texas Rangers. He can terminate the agreement after the season, forfeit the $81 million owed in the final three years, and become a free agent.

The Tampa Bay Devil Rays placed third baseman Akinori Iwamura on the 15-day disabled list with a right oblique strain that will sideline him 4-6 weeks. Iwamura was hurt in Monday's 10-8 win over the New York Yankees. He is hitting .339 with one homer and five RBIs in 18 games . . . Mark Prior underwent exploratory arthroscopic surgery on his injured right shoulder, and it was unclear how long the Chicago Cubs pitcher would be sidelined . . . St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Chris Carpenter played catch for the first time in two weeks, testing an elbow injury that has sidelined him since the season opener . . . Induced labor for his wife was delayed so he could pitch Monday, and yesterday Marlins righthander Dontrelle Willis became a father. His wife, Natalee, delivered a 6-pound-6-ounce girl, Adrianna Rose.

BASKETBALL

The Seattle SuperSonics began overhauling their basketball operations, firing coach Bob Hill and removing Rick Sund as general manager following one of the worst seasons in franchise history. Seattle went 31-51 in Hill's only full season as coach. Hill's contract was set to expire in June. The Sonics said Sund will remain with the team as a consultant during the final year of his contract . . . Sam Mitchell was honored as NBA coach of the year after leading the Toronto Raptors to a franchise-record-tying 47 victories and their first Atlantic Division title. Mitchell won the Red Auerbach Trophy in a decisive vote over Utah's Jerry Sloan. He picked up 49 first-place votes and a total of 394 points in balloting by 128 writers and broadcasters. Sloan had 301 points, followed by Dallas's Avery Johnson with 268 . . . LeBron James didn't practice yesterday because of a sprained ankle but said he'll be ready tonight when the Cleveland Cavaliers face Washington in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference playoff series . . . Charlotte Bobcats forward Walter Herrmann won't compete in Olympic qualifying for Argentina for fear of suffering an injury.

Rutgers women's coach C. Vivian Stringer agreed to a multiyear contract extension late last night that will pay her the same base salary as football coach Greg Schiano ($450,000) and with incentives could be worth more than $900,000, a person familiar with the deal told the Associated Press. Stringer, who had a year left on her original contract, led the Scarlet Knights to the NCAA Tournament final, where they lost to Tennessee. Rutgers then became the unwitting center of a national furor when New York talk radio host Don Imus used a racial and gender slur to describe the Scarlet Knights, creating a firestorm that led to his dismissal . . . Tennessee guard Chris Lofton, the Southeastern Conference player of the year, will stay for his senior season. Lofton said he wasn't projected high enough in the upcoming NBA draft to warrant leaving . . . Division 1 scoring leader Reggie Williams plans to skip his senior season at VMI and enter the NBA draft. Williams, a 6-foot-5-inch forward who averaged 28.1 points per game, said he will not hire an agent, so he could return to school . . . All-Atlantic Coast Conference guard Sean Singletary of Virginia said he will declare for the NBA draft but is not planning to hire an agent . . . Georgia Tech forward Thaddeus Young entered his name in the NBA draft but didn't hire an agent . . . Mississippi State guard Reginald Delk will transfer to Louisville, Cardinals coach Rick Pitino said.

MISCELLANY

Undefeated BMW Oracle Racing extended its lead in the Louis Vuitton Cup by beating Italian syndicate Luna Rossa in the fifth flight of racing to determine the America's Cup challenger to Alinghi. The Americans, who also beat Victory Challenge of Sweden in the fourth flight, moved clear atop the round-robin standings with 10 points . . . Tour de France champion Floyd Landis renewed his attack on the credibility of the French lab that conducted follow-up tests on his backup urine samples and reportedly found traces of synthetic testosterone. "If it's going to be objective, the least you could do is send it to a lab that doesn't have motivation to confirm their work in the first place," Landis said yesterday on CBS's "Early Show." On Monday, the French newspaper L'Equipe reported Landis's B samples had traces of synthetic testosterone . . . Hat tricks by Kristin Darrell, Kristyn Gramzow, and Liza Gross sparked Stonehill to its 67th straight Northeast-10 Conference women's lacrosse win, a 19-0 rout of AIC . . . Nate Jaqua scored in the first half as the Los Angeles Galaxy ousted the host Columbus Crew from the US Open Cup, 1-0 . . . Hannu Toivonen made 23 saves as the Providence Bruins downed the Hartford Wolf Pack, 5-1, and evened their best-of-seven AHL divisional semifinal, 2-2 . . . Wimbledon will be the richest Grand Slam event ever, with the men's and women's champions earning $1.4 million. Total prize money will be $22,572,011 . . . Defending Wimbledon champion Amelie Mauresmo has agreed to play in the Pilot Pen at New Haven Aug. 17-25.