10A SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY OF MARY KANSAS
WHEN IT RAINS,IT POURS
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2006
Baseball awards predicted for season's end
BY B.J. RAINS
KANSAN COLUMNIST
BJRAINS@KANSAN.COM
St. Louis Cardinals' Albert Pujols hits a double during the first inning of a baseball game against the Milwaukee Breakers Monday, Sept. 18, 2006, in Milwaukee.
With just more than two weeks remaining in the regular season, the debates have begun all over Major League Baseball. Who is the National League MVP? Who is the American League Cy Young? What about Manager of the Year? I am here to clear everything up for you with my predictions for the annual accolades.
Morrv Gash/ASSOCIATED PRESS
NL MVP: Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals. His stats don't lie. He is the best all-around player in baseball. Going into Thursday night's games, Pujols was hitting .328 with 46 home runs and 128 RBI. Yes, Ryan Howard of the Phillies has more home runs and RBI, but Pujols leads all of baseball in slugging percentage at .674 and game-winning RBI with 25. He also has a higher on-base percentage and batting
average than Howard. Pujols has 46 home runs and only 44 strikeouts, an amazing statistic. Add in the fact that Pujols has helped the Cardinals to their third straight division title, and that he might win his first gold glove this year, and I think Pujols is a pretty easy choice.
AL MVP:Derek Jeter, New York Yankees. You either love him or hate him, and most people hate him. With all of the turmoil that has surrounded the Yankees this year, from Alex Rodriguez under-performing to Hideki Matsui and Gary Sheffield missing most of the season with injuries, Jeter has kept the Yankees together. He entered Thursday night's game just .005 behind Joe Mauer in the AL batting race with a .339 average. He is third in the AL in runs with 110, third in hits, fourth in on-base percentage and seventh in stolen bases. He may not have the top-of-the-line stats like Pujols does, but he has been the glue that has held the Yankees together. He is a front runner for his second-straight gold glove and his first MVP.
like they are going to do it again. Carpenter leads the NL with a 2.79 ERA and is one behind the NL lead in wins with 15. He has been the only consistent pitcher on a terrible Cardinals pitching staff, and despite missing three weeks because of a back injury, still ranks seventh in strikeouts and ninth in innings pitched.
NLCyYoung: Chris Carpenter, St. Louis Cardinals, Carpenter and Puiols swept the NL awards for the Cardinals last year, and it looks
AL Cy Young: Johan Santana, Minnesota Twins. Quietly, Santana is putting together one of his best seasons. He leads the major leagues in all three major pitching categories, with 18 wins, a 2.77 ERA and 237 strikeouts. He has dominated the AL this year and helped the Twins get back to the playoffs in the process. After being 15 games out of first place in June, the Twins were only a half of a game out of first place heading into last night's games thanks to Santana's amazing second half.
NL Manager of the Year:
Joe Girardi, Florida Marlins. What he has done with a very young Marlins team this season has been nothing short of a miracle. After the Marlins lost Josh Beckett, A.J. Burnett, Juan Pierre, Carlos Delgado, Mike Lowell and Alex Gonzalez, the Marlins entered Thursday just four games out of the wild card.
AL Manager of the Year: Jim Leyland, Detroit Tigers. Just like Girardi, it has been amazing to watch the Tigers success this season. Leyland came out of retirement to lead a young Tigers bunch to the
best record in baseball for most of the year. The Tigers have slipped of late but will still be a scary team come playoff time.
Rains is a St. Louis junior in journalism.
TENNIS
Kansas to compete in North Carolina This season's squad almost identical to last season's nationally ranked squad
BY ANTONIO MENDOZA
Lauren Hommell, Roswell, Ga., junior, knew that leaving her home and coming to the University of Kansas to play tennis would mean that her family would not be able to see her compete very often. This weekend, however, is different as she and the tennis team will travel to Winston-Salem, N.C., to compete in the Deacon Classic at Wake Forest University.
"My whole family is coming because they live close to Wake Forest," Hommell said. "I just want to do well to make them proud."
Kansas comes into the fall season opener only losing one player from last year's squad, which was ranked No.64 in the nation.
"I am just as excited as the girls are to get started in a new year, and have one new face in the bunch," coach Amy Hall-Holt said. "It's always exciting for a coach to begin
a new season."
Hall-Holt said she was ready to see what the team had to offer.
The new face is Kunigunda Dorn, Sopron, Hungary, freshman. She is expected to have an immediate effect on the team.
"Every new girl that we try to bring in, we have high hopes for them that they will make some type of impact on the team." Hall-Holt said.
Going into the Deacon Classic,
the team will only have had one week of practice under its belt. Hommell said that the team has been practicing well and is still trying to figure out a few things, such as where Dorn will be placed in the lineup.
The Jayhawks will also be returning their No.1 doubles team consisting of sophomore Ksenia Bukina and junior Liza Avdeeva. They were ranked No.30 in the nation as doubles partners last week by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.
The Jayhawks have also replaced former assistant coach Frank Polito, who took a job at the University of Georgia. Coach Hall-Holt has said that the team has hired a new assistant coach but has not announced who it is yet.
Kansan sportswriter Antonio Mendoza can be contacted at amendoza@kansan.com.
—Edited by Brett Bolton
NATIONAL
Student-athletes win lawsuit against school
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Missouri State University and the American Civil Liberties Union on Thursday announced a settlement in a lawsuit filed on behalf of four members of the women's tennis team, whose program was eliminated for the 2006-07 school year.
Maja Stanojevic, Paty Manzur,
Eleonora Kuruc and Monika
Musilova will each be paid $1,000
by the university under the settlement. Each side is responsible for its legal fees.
The university cut the women's tennis program, along with men's indoor and outdoor track, men's cross country and men's tennis last December. The move is expected to save at least $350,000 annually in a budget that receives about $5 million from the university's general fund.
Anthony Rothert, ACLU legal director of eastern Missouri, said the lawsuit sought to emphasize the importance of Title IX, the 1972 law that prohibits sex discrimination in any educational program that receives federal funds. It also sought to ensure the university continued to comply with the law.
The ACLU filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in April, asking for the women's tennis program to be reinstated. It also asked for an injunction that was denied in May.
"Obviously, we are glad this is behind us," said John Black, an attorney representing the university. "President (Michael T.) Nietzel and the Board of Governors agonized over the decision to reduce the number of sports teams. But with the current financial situation, they didn't have much choice."
Most schools meet Title IX requirements by demonstrating that the percentages of male and female athletes are substantially proportionate with the percentages of male and female students enrolled.
- Associated Press
athletics calendar
TODAY
Soccer at Oklahoma State, 7 p.m., Stillwater, Okla.
Tennis. Wake Forest Tournament, all day, Winston-Salem, N.C.
SATURDAY
SATURDAY
Softball vs. Pittsburg
State, noon; Fall Jayhawk
Classic, Arroja Ballpark
Softball vs. Missouri
Western, 2 p.m., Fall
Jayhawk Classic, Arrocha
Ballpark
Player to watch: Adam
Football vs. South Florida, 6 p.m., Memorial Stadium
Barmann
Barmann,
Weston, Mo.
senior. With
freshman
quarterback
Kerry Meier a
game-time decision
Barmann is the anticipate starter. Last season Barmann started two games and finished the season with a completion rate of 16 for 30 and 118 yards.
Volleyball at Colorado. 8 p.m., Boulder, Colo.
SUNDAY
Cross Country, Roy
Griak Invitational, TBA,
Minneapolis.
Tennis, Wake Forest Tournament, all day, Winston-Salem, N.C.
Soccer at Oklahoma, p.m., Norman, Okla.
Softball vs. Butler, 4 p.m., Fall Jayhawk Classic, Arrocha Ballpark
- Softball vs. Pittsburgh State, 2 p.m., Fall Jayhawk Classic, Arrocha Ballpark.
Tennis, Wake Forest Tournament, all day, Winston-Salem, N.C.
The Roy Grlak will be run on the Les Bolstad Golf Course by some of the nation's top teams.
The cross country team departed Thursday for Minneapolis to participate in the Roy Griak Invitational on Saturday.
CROSS COUNTRY Kansas travels to compete in Roy Griak Invitational
Seven of the top 30 teams will participate on the men's side, according to the rankings on the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association's Web site.
Kansas, which is ranked 10th in the poll, will compete at full strength for the first time this season as a unit.
The team will have senior leader and two-time defending Big 12 champion, Benson Chesang, on the course running his first meet of the season. Chesang placed second at the Roy Griak Invitational last year.
Running with Chesang will be Big 12 runner of the week Colby Wissel, who is coming off exceptional races in Lawrence and Manhattan.
The gun for the men's run will go off at approximately 11:20 a.m.The women's race will start at 12:10 p.m.
The women's squad has much to prove In Minneapolis as the team will run together for the first time all season.
LIBERTY HALL CINEMA
-Evan Kafarakis
WHO KILLED THE ELECTRIC CAR
LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
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