The San Francisco Giants star overcame a 119,000-vote deficit in the final days of balloting and finished 123,000 ahead of the Chicago Cubs' Alfonso Soriano on Sunday to claim the third and final starting outfield spot for the National League.

Bonds, heading to his 14th All-Star game and 12th as a starter, was the lone Giants player chosen for the July 10 game in San Francisco, his first trip since 2004. Bonds right now is only five home runs away from Hank Aaron's home run record 755 home runs.

Besides from Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, with 3.89 million votes, led fan voting for the first time. A-Rod was picked for his 11th All-Star appearance, his 10th as a starter.

The 29-year-old Kerr won the U.S. Women's Open on Sunday by making only two bogeys over her final 45 holes, and forcing Lorena Ochoa into another series of major mistakes.

On theback nine of Pine Needles, Kerr broke a tie with an 18-foot birdie putt on the 14th and made the No. 1 player in the world come get her. Ochoa didn't come close, losing hope with another pulled tee shot that cost her a bogey.

Kerr's final stroke of a 23-hole Sunday was a tap-in for par that gave her a 70.

Kerr finished at 5-under 279 and earned $560,000 for her 10th career victory, this one by far the biggest. It ended an 0-for-41 record in the majors dating to her debut in the Women's Open as a 17-year-old in 1995.

After hitting just one home run in their first 13 postseason games, the Tar Heels lit up Rice for four long balls in a 7-4 victory Thursday night.

North Carolina staved off elimination for three straight games, beating Rice twice in two days to win the bracket.

The Tar Heels will play defending champion Oregon State in only the second finals rematch in the CWS' 61-year history. It is the first since Arizona State and Southern California met in 1972 and 1973. The best-of-three series starts Saturday.

Rice won its first two games here in 2006, then went home after getting shut out twice by Oregon State. The Owls scored 29 runs in winning their first two games this year, including a 14-4 win over North Carolina, but they managed only five in the two losses to the Tar Heels.

If the Minnesota Timberwolves are listening to offers for Kevin Garnett, the player is trying to make their job easier.

Kevin Garnett Forget Boston, is the word from the star center.

Garnett made it known to the Wolves and Celtics late Wednesday that he had no interest in playing for Boston. The implication was clear: If Minnesota dealt him to Boston, Garnett would opt out of his contract next summer.

"The Boston trade isn't happening," Miller told Sheridan on Thursday. "If a trade were to happen, that's not a destination that we're interested in pursuing."

Asked where Garnett would prefer to be dealt, Miller replied: "Too early. Ask me in two days."

Garnett has "a good handle on the possibility of being traded," Miller said. "Kevin is an extremely loyal person, and loyalty is not a common factor among pro athletes, but in this situation he understands he has to put his long-term considerations ahead of the Minnesota Timberwolves' long-term considerations."

Kevin McHale, the Timberwolves' vice president of basketball operations, has been pressed of late on Minnesota-Boston discussions over Garnett following Danny Ainge's admission to The Boston Herald that he has talked to McHale about Garnett.

"Who knows what's going to happen?" McHale told reporters Wednesday after the Wolves worked out college stars Jeff Green and Al Horford in preparation for the draft. "But we're not out there actively shopping Kevin Garnett around the NBA. I can tell you that much."

Because Garnett can opt out of his contract after next season, the Timberwolves run the risk of losing him without compensation if they don't trade him before then and he tires of not playing on a competitive team. That has ramped up speculation that he could be on the move, and the possible destinations are popping up all over the place as they always do this time of year.

The Beavers are back in the College World Series' championship round after a 7-1 victory over UC Irvine on Wednesday night that ended the Anteaters' dramatic postseason run.

Oregon State, looking to become the first repeat champion since LSU in 1997, plays the winner of Thursday's Rice-North Carolina game in the best-of-three finals starting Saturday.

The Beavers' route to the championship series was much smoother this year. In 2006, the Beavers lost their CWS opener to Miami 11-1, then staved off elimination for four straight games to reach the finals.

This year they advanced by beating Cal State Fullerton 3-2 and Arizona State 12-6 before meeting a UC Irvine team that had won three of its previous four games in its last at-bat.

Sammy Sosa's 600th homer resembled so many that came before, except this time the Chicago Cubs were on the other side.

Playing for the Texas Rangers after a year out of baseball, Sosa became the fifth member of the 600-homer club Wednesday night when he connected against his former team.

After driving a 1-2 pitch to right-center for a solo shot in the fifth inning of Texas' 7-3 victory, Slammin' Sammy bounced out of the batter's box with his trademark hop and thrust his right fist into the air before reaching first base. He was mobbed at home plate by his teammates while the scoreboard showed pictures of all five members of the elite club: Hank Aaron, Barry Bonds, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays and Sosa.

Sosa played for the Cubs from 1992-2004, winning the '98 NL MVP award and making seven All-Star teams while hitting 545 homers with Chicago.

No. 600 came off Jason Marquis (5-4), the 364th pitcher the 38-year-old Sosa has homered off in his 18 major league seasons.

It was Sosa's 12th homer in 62 games this season since signing a minor league deal and making the roster in spring training with Texas, the franchise that gave him his start. He hit his first big league homer with the Rangers in 1989.

Sosa also has 52 RBIs, which ranks seventh in the American League. He has homered against every major league team in his career.

While Sosa has had an impressive comeback this season, his pursuit of 600 homers was overshadowed by the Rangers (27-44) having the worst record in baseball and Bonds' chase to catch Aaron atop the career home run list.

Bonds has 748 homers -- seven shy of Aaron's mark -- with only three in his last 97 at-bats. Ruth is third on the home run list with 714 and Mays is fourth with 660.

Sosa is the only player with three 60-homer seasons. He hit .308 with a career-high 66 homers and 158 RBIs in his 1998 MVP season for the Cubs -- and was part of that memorable home run chase with McGwire, the first major leaguer to hit 70 homers.

Running back Quincy Wilson was charged with disorderly conduct for failing to disperse after a weekend wedding party, making him the 10th Cincinnati Bengals player arrested in the past 14 months.

The former West Virginia star was with a wedding party celebrating outside a downtown bar around 3 a.m. Sunday when he and 13 others refused a police request to leave.

The running back was booked at a jail and released Sunday afternoon. He is scheduled to appear in Huntington Municipal Court on July 19.

Wilson is the third former West Virginia player in the NFL to get into trouble in recent years.

Atlanta drafted Quincy Wilson in the seventh round in 2004. The Bengals signed him off the Falcons' practice squad later that year, and he spent the next year on Cincinnati's practice squad.

Wilson, who lives in Weirton, was a teammate of receiver Chris Henry, a Bengals player who has been arrested four times.

Another former West Virginia player, Titans cornerback Pacman Jones, has been suspended for the entire 2007 season.

Stephen Jackson pleaded guilty Wednesday to a felony count of criminal recklessness for firing a gun outside a strip club last fall and was ordered to pay a $5,000 fine and perform 100 hours of community service.

Jackson, whom the Indiana Pacers traded to the Golden State Warriors in January, said after the brief court appearance that he would have done the community service anyway.

Jackson was charged in connection with the Oct. 6 fracas outside Indianapolis' Club Rio. He told police he fired shots in the air from his 9mm pistol to try to break up a fight.

The fight started after Willford's cousin got into an argument with a group of people who accompanied Jackson to the club. That group included current Pacers Jamaal Tinsley and Marquis Daniels, who were not charged.

Because he had no prior felony convictions, Jackson was eligible to receive misdemeanor sentencing despite pleading guilty to the felony.

Jackson will serve 10 days of community service.

Almost a year after Northwestern football coach RandyWalker died of a heart attack, Hoeppner lost an 18-month battle with brain tumors. He died Tuesday at 59, his work in Bloomington undone.

Walker and Hoeppner worked together at Miami (Ohio), and their friendship grew even as Hoeppner worked for Walker over their last nine years together. They remained close after Walker departed for Northwestern. He turned over stewardship of his alma mater's football program to Hoeppner, who maintained the RedHawks' success after Walker departed.

Hoeppner went 9-14 in two seasons at Indiana, and rarely does a record mislead as much as that one. The Hoosiers defeated No. 15 Iowa last season, Indiana's first victory over a top-15 team in 19 years, and came within a close final-game loss to Purdue of qualifying for a bowl game. One of the many legacies Hoeppner leaves is the pairing of quarterback Kellen Lewis and wide receiver James Hardy. Together, they are one of the most exciting duos in the game.

Terry Hoeppner's overall coaching record was 57-39; 48-25 at Miami (Ohio) and 9-14 at Indiana.

Alex Rodriguez, the Yankees third baseman has received 1,914,162 votes as of Tuesday to lead both leagues. Mets center fielder Carlos Beltran leads all NL players with 1,343,727 votes.

Rodriguez is also on the verge of becoming the first player in major league history to have over two million votes in All-Star balloting.

Besides Alex Rodriguez's 1,914,162 votes, A-Rod's teammate Derek Jeter, has the second-most All-Star votes with 1,591,453. The Angels' Vladimir Guerrero, who leads all outfielders, has 1,541,241 votes and Boston's David Ortiz is next with 1,423,064 among first basemen.

The closest race in the National League is at first base, where Milwaukee's Prince Fielder leads the Cardinals' Albert Pujols by just over 23,000 votes.

The closest race in the American League is for the last outfield spot. Detroit's Magglio Ordonez trails third-place Ichiro Suzuki by over 78,000 votes.

The All-Stargame will be played July 10 at San Francisco's AT&T Park. The Giants' Barry Bonds, who is seven home runs from tying Hank Aaron's all-time home run record, is currently not among the top vote-getters for NL outfielders and would have to be added as a reserve.