St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • Page 16

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH 3mar'oizooi rssy 11 Stiles still has company 2001 Jackie Stiles (left) of Southwest Missouri State is poised to take over the NCAA Division I scoring record, but other women scored more when the AIAW ran the sport. D3 SECTION Beraie Mikksz to hot Two-year extension will net slugger another $30 million By Rick Hummel Of the Post-Dispatch JUPITER, Fla. The Cardinals will announce the signing today of slugger and gate magnet Mark McGwire to a contract that will If'" "'id fall well short of the recent deals of $25 million a year for Alex Rodriguez and $20 million a year for Manny Ramirez. McGwire, who will hold a news conference this morning, has agreed to a 7 McGwire don't want to go anywhere else." THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Atlanta's Andruw Jones, here making a diving catch on a Mike Piazza hit, has won three straight Gold Gloves.

two-year extension for an estimated total of $30 million, according to several sources in the organization. McGwire acknowledged late Wednesday afternoon that an agreement had been reached but disclosed no details. The deal might surprise some in baseball circles, inasmuch as McGwire probably could command a great deal more than that The $30 million figure would include substantial deferred payments for McGwire, who deferred considerable money from his current $40 million, four-year contract that extends through this season. In lump sums, the contract would amount to about $14 million in the first season and $16 million in the second. Asked if his contract was considerably less than what market value might be perceived, McGwire smiled and said, "I plead the Fifth." See McGwire, D5 kes his Andraw Jones ta place among baseball's elite Balls hit buildings, jaws hit floor as Pujols comes up swinging JUPITER, Fla.

Employees of the Montreal Expos must have thought they were under attack on Wednesday afternoon. Albert Pujols stepped up to the plate, took a mighty swing and hit a baseball out of Roger Dean Stadium. His deposit soared beyond the left-field wall and struck the building that houses Montreal's spring-training offices. No cause for alarm. It was just a slugging prospect, doing what hot slugging prospects are supposed to do: Come to spring training and cause necks to swivel and jaws to drop by slamming the baseball onto someone else's property.

"That was nothing," Pujols said of his shot, which came in an intrasquad contest. "When they turn the lights on and sell the tickets and start playing the real games, that's when it counts." Pujols power. It's one of the reasons the Cardinals traded third baseman Fernando Tatis to Montreal in December. They are already smoothing out the infield dirt around third so it will be ready for Pujols, probably in 2002. Pujols, who turned 21 last month, has played just one season of minor-league baseball.

But last summer was a stunner. Pujols spent most of the 2000 season in Class A ball before being promoted to Class AAA Memphis late in the season. In 547 plate appearances overall, Pujols hit .314 with 19 homers, 96 RBIs, 41 doubles and only 47 strikeouts. In 11 postseason games with Memphis, he batted .302 and was named the MVP of the Pacific Coast League playoffs. He hit a game-winning homer in the Class A Championship Series.

Pujols was voted the Cardinals' minor-league player of the year. After the regular season, he headed to the Arizona Fall League and hit .327 with four homers and 21 RBIs in 26 games. "It was an unbelievable year," Pujols said. "But it's already in the past. So you need to come through this year and try to do the same thing, only better.

I'm concentrating on this year. What I did last year was a blessing from God. I didn't get hurt, I stayed strong until the end. Now it's up to me to work as hard as I can to take the next step." Pujols' rapid ascent is surprising considering that he stayed on the 1999 draft board until the 13th round. Back then, the 6-foot-3 Pujols a graduate of Fort Osage High in Independence, Mo.

was overweight. But Pujols locked himself into a weight room to build a better body. A Superman emerged. "He became a different guy," said Mike Jorgensen, the Cardinals' farm-system coordinator. "And he took off." Perhaps the most impressive aspect of Pujols' development is his demeanor.

He looks 21. He does not act 21. "He has presence, and a heck of a lot of talent," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. "This is the first time I've seen him, and there's a real personal strength to him that's very impressive. With some young players, there's a tendency to view this as a spring vacation.

They need time to grow up. But Pujols has it figured out. He has a serious, mature approach. He's almost too good to be true." That leads us to the in it, waiting until the last possible second before flipping up the glove at the side of his left hip, like some sort of modern-day gunslinger. But after three straight Gold Gloves, no one is complaining.

This guy is one of the best players in baseball. "I've always played that way," said Jones, who made only two errors last season while getting to more balls (449 chances) than anyone else. "I'm really laid back. I like to enjoy myself." These days, Jones has an offensive repertoire that nearly matches his remarkable ability to catch and throw a The Associated Press KISSIMMEE, Fla. Andruw Jones still chuckles at the thought of those minor-league coaches who used to critique his defense.

"They wanted me to do it right," the outfielder said Wednesday, sitting at his locker before a spring training workout. "But I figured as long as I could catch it, no problem." Even today, Jones can still induce a cringe in the Atlanta Braves dugout with his nonchalant manner of snaring line drives. With the ball screaming toward him, he'll coast along like he doesn't even see dux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz. Last week, Andruw Jones received a record $8.2 million salary in arbitration after his agent, Scott Boras, showed videos of the player running, throwing and hitting. Boras is already predicting that Jones will be in the same class as Alex Rodriguez if he becomes a free agent after the 2002 season.

Rodriguez signed a record $252 million, 10-year contract with the Rangers. "This year is a little different," Jones admitted. "If I don't do good, people will say I'm getting too much money. I've got to produce a lot." After three-plus years of tantalizing potential, Jones finally had the breakout season that had been predicted since he reached the majors as a 19-year-old and hit two homers at Yankee Stadium in his first World Series game. Now a ripe old 23, Jones took his place among the game's elite by putting up career highs in average homers (36), RBIs (104), runs (122), hits (199) and doubles (36).

Teammate Eddie Perez calls Jones "the best player we've got" high praise indeed in a clubhouse that includes former MVP Chipper Jones and Cy Young winners Greg Mad Steady FiTman is a rock for Cleveland at third Louisville women are wrapping up a season to remember The Associated Press LOUISVILLE, Ky. A remarkable basketball story has unfolded at Louisville in the past three months, and it has nothing to do with Denny Crum. The school's women's basketball team last week won its third Conference USA regular-season title in six seasons. And more astonishing than where the Cardinals finished is how far they climbed to get there. The Cardinals, pegged in the preseason for the bottom of the standings by the league's coaches, recovered from an 0-5 start to win 19 of their final 22 games.

Led by Indiana's 2000 Miss Basketball Sara Nord, Louisville won a record-tying 14 of 16 conference games, including 11 straight inJanuary and February. "It's by far the most enjoyable team I've ever had because nothing was expected from us," fourth-year coach Martin Clapp said. "For them to do what they've done, overachieving is an understatement." The roster has no seniors, four juniors and seven underclassmen. Clapp said youth and inexperience explain the season-opening losing streak, which came entirely on the road. See Louisville, D4 In a year when everything that could go wrong seemed to go wrong for Cleveland, Fryman was the one constant.

Rebounding from an injury-plagued 1999 season, Fryman batted a career-high .321 with 22 homers and a career-best 106 RBIs. Defensively he was even better, going 60 games without making an error and winning his first Gold Glove award after making just eight errors in 155 games. "It's funny because as a kid, I had a Dave Concepcion Gold Glove poster hanging in my room," Fryman said. "Now, I've finally won one." Fryman is entering his fourth year with the Indians after coming over to the club with lefthander Tom Martin in a 1997 trade for third baseman Matt Williams. See Fryman, D5 After a career season, he's ready to lead Indians to division title The Associated Press WINTER HAVEN, Fla.

Travis Fryman's first slump-free season also turned out to be the best of his career. "It was strange," the Indians' All-Star third baseman said. "I've been a guy who goes through really hot stretches and then I have some really down times during a season. "So I was sitting around waiting, 'OK, any day now I'm going to have a And it never really came." U. 1 0VVf THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Cleveland third baseman Travis Fryman made it through last season without a slump.

He's hoping to make it through this season with a division title. evitable question: Is Pujols good enough to stick with the Cardinals? He can play third or left field; the Cardinals are potentially vulnerable in those spots. And Pujols bats righthanded; that's another plus. "There's a spot (third base) to be had," La Russa said. "But he can't be just the best.

He Chaminade's Lee is McDonald's All-American NHL suspends Blues' Rumble The NHL has suspended Blues de-fenseman Darren Rumble for two games for kneeing Mark Smith of San Jose on Monday at Sawis Center. The suspension began Wednesday in Edmonton and continues Friday in Vancouver. Rumble will return for Saturday's game in Calgary. Colin Campbell, the league's director of hockey operations, ruled shortly after interviewing Rumble by phone Wednesday morning. The 10-minute and will be televised live on ESPN.

A 6-foot-8 forward who has signed with the University of Florida, Lee averaged 24 points, 10.6 rebounds and 3.3 blocks per game in Chaminade's recently completed season. He is the ninth area player ever selected to the team. McDonald's roster, area nominees. D4 Chaminade High senior David Lee has been selected to play in the 24th annual McDonald's All-American high school basketball game. The game, scheduled for 8 p.m.

(St. Louis time) March 28 at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, N.C., will feature the top 24 high school players nationwide, as selected from more than 1,600 nominees, conference call included Blues general manager Larry Pleau; Rumble's agent, Scott Norton; and Ian Pulver, a lawyer with the NHL Players Association. Pleau and Norton argued that the contact was not knee-to-knee. "Otherwise my knee would be hurting," said Rumble, who was penalized by the referees and ejected for the hit. "(Smith) left the game, but there's no damage.

I've never had a reputation for this. I never will." Tom Wheatley i has to clearly be the best to make it. He's so inexperienced, that no matter what he does in i camp, he'll really benefit from I getting more at-bats in the mi-; nors." And should the city of Mem-' phis need to raze some old buildings, Pujols will be happy knock them down. Lee All-American forward.