The Town Talk from Alexandria, Louisiana • 7

1 in iijj) Sp ORTS in. Floyd finally an All-Star; Cameron eighth Mariner Associated Press 'J I Pittsburgh placed eight players on the NL team in 19G0. "Floyd was No. 31 the entire time," Valentine said. "1 need No.

31. He's on the team. I'll go with the guy who was on the edge the entire time and now he's on the team. I hope he's happy. He should be.

It's a great honor." Floyd, who earlier this season called Valentine a "stupid manager," had said he was so certain he was on the team alter talking with Valentine by telephone Tuesday that he purchased $16,000 Jeff Williams in the sixth inning in his first bat after the announcement and scored on a sacrifice fly by Ed Sprague, giving the Mariners a 3-1 lead. "It's unbelievable to get an opportunity to play before my hometown fans," Cameron said. "It's a great feeling to be part of something with the best players in the game." Cameron is hitting .277 with 15 homers and 58 RBIs. Floyd is batting .342 with 21 homers and 70 RBIs. "I pray for nobody to get hurt, but maybe it was meant to be.

I'm definitely going to enjoy it," Floyd said. "All the stuff is behind us. I'm going to have a blast. It's a good ending to a bad beginning." The Safeco Field crowd of 40,850 at Sunday's Futures game gave a loud cheer and ovation when Cameron's addition was announced, and a handwritten banner with his name was added to the printed banners with the names of the other AL All-Stars. In Los Angeles, Cameron tripled off Cliff Floyd and Mike Cameron joined the All-Star party Sunday, adding even more spice to a game with a distinctly Seattle flavor.

Floyd, the Florida Marlins outfielder who has been sniping with NL manager Bobby Valentine, replaced New York Mets pitcher Rick Reed, who has a sore neck and back. Cameron replaced Tampa Bay's Greg Vaughn, giving the host Mariners eight players for Tuesday night's game, the most since Cameron Floyd Alexandria's Taylor happy to be playing BATON ROUGE Did you ever wonder what happened to Will Taylor, the former Alexandria Senior High standout who became a second-round pick of the San Diego Padres? Well, ponder no more. Taylor is alive and well, and playing baseball in Baton Rouge. Granted, it's not the Triple-A level Taylor had reached in the Padres and Seattle Mariners organizations. Nor is it the brand of ball the switch-hitting Taylor faced in the month he spent with the Tokyo Giants before he quit the sport in disgust eight years ago over a $700,000 contract that never materialized.

Still, it's good enough to have reenergized Taylor and to remind him of what he loved about the game while growing up in Alexandria. "The way I left, everybody wondered why I didn't go back," he said. worth of plane tickets for family and friends. The following day, Valentine left him off the original reserves. pzj tn I I fl It 11 Hoch wins Western in thriller Overpowering Williams wins second straight Wimbledon title WIMBLEDON, England (AP) The pose was familiar and demure: Against a backdrop of Wimbledon green, Venus Williams grinned and held the huge championship dish aloft, her left knee bent in an elegant curtsy for the cheering crowd.

The performance was familiar, too. si Dave Moormann The Town Talk "I wanted to stay at home and be with my family, but I missed baseball. I wanted to see if I still have it. I think I've played good." Taylor, 32, has played well enough with the first-year Blue Marlins to have earned a starting outfield spot, pri With the ruthless aggression that characterizes her best efforts, Williams won her second consecutive Wimbledon title Sunday by beating Belgian Justine Henin 6-1, 3, 6-0. Crushing her serves and charging the net at i if i At A Glance LEMONT, HI.

(AP) Scott Hoch walked off the green in triumph, his arms around his wife and two children, a bright smile lighting up the darkening skies at the Western Open. This victory was special, for so many different reasons. "It's got to be one of my best memories in golf," he said. Hoch made a 1 12-foot putt on the 18th Sunday to beat Davis Love III by one stroke. He set a tournament record with a 21-under 267 total, and his 8-under 64 was the low round of the week.

It was the 10th career victory for the 45-year-old Hoch, and his second this year. He earned $648,000, giving him a career-high $2,504,686 for the "CStem OpSH season. Scott Hoch -21 "This is proba- Davis Love III -20 bly the biggest Mike Weir -13 tournament I've BrndlChmblee -13 won," he said. Rory Sabbatini -12 "And to win two Jerry Kelly -12 in a year, espe- Kevin Sutherland -11 daily as old as I DudleyHart -h am, that's some- Stew Flbch -11 thing special. My FraNkUSs family being Tiger Woods -8 here, thats the Hal Sutton -7 most special.

David Toms -5 "I wanted to Phil Mickelson -5 win this for my old teacher, 0R M0Rj; Golf Richard Tiddy. Coverage, 38 He's in ill health and he was in the back of my mind today and I felt he was helping me get through it." The victory moved Hoch from 16th to seventh in the Ryder Cup standings. The top 10 get automatic bids, and Curtis Strange has two captain's picks. Love, who was rock solid all week and led for most of the day, made a costly mistake on the 18th, sending his tee shot so far left it almost hit the corporate tents. "I said, 'Whooo! Door's open now," Hoch said.

Love recovered to reach the green with his third shot, but his 12-foot putt for par lost speed as it reached the hole and slid by on the left side. As the crowd groaned, Love bent his knees and frowned. "I did a lot of good things," said Love, who didn't even plan to play the Western Open until he missed the cut last weekend in the Greater Hartford Open. "1 just didn't play a perfect round like Scott did." Hoch's 267 is the lowest in the 99-year history of the Western Open. The previous overall low was 20-under 268, set bv Sam Snead in 19-49 at Keller in St.

Paul, Minn. Chi Chi Rodriguez also shot a 268 in 1964 on the par-71 Tarn O'Shanter in Niles. The old record at Cog Hill was 19-under 269, done by Nick Price in 1993. ATTENDANCE 29,315. Last year on the 13th day it was 29 806.

The total attendance tor the first 1 3 days is 476,711, an increase of 30,118 over last year and a record for 13 days. Previous record was 457,069 in 1999. STAT OF THE DAY The semifinal between Goran Ivanisevic and Tim Henman took 45 hours 9 minutes to complete. Actual playing time was 3 hours 2 minutes. QUOTE OF THE DAY In my mind, I'm always the best.

I can't see anybody better than me. I think tennis is something I'm really good at. It's a great job" Venus Williams alter beating Justine Henin for the women's every opportunity, Williams overpowered a smaller, less experienced foe and showed she's back at the top of her game after slumping the first half of this year. "I love Wimbledon," she said. "It's going to be a great place for me for years to come." When Williams won her first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon last year, she leaped giddily across the grass.

This time she staged a more restrained celebration, befitting a player who has become accustomed to championships. "I couldn't leap because it was raining a little bit, and I didn't want to fall," she joked to the crowd during the trophy ceremony. A few drops of rain fell as the final game began, Associated Press Venus Williams acknowledges the crowd after bearing Belgian teen Justine Henin in three sets Sunday for her second consecutive championship at Wimbledon. Please see VENUS, B-2 marily in center field. He was hitting .247 through 30 games, but ranked second in the AU-American Association with 13 steals in 18 attempts.

The independent first-year league features six teams. "I wasn't that familiar with him," said Blue Marlins hitting instructor L.J. Dupuy, a long-time area coach and scout, "but after he came out, it was obvious he's got extraordinary talent." Taylor's extended hiatus from baseball has slowed his development, but he's willing to work at it to see how much improvement he can make. He's at least committed enough to drive back and forth from Alexandria each time the Blue Marlins play a home game at refurbished Pete Goldsby Field. Taylor said he made two other attempts to return to baseball but failed in a pair of tryouts with the Alexandria Aces.

Once, he said he even offered to play for free. The Blue Marlins pay their players varying salaries. Taylor said he will resume his career as a cement finisher in the offseason. Taylor isn't the only Blue Marlin who makes the trek from Alexandria. Right-hander Eric Moran, a former Aces pitcher, makes the same journey each time he is scheduled to throw.

Moran picked up his third win in as many decisions when he stifled Tennessee on one hit through seven innings of the Marlins' 9-2 victory Saturday. Taylor tripled from the leadoff position. The Blue Marlins ended a three-game homestand against Tennessee on Sunday. "They call him "The Taylor said of Moran, whose wife had a baby boy last Monday. "One day you see him, and the next day you don't see him any more." Taylor has made presence felt, even if it takes him a little longer to get to the games than most.

His experience has allowed "the younger guys to learn at a slower pace," Dupuy said. Taylor may be the team's oldest player, but there are others with plenty of experience, too. Former LSU reliever Rick Greene, who doubles as the pitching coach, briefly played with the Cincinnati Reds. Former LSU shortstop Jason Williams made it as high as Triple-A. The Marlins recently signed former LSU right fielder Ray Wright.

One-time LSU shortstop Scott Bethea is the Blue Marlins' playercoach. Bethea's brother, who played in the minors with Taylor, told Bethea of Taylor's availability. Although he's playing baseball again, Taylor said he has no illusions about his future. "I'm here to go as far as I can go," he said. "The main reason I'm here is to win.

I love to win." dmoofmannrtietowntalk.com. Ivanisevic beats Henman, Rafter next in finals -J over three days because of rain delays. "This is great, this is destiny, God wants me to win," said Ivanisevic, a three-time finalist. "I don't want to get (second) place for the fourth time. That would kill me." Ivanisevic meets No.

3 seed Pat Rafter today in the final. Henman led the lean lefthander 2-1 in sets and 2-1 in the fourth set Friday and seemed in command and on course for a historic victory when Ivanisevic was saved by rain. Ivanisevic rallied to win the fourth set and led 3-2 Saturday when rain forced another overnight postponement. The loss ended Henman's hopes of being the first British finalist since Henry Austin lost to Don Budge in 1938. "It's disappointing," Henman said.

"I lost my serve only twice in a five-S'J match. 1 have to give Goran credit for the way he played." By Doug Smith USA TODAY LONDON The British Empire sagged Sunday when Croatia's Goran Ivanisevic booted favorite son Tim Henman out of the Wimbledon semifinals. Wildcard Ivanisevic, who has slumped to No. 125 in the world, outlasted No. 6 Tim Henman 7-5, 6-7 (63), 06, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 in a match that lasted Ivanisevic Rafter Head to Head Raftch leads 2-1 1996 Wimbledon, grass-outdoor, R16, Ivanisevic, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 7-6 (7), 6-1.

1998 U.S. Opeh, hard-outdoor, R16, Ratter. 6-3, 6-4, 1999 Rome, clay-outdoor, R64, Ratter. 7-5, 6-0. Earnhardt Jr.

still glowing 1-pJP i- (: less drought and was worth $185,873. Earnhardt Jr. also climbed to ninth in the points standings and became the third member of Dale Earnhardt Inc. to win on the Winston Cup circuit this year, joining Waltrip (Daytona 500) and Steve Park (Dura-Lube 400 at North Carolina). "When I was little, I'd always think it'd be cool if my father would win a race or if I would win this, or it'd be great if the Redskins beat the Cowboys this week.

But things like that never happen," Earnhardt Jr. said. "Me and my cousin, Tony Jr. By Ilillard Grossman FLORIDA TODAY DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. Forty minutes after Dale Earnhardt Jr.

and his crew celebrated Saturday night's storybook triumph in the Pepsi 400, Danny Earnhardt was still cradling his biggest prize in his left arm like a newborn child. "Dale Jr. gave this to me he wanted me to have it," said Danny, the soft-spoken 46-year-old "baby brother" of Dale Earnhardt Sr. and the uncle of "Little The prize was Junior's specially designed racing helmet, airbrushed with red baseball seams, a mitt and the logo to promote Tuesday night's All-Star Game in Seattle. "You know, this is sort of like closure it puts everything in its place," said, Danny, the rjght front tire carrier for Junior's Team Budweiser Chevrolet.

"Dale Jr. told me he had dreamed of a victory here back in February. Oh, he dreamed it all right. It was just the wrong Daytona race, that's all." Earnhardt third career victory .123 seconds ahead of teammate Michael Waltrip came on the track in which his father lost his life in February. It snapped a 39-race win- Associated Press Dale Earnhardt Jr.

celebrates with his crew Saturday night. Please see DALE, B-3 riu 0 ij Oil 1(0 3 0 1(0)1 UlrlM D) It.