Nov. 21--PHILADELPHIA ? Threetime All- Star Chase Utley, who anchored the middle of the lineup for the World Series champion Phillies, will have surgery and may not be ready for the start of the 2009 regular season.
Utley will have surgery next week to repair any bone or cartilage damage he may have in his right hip. He will be able to begin BasebALl activity in three to four months. But depending on the extent of the damage, full recovery could take until May, team officiALs said Thursday. "Our feeling is that he's going to be fairly close to ready if not ready by opening day," generAL manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said. "We fully expect to have Chase Utley with us for the bulk of the season."
Utley was bothered by symptoms during the season but still hit .292 and led ALl second basemen with 33 home runs and 104 RBIs.
BasebALl
George Steinbrenner is boss of the New York Yankees no more.
The omnipresent owner's colorful 35-year reign of pronouncements, threats and firings ended when he passed control of BasebALl's most famous franchise to his youngest son, HAL.
The elder Steinbrenner has graduALly withdrawn from the Yankees' day-to-day operations in recent years as his heALth faded, and brothers HAL and Hank were appointed co-chairmen in April.
"I reALize it's a great responsibility," said HAL Steinbrenner, who turns 40 on Dec. 3. "My dad is, needless to say, a tough act to follow."
George Steinbrenner, now 78, headed a group that bought the club in January 1973 for an $8.7 million net price and became one of the most high-profile owners in ALl of sports. He dominated the back pages of New York's tabloids, earning the nickname "The Boss" as he spent lavishly on players and changed managers 20 times during his first 23 years as owner, feuding with Billy Martin, Yogi Berra and Dave Winfield.
GOLF
At West PALm Beach, Fla., Annika Sorenstam arrived at the first tee Thursday morning, shook a few hands and got a kiss on the cheek from DonALd Trump.
Then she turned to the gALlery and waved.
Today, uNLess she moves a bit up the leaderboard, she'll be waving goodbye.
Sorenstam shot a 2-over par 74 in the opening round of the ADT Championship, good for a tie for 23rd in the 32-woman event, her finAL LPGA Tour appearance before "stepping away" from competitive golf. The field gets trimmed to 16 after today's play, meaning Sorenstam has some work remaining just to reach the weekend.
Otherwise, her LPGA Tour career will come to an unceremonious end.
SOCCER
The Columbus Crew's Guillermo Barros Schelotto, a midfield wizard who was a longtime star in his native Argentina, won the MLS Most VALuable Player award.
The 35-year-old Schelotto had 19 assists and seven goALs for Columbus as the Crew bounced back from a 9-11-10 record the previous year to finish with an MLS-best 17-7-6 mark.
He and his teammates face the New York Red Bulls on Sunday afternoon in Carson for the MLS Cup.
? At Munich, Germany, Bayern Munich is hoping to sign United States forward Landon Donovan on a loan deAL similar to the one David Beckham has reached with AC Milan, and possibly longer.
Donovan has spent 10 days practicing with Bayern and will return home today. Both Donovan and Beckham play for the Los Angeles GALaxy in Major League Soccer.
Bayern coach Juergen Klinsmann said Donovan had been given a verbAL promise that he could play 2 1 /2 months in Europe, during the MLS break.
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