Just 163 to go for Rodriguez

Baseball: Alex Rodriguez became the youngest player to hit 600 home runs and did it with style, driving a pitch into Yankee Stadium’s Monument Park in center field exactly three years to the day after his 500th homer.

A-Rod reached the milestone Wednesday after a 12-game drought with a first-inning homer off Toronto’s Shaun Marcum. Barry Bonds, who holds the major league record with 762, congratulated Rodriguez and told him via his website “you only have 163 to go.”

The top 10 home run leaders:

1. Barry Bonds762

2. Hank Aaron755

3. Babe Ruth714

4. Willie Mays660

5. Ken Griffey Jr.630

6. Sammy Sosa609

7. Alez Rodriguez600

8. Frank Robinson586

9. Mark McGwire583

10. Jim Thome577

Vandersloot makes Wade list

College basketball: Gonzaga senior Courtney Vandersloot has been named to the 2010-11 preseason “Wade Watch” list, one of the NCAA Division I women’s basketball Player of the Year awards.

Joining the two-time West Coast Conference Player of the Year on the 25-player list is Tennessee senior Angie Bjorklund, a University High School graduate.

The award goes to student-athletes who best embody the spirit of Lily Margaret Wade according to the following criteria: game and season statistics, leadership, character, effect on the team and overall playing ability.

Gonzaga opens against Southern

College basketball: Greg LaFleur, father of Gonzaga University men’s basketball redshirt junior Rob Sacre, will more than likely have some mixed emotions when Southern University opens the 2010-11 men’s basketball season at Gonzaga Nov. 12.

LaFleur will not only be wearing the hat of a father, but that of Southern University athletic director when the Jaguars and Bulldogs meet.

It will be the inaugural meeting between the Bulldogs and the Jags, located in Baton Rouge, La.

Other schedule highlights include playing Notre Dame for the first time, meeting Dec. 11 in South Bend, Ind. Xavier will face GU at the McCarthey Athletic Center on Dec. 22. On Jan. 2 the Zags will travel to Winston- Salem, N.C., to face ACC foe Wake Forest.

The WCC schedule is still being finalized.