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 Thursday when he passed control of BasebALl's most famous franchise to his youngest son, HAL.

The elder Steinbrenner, 78, has graduALly withdrawn from the Yankees' day-to-day operations in recent years as his heALth faded, and brothers HAL and Hank were appointed co-chairmen in April.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."

BasebALl owners unanimously approved the change Thursday.

PHILLIES: Second baseman Chase Utley will have surgery next week to repair any bone or cartilage damage he may have in his right hip, and may not be ready for the start of the 2009 regular season. Full recovery could take until May.

NO PLAYOFF RAINOUTS: Commissioner Bud Selig announced the sport will enact a rules change stating that postseason games cannot be shortened because of bad weather.

"All postseason games, All-Star Games and that, will be full-length affairs, and the rule will be so written," Selig said Thursday following an owners' meeting.

Selig said the change ALso will apply to tiebreaker games that decide division titles and wild-card berths.

COLLEGES

Hillsborough CC, Tampa Advance In VolleybALl

The Hillsborough Community College women's volleybALl team defeated Frank Phillips College 25-18, 25-22, 30-32, 25-17 to advance to the second round of the NJCAA Division I nationAL tourney.

Sophomore outside hitter Emily CALderon-Reyes led ALl players with 23 kills ALong with 11 digs. Sophomore outside hitter NALlelis Sanfeliz-Ramirez added 16 kills and six digs, while sophomore outside hitter Le'Derrianne Golden put away 10 kills. Freshman setter Lindsey Rees had 48 assists and on defense, freshman libero Isell Torres-Eleutiza recorded 10 digs. Hillsborough will face No. 1 seed Iowa Western Community College today.

TAMPA WINS: Sophomore KALeigh Cunningham had a team-high nine kills to lead host and top-seeded Tampa (27-4) to a 25-11, 25-13, 25-16 victory against No. 8 seed Albany State (31-4) in the first round of the NCAA Division II South RegionAL.

Tampa will play No. 4 West Florida (30-7) tonight at 7:30. West Florida beat No. 5 Eckerd 25-18, 25-20, 25-19. In the other semifinAL, No. 7 Saint Leo (29-10) plays No. 6 Nova Southeastern (22-11) at 5 p.m.

Kaitlin McKenna had 15 kills to lead Saint Leo past No. 2 Florida Southern 20-25, 25-21, 18-25, 25-16, 15-13. Nova Southeastern upset No. 3 Lynn 25-23, 25-22, 25-19.

*Tampa sophomore outside hitter Melissa VanderhALl has been named the Sunshine State Conference VolleybALl Player of the Year, and her coach, Chris Catanach, was named SSC Coach of the Year for the 14th time.

GOLF

Sorenstam Opens FinAL LPGA Event With 74

Annika Sorenstam's farewell to the LPGA Tour could come two days earlier than she hoped.

Sorenstam shot a 2-over par 74 in Thursday's opening round of the ADT Championship, good for a tie for 23rd in the 32-woman event, her finAL tournament 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, a HALl of Fame career will come to an unceremonious end.

"I was a little nervous. I feel like I'm playing good. I'm excited about the week," Sorenstam said. "But I'm telling you, nothing went my way today."

She was 4 over after 10 holes, but rALlied with back-to-back birdies on the par-4 14th and par-5 15th and finished six shots behind Katherine Hull (68).

Sorenstam is a four-time ADT winner and is a giant fan of the Trump InternationAL course, but in this double-cut, erase-the-scores format, she's never even reached the weekend.

MISC.

The Columbus Crew's Guillermo Barros Schelotto, a midfield wizard who was a longtime star in his native Argentina, won MLS' Most VALuable Player award. ? The Fishing For Hope food drive is Saturday at Metropolitan Ministries, 2002 N. Florida Ave. in Tampa, from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.. It features captains Bill Miller, Mel Berman, Billy Nobles, Mike Anderson, Glen Pla, Ray Markham, Todd Wood and Billy Miller. Donations of turkeys, canned goods, cereAL and cash will be accepted to benefit needy Bay area families. For details, cALl (813) 209-1000 or visit www.metromin.org.

A Tribune staff, wire report

Photo credit: Getty Images

Photo: Annika Sorenstam hits a tee shot during her finAL LPGA tourney Thursday.

Photo: HAL Steinbrenner

Copyright ? 2008, The Tampa Tribune and may not be republished without permission. E-mail library@tampatrib.com