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2B – Daily News – Tuesday, November 16, 2010 Warriors’ owners expect to join NBA elite Golden State Warriors SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Joe Lacob looked up at the soaring Bay Bridge above his head, soaking in both the man-made marvel and the flawless weather greeting his first workday in the job he has coveted since he was 5 years old. ‘‘Dawning of a new day,’’ Lacob said. The Golden State Warriors’ belea- guered fans sure hope so. Golden State’s ambitious new own- ers formally introduced themselves to the Bay Area on Monday. Lacob and Peter Guber promptly declared their intention to raise this long-struggling club to a place among the nation’s elite sports franchises. It’s a bold stance, yet Lacob and Guber believe their extensive success in business and entertainment can change the fortunes of a franchise that made the playoffs just once in the past 16 seasons under Chris Cohan. Lacob claims he has dreamed of owning — not playing for — a team since his early childhood, so he’ll be right in the middle of realizing those plans. ‘‘It’s a great personal achievement to get your hands on a franchise like this and do something positive with it,’’ said Lacob, a venture capitalist from Menlo Park. ‘‘I’m clearly going to be very involved. This isn’t the kind of ownership that’s going to come in once a month and not be involved.’’ The group headed by Lacob and Guber formally took control of the franchise last Friday when the league’s board of governors approved their $450 million purchase, a record for an POSEY (Continued from page 1B) honor. ‘‘I hope it’s not a fluke. I hope I have a better season next year,’’ the 22-year-old Dominican reliever said through a translator on a conference call. Promoted from Triple-A on May 29, Posey quickly adjusted to the big leagues — both at the plate and behind it. The 23-year-old Posey hit .305 with 18 home runs and 67 RBIs. He homered eight times after Sept. 1 in leading the Giants to the NL West title, and his homer on the final day of the regular season helped them clinch the division. Posey was picked first on 20 of 32 ballots in voting by members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. Voting was done by two members of the BBWAA in every league city after the regular season, with each person listing three players. Posey was left off the bal- lot by Yasushi Kikuchi of ODDS Glantz-Culver Line For Nov.16 NCAAFootball Today at Temple at Toledo 7.5 Wednesday 10 at Washington 2.5 Air Force Thursday 19 NFL Thursday at Miami 1.5 (39.5) Chicago NCAABasketball Today at S. Illinois at Baylor at Georgia Pk 17 at Kansas St. 7.5 at Florida Buffalo Pk at Rhode Island 19.5 at Syracuse 17.5 at Dayton at Penn St. at Duke at TCU 8.5 12.5 24 6 at Louisville Texas Tech at Bradley at Iowa 1.5 2 13.5 10.5 at Michigan St. 14 at California 17.5 at Washington St. 14 at New Mexico 4 at Gonzaga at Hawaii at Washington 28 at DePaul at N.Colorado 9 9 5.5 3 Northeastern La Salle Virginia Tech Ohio St. 1 at Youngstown St. 3 Colorado Brown Detroit Akron Saint Joseph’s Miami(Ohio) SMU Butler at North Texas N.Illinois La.-Monroe South Carolina CSNorthridge Idaho Arizona St. San Diego St. Cent.Michigan E.Washington 4.5 W.Carolina Wyoming Stony Brook 6 at Monmouth, N.J. at Kent St. at Tulsa at Xavier 8.5 21.5 at Villanova George Washington1 Missouri St. at Tennessee 16.5 NBA Today at Cleveland at Washington 3 at Indiana 2.5 1 at Memphis Pk L.A.Lakers at Houston at Denver 3.5 3 8 NHL Today at Montreal -120 at Toronto -120 at Dallas -145 Philadelphia +100 Nashville +100 Anaheim+125 Philadelphia Toronto Atlanta Portland at Milwaukee Chicago New York NIT Season Tip-off-North At Villanova, Pa. 34 NIT Season Tip-off-South At Knoxville, Tenn. 7.5 Marist Boston U. Arkansas St. Belmont Robert Morris Oral Roberts IPFW Ohio Bowling Green UCLA at UNLV NBA team. Yet Lacob and Guber believe the price was easily justified by the Warriors’ assets — including the fans of the basketball-crazy Bay Area, where the Warriors are the only hoops show in town. The group also includes Vivek Ranadive, a Silicon Valley inno- vator who is believed to be the NBA’s first Indian-American owner, and real estate mogul Erika Glazer. ‘‘My strategy is to leave it better than I found it,’’ said Guber, a veteran movie producer and former studio chief at Columbia and Sony. ‘‘I’ve been given a unique opportunity, and I’m going to take advantage of it.’’ Lacob and Guber say they comple- ment each other well, which isn’t tough to understand after listening to their opinions on the Warriors and the wider sports world. Guber describes his lengthy history and portfolio in sports ownership — including several minor league base- ball teams, a minor league hockey team in Las Vegas and failed bids for the Oakland Athletics and Miami Heat — as the pursuit of ‘‘assets.’’ He also speaks of ‘‘fan acquisition,’’ new media ventures and ‘‘reaching fans with different products.’’ Although Lacob made his fortune building and selling businesses at Kleiner Perkins, basketball clearly hits him on a more visceral level. He still plays in a pickup game twice a week, and he bought a piece of the Boston Celtics in 2006 to learn the business while waiting for his chance to control a franchise. Lacob’s son, Kirk, will become the Warriors’ director of bas- ketball operations, but won’t have authority over general manager Larry Riley in the new power structure. In Kyodo News from the Los Angeles-Anaheim chapter. Kikuchi chose Florida first baseman Gaby Sanchez first, Heyward second and St. Louis pitcher Jaime Gar- cia third. ‘‘I think Rookie of the Year is for the rookie player who plays better than any other through the entire sea- son. From this standpoint, Gaby and Jason produced more hits and played more games than Posey. Also, Jaime Garcia pitched as a starter through the entire sea- son,’’ Kikuchi said in an e- mail to The Associated Press. Born Gerald Dempsey Posey III, the nickname ‘‘Buster’’ runs in his family. He was driving with his wife to the Florida Keys when he got word that he had won. He acknowledged he was wondering about the out- come. ‘‘I think I’d be lying to you if I said I didn’t think about it,’’ he said on a con- ference call. Feliz got 20 first-place votes and was listed on all 28 ballots. He drew seven sec- NCAABASKETBALL The Top Twenty Five The top 25 teams in The Associated Press’ college basketball poll, with first- place votes in parentheses, records through Nov. 14, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and last week’s ranking: 1.Duke (58) Record Pts Pvs 1-0 2. Michigan St. (7) 1-0 3. Kansas St. 4. Ohio St. 5. Pittsburgh 6.Villanova 7. Kansas 1-0 1-0 3-0 1-0 1-0 8. North Carolina 1-0 9. Florida 10. Syracuse 11. Gonzaga 12.Kentucky 13. Illinois 14. Purdue 15. Missouri 16. Butler 17.Baylor 17.Washington 19. Memphis 1-0 2-0 2-0 1-0 3-0 1-0 0-0 1-0 1-0 1-0 1-0 20. Georgetown 1-0 21.Temple 22.Virginia Tech 1-0 23.BYU 24.Tennessee 1-0 25. San Diego St. 1-0 2-0 1-0 1,617 1 1,558 2 1,422 3 1,379 4 1,325 5 1,197 6 1,178 7 1,021 8 1,017 9 967 10 911 12 887 11 834 13 772 14 685 15 626 17 587 16 587 18 540 19 333 20 289 22 271 21 228 24 194 23 162 25 Others receiving votes:Texas 130, Wis- consin 113, West Virginia 43, Georgia 42, Minnesota 41, Florida St.37, UNLV 21, Wichita St. 20, Richmond 18, Vanderbilt 16, N.C. State 9, Connecticut 8, Colorado 7, Arizona 6, Mississippi St. 6, Murray St. 6, UCLA 4, Maryland 3, Ohio 3, Utah St. 3, Appalachian St.1, Portland 1. Monday’s Top 25 results No. 7 Kansas 79, Valparaiso 44 No.19 Memphis vs. Miami late No. 20 Georgetown 69, Tulane 53 Today’s Top 25 games No. 1 Duke vs. Miami (Ohio), 4:30 p.m. No.2 Michigan St.vs.S.Car., 7 p.m., ESPN No.3 Kan.St.vs.No.22 Vir.Tech, 1 p.m., ESPN No.4 Ohio State at No.9 Florida, 3 p.m., ESPN No. 6 Villanova vs. Marist, 2:30 p.m. No. 10 Syracuse vs. Detroit, 4 p.m. No.11 Gon.vs.No.25 S.D.St., 8 p.m., ESPN2 No. 16 Butler at Louisville, 5 p.m., ESPN No.17 Baylor vs. La Salle, 11 a.m., ESPN No.17 Washington vs.E.Washington, 7 p.m. No. 24 Tennessee vs. Belmont, 6:30 p.m. Today’s other televised games Stony Brook at Monmouth, 3 a.m., ESPN Robert Morris at Kent St., 5 a.m., ESPN Northeastern at S. Illinois, 7 a.m., ESPN Oral Roberts at Tulsa, 9 a.m., ESPN Arizona St.at New Mexico, 7 p.m., VERSUS Wednesday's Top 25 games No. 6 Villanova vs.TBD, 5 p.m. No. 14 Purdue vs. Alcorn State, 4 p.m. No.19 Memphis vs.Northwestern St.5 p.m. No.23 BYU vs. Utah State, 6 p.m. No. 24 Tennessee vs.TBD, 4 p.m. Kings Ducks fact, Joe Lacob praised Riley for draft- ing Stephen Curry and trading for David Lee, describing the former All- Star forward as ‘‘our kind of player.’’ Lacob and Guber said they’ll take their time evaluating the franchise’s structure before making changes, yet Lacob already engineered a major change by getting rid of coach Don Nelson, the NBA’s career victories leader, shortly before training camp began. Lacob said the move ‘‘had to happen.’’ And Lacob has nothing but praise for replacement Keith Smart, who got the Warriors off to a 6-4 start heading into Monday night’s game against the Detroit Pistons. ‘‘It’s already happened,’’ Lacob said. ‘‘New ownership, new coach, just the whole philosophy here is clearly different. These guys have already bought in. I didn’t do this. They did. ... We’re lucky. Something very special happened here already. I’m really look- ing forward to the rest of the year here to see how good we can be.’’ The owners’ decision to introduce themselves at a San Francisco restau- rant will rekindle suspicions that the Warriors have designs on moving from Oakland’s somewhat nondescript, free- way-adjacent Oracle Arena to a new building in The City, its home from 1962-71. Lacob and Guber understand the idea, saying it’s possible the team could end up in San Francisco in the distant future, but praising Oakland’s long-standing support. ‘‘There’s no reason in the world we can’t be as successful as any team,’’ Lacob said. ‘‘Take a look. We’re in the greatest city in the world. We have the greatest fans. Who wouldn’t want to be here?’’ onds and one third. He was at Rangers Ballpark, where the World Series ended, when he found out he’d won. The NL Cy Young will be the next major award to be announced. Philadelphia ace Roy Halladay is consid- ered the front-runner for Tuesday. Posey hit third and even cleanup for the Giants as they brought the champi- onship to San Francisco for the first time. He was equal- ly praised for handling a pitching staff that seemed to get better throughout the postseason. ‘‘How rare and amazing it is to have a rookie catcher lead a team to a World Series championship,’’ Giants managing partner Bill Neukom said. In fact, the last rookie catcher to play for a World Series winner was in 1966 with Baltimore’s Andy Etchebarren. Posey became the first Rookie of the Year winner to become a World Series champion in the same sea- son since Boston’s Dustin NHL WESTERN CONFERENCE Pacific Division WL OT Pts GF GA 12 3 0 24 47 28 10 7 2 22 50 57 Phoenix 7 5 5 19 47 53 SHARKS 85 2 18 42 37 Dallas Central Division Detroit 8 7 0 16 46 44 WL OT Pts GF GA 11 3 1 23 51 37 St. Louis 9 4 3 21 41 40 Chicago 9 9 2 20 57 59 Columbus 9 6 0 18 41 38 Nashville 7 5 3 17 38 43 Northwest Division WL OT Pts GF GA Vancouver 10 4 3 23 54 43 Colorado 9 7 1 19 59 53 Minnesota 8 6 2 18 38 38 Calgary 7 9 0 14 46 49 Edmonton 4 9 3 11 42 66 EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division WL OT Pts GF GA Philadelphia 12 4 2 26 63 38 N.Y. Rangers10 7 1 21 55 49 Pittsburgh 9 8 2 20 58 52 New Jersey 5 11 2 12 33 59 N.Y. Islanders4 10 3 11 37 58 Northeast Division WL OT Pts GF GA Montreal 11 5 1 23 46 36 Boston Ottawa Buffalo 9 5 1 19 44 29 9 8 1 19 46 53 7 9 3 17 51 60 Toronto 5 8 3 13 35 47 Southeast Division WL OT Pts GF GA Washington 13 4 1 27 66 47 Tampa Bay 8 7 2 18 48 54 Atlanta Carolina 8 9 0 16 51 60 Florida ————————————————— Monday’s results Los Angeles at San Jose, late Boston 3, New Jersey 0 Buffalo 4, Vancouver 3, OT Colorado 6, St. Louis 3 N.Y. Rangers 3, Pittsburgh 2, OT Philadelphia 5, Ottawa 1 Today’s games Nashville at Toronto, 4 p.m. Philadelphia at Montreal, 4 p.m., VERSUS Anaheim at Dallas, 6 p.m. Wednesday’s games San Jose at Colorado, 6 p.m.,CSNC+ Boston at N.Y. Rangers, 4 p.m., VERSUS Buffalo at Washington, 4 p.m. Florida at Atlanta, 4 p.m. Ottawa at Carolina, 4 p.m. Tampa Bay at N.Y. Islanders, 4 p.m. Vancouver at Pittsburgh, 4 p.m. St. Louis at Detroit, 4:30 p.m. Anaheim at Minnesota, 5 p.m. Chicago at Edmonton, 6:30 p.m. Phoenix at Calgary, 6:30 p.m. Columbus at Los Angeles, 7:30 p.m. 7 8 3 17 57 67 7 8 0 14 44 39 NOTE: Two points for a win, one point for overtime loss. Lakers Pedroia in 2007. The last NL player to do it was Florida’s Dontrelle Willis in 2003. A star at Florida State, the Georgia native went to see the Seminoles play Clemson last weekend. Several foot- ball fans in the crowd recog- nized one of baseball’s fastest-rising stars. ‘‘That was nice,’’ he said. Posey played briefly at first base when he was called up and moved to catcher when the Giants traded Bengie Molina to Texas. He had a 21-game hitting streak in July. Posey finished with 129 points in the rookie voting. Heyward, who hit .277 with 18 home runs and 72 RBIs, got nine first-place ballots and 107 points. Garcia drew one first- place vote and 24 points. Sanchez got the other two first-place votes and had 18 points. Posey was the sixth Giants player to win the honor that was first awarded to Jackie Robinson in 1947. Willie Mays, Orlando Cepe- da, Willie McCovey, Gary NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE Pacific Division WL Pct GB 8 2 .800 — WARRIORS 64 .600 2 Phoenix 6 4 .600 2 KINGS 36 .333 4.5 Clippers 1 9 .100 7 Southwest Division WL Pct GB New Orleans 8 1 .889 — San Antonio 8 1 .889 — Dallas 7 2 .778 1 Memphis 4 7 .364 5 Houston 3 6 .333 5 Northwest Division WL Pct GB 7 4 .636 — Utah Okla. City 6 4 .600 .5 Portland 6 5 .545 1 Denver 5 5 .500 1.5 Minnesota 3 9 .250 4.5 EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division WL Pct GB Boston 8 2 .800 — New Jersey 3 6 .333 4.5 New York 3 7 .300 5 Philadelphia 2 8 .200 6 Toronto 2 8 .200 6 Southeast Division WL Pct GB Orlando 7 3 .700 — Atlanta Miami 7 4 .636 .5 6 4 .600 1 Charlotte 4 7 .364 3.5 Washington 2 6 .250 4 Central Division WL Pct GB Chicago 5 3 .625 — Milwaukee 5 5 .500 1 Indiana 4 4 .500 1 Cleveland 4 5 .444 1.5 Detroit 4 6 .400 2 ————————————————— Monday’s results Detroit at Golden State, late Charlotte 113, Minnesota 110 Dallas 98, New Orleans 95 Oklahoma City 115, Utah 108 Orlando 89, Memphis 72 Phoenix 100, Denver 94 New Jersey at L.A. Clippers, late Today’s games Atlanta at Indiana, 4 p.m. Philadelphia at Cleveland, 4 p.m. Toronto at Washington, 4 p.m. L.A. Lakers at Milwaukee, 5 p.m. Portland at Memphis, 5 p.m., NBATV Chicago at Houston, 5:30 p.m. New York at Denver, 6 p.m. Wednesdays games New York at Sacramento,7 p.m.,CSNC Phoenix at Miami, 4 p.m., ESPN Toronto at Philadelphia, 4 p.m. L.A. Lakers at Detroit, 4:30 p.m. Washington at Boston, 4:30 p.m. Dallas at New Orleans, 5 p.m. Houston at Oklahoma City, 5 p.m. L.A. Clippers at Minnesota, 5 p.m. New Jersey at Utah, 6 p.m. Chicago at San Antonio, 6:30 p.m., ESPN Atlanta West WL T Pct PF PA RAIDERS 54 0 .556 235 188 Kansas City 5 4 0 .556 212 194 Chargers 4 5 0 .444 239 197 Denver East 3 6 0 .333 203 252 WL T Pct PF PA N.Y. Jets 7 2 0 .778 208 150 New England 7 2 0 .778 258 214 Miami Buffalo South 5 4 0 .556 172 192 1 8 0 .111 164 245 WL T Pct PF PA Indianapolis 6 3 0 .667 240 185 Tennessee 5 4 0 .556 241 179 Jacksonville 5 4 0 .556 196 250 Houston 4 5 0 .444 217 257 North WL T Pct PF PA Baltimore 6 3 0 .667 196 165 Pittsburgh 6 3 0 .667 200 162 Cleveland 3 6 0 .333 172 182 Cincinnati 2 7 0 .222 184 213 NFC West Seattle WL T Pct PF PA 5 4 0 .556 166 199 St. Louis 4 5 0 .444 160 164 49ERS 36 0 .333 160 198 Arizona 3 6 0 .333 175 261 East WL T Pct PF PA Philadelphia 6 3 0 .667 257 209 N.Y. Giants 6 3 0 .667 236 193 Washington 4 5 0 .444 183 229 Dallas South 2 7 0 .222 194 252 WL T Pct PF PA 7 2 0 .778 222 175 New Orleans 6 3 0 .667 201 151 Tampa Bay 6 3 0 .667 188 206 Carolina 1 8 0 .111 104 215 North WL T Pct PF PA Chicago 6 3 0 .667 175 146 Green Bay 6 3 0 .667 221 143 Minnesota 3 6 0 .333 169 195 Detroit 2 7 0 .222 215 202 ————————————————— Monday’s result Philadelphia 59, Washington 28 Thursday’s game Chicago at Miami, 5:20 p.m. Sunday’s games Oakland at Pittsburgh, 10 a.m. Tampa Bay at San Francisco, 1:05 p.m. Arizona at Kansas City, 10 a.m. Baltimore at Carolina, 10 a.m. Buffalo at Cincinnati, 10 a.m. Cleveland at Jacksonville, 10 a.m. Detroit at Dallas, 10 a.m. Green Bay at Minnesota, 10 a.m. Houston at N.Y. Jets, 10 a.m. Washington at Tennessee, 10 a.m. Atlanta at St. Louis, 1:05 p.m. Seattle at New Orleans, 1:05 p.m. Indianapolis at New England, 1:15 p.m. N.Y. Giants at Philadelphia, 5:20 p.m. Monday,Nov.22 game Denver at San Diego, 5:30 p.m. NASCAR Sprint Cup Points Leaders 1.Denny Hamlin 2.Jimmie Johnson 3.Kevin Harvick 4.Carl Edwards 5.Matt Kenseth 6.Jeff Gordon 7.Kyle Busch 8.Greg Biffle 9.Tony Stewart 10.Kurt Busch 11.Clint Bowyer 12.Jeff Burton 6,462 6,447 6,416 6,198 6,151 6,124 6,115 6,113 6,074 6,033 6,028 5,958 NCAAFOOTBALL Today’s televised game Ohio at Temple, 5 p.m., ESPN2 Wednesday’s televised game Bowling Green at Toledo, 5 p.m., ESPN2 Thursday’s Top 25 game No.10 Alabama vs.Georgia State, 4:30 p.m. Friday’s Top 25 game No.3 Boise State vs.Fresno State, 6:30 p.m. Saturday’s top 25 games No. 5 LSU vs. Mississippi, 12:30 p.m. No. 6 Wisconsin at Michigan, 9 a.m. No. 7 Stanford at California, 12:30 p.m. No.8 Ohio State at No.21 Iowa, 12:30 p.m. No.9 Nebraska at No.18 Texas A&M, 5 p.m. No. 11 Michigan State vs.Purdue, 9 a.m. No. 12 Oklahoma State at Kansas, 9 a.m. No.13 Arkansas at No.22 Miss.St., 4 p.m. No.14 Vir.Tech at No.24 Miami, 12:30 p.m. No. 15 Missouri at Iowa State, 4 p.m. No.16 Oklahoma at Baylor, 5 p.m. No. 17 South Carolina vs.Troy, 9:21 a.m. No.19 Nevada vs.New Mexico State, 1 p.m. No. 20 Southern Cal at Oregon St., 5 p.m. No. 25 Utah at San Diego State, 7 p.m. MLB ALRookie of the Year First-, second- and third-place votes and total points on a 5-3-1 basis. Player 1st 2nd 3rd Tot Neftali Feliz, Texas 20 7 1 122 Austin Jackson, Detroit 8 19 1 98 Danny Valencia, Minn. - 1 9 12 Wade Davis, TB - John Jaso, Tampa Bay - 1 - Brennan Boesch, Detroit- Brian Matusz, Baltimore - - 11 11 3 - 3 3 - 3 3 Raiders relish first-place ALAMEDA (AP) — Without even playing this past Oakland Raiders weekend, the Oakland Raiders moved into a tie for first place in the AFC West. Staying there might not be as easy. Denver’s surprising blowout of Kansas City on Sunday gave the idle Raiders a share of the top spot in their division, the first time since 2002 that they’ve been there this late in the season. Oakland has already matched its win total from each of the past two years. A win in Pittsburgh on Sunday would extend the team’s longest winning streak in eight years and solidify the Raiders as a contender in the topsy turvy AFC. Left guard Robert Gallery, who has never won more than five games in a single season since arriving as the second- overall pick in 2004, thinks any talk about the playoffs is pre- mature at this point but he likes how things have panned out so far. ‘‘We put ourselves in a good position going into the bye and the other teams took care of the rest for us,’’ Gallery said Monday. ‘‘Obviously we have to take care of business the rest of the year but it’s a good position to be in in November. It’s going to be real important these last seven games for us to keep rolling. Anything can happen so every game from here on out is important.’’ Coach Tom Cable eliminated one possible distraction by picking Jason Campbell as the team’s starting quarterback even though Bruce Gradkowski has been cleared to practice. Cable had previously insisted the job was Gradkowski’s once he returned from a shoulder injury, but the coach hedged after the Campbell-led Raiders beat Kansas City 23- 20 in overtime on Nov. 7. ‘‘(Campbell’s) earned the right to do that,’’ Cable said. ‘‘Four out of (his) last five games are wins. Bruce will back him up and we’ll move forward from there.’’ Players returned from the bye week to continue prepara- tions for Sunday’s game against the Steelers, a game that has taken on added significance with the Raiders’ recent success. Oakland takes a three-game winning streak into Heinz Field and will try to make it four in a row for the first time since a five-game streak late in the 2002 season. ‘‘People are really going to start talking about us for play- off contention if we do that,’’ safety Mike Mitchell said. Matthews and John Monte- fusco also won. Montefusco was the most recent, in 1975. Six catchers have won in the NL, with the Cubs’ Geo- vany Soto the most recent in 2008. Feliz went 4-3 with a 2.73 ERA in 59 games and finished with 122 points. He was a players’ pick for the All-Star team this season. Jackson, who hit .293, scored 103 runs and showed great range in center field, drew the other eight first- place votes and had 98 points. Minnesota third baseman Danny Valencia was third with 12 points. Feliz didn’t start the sea- son as the Texas closer. Frank Francisco held that role, but lost the spot after blowing two early save chances and Feliz took over. ‘‘At first, I didn’t feel very comfortable,’’ he said. In fact, Feliz went to spring training trying to win a spot as a starter. ‘‘I prepared as hard as I could to win a spot in the rotation. It didn’t work out,’’ NFL AFC he said. For the Rangers, it all worked out more than fine. Feliz went 40 for 43 on save chances and broke the rookie record of 37 saves set by 2000 AL Rookie of the Year Kazuhiro Sasaki of Seattle. Feliz later became the second-youngest pitcher to earn a save in the World Series, behind only Bob Welch. This was the third time in the last six seasons that a closer won the AL award. Oakland’s Andrew Bailey won last year and Huston Street of the A’s got the award in 2005. Feliz, who got a $10,000 bonus, became the second Texas player to win, joining Mike Hargrove from 1974. Posey did not have a bonus provision in his con- tract. MLB NLRookie of the Year First-, second- and third-place votes and total points on a 5-3-1 basis. Player 1st 2nd 3rd Tot Buster Posey, SF 20 9 2 129 Jason Hayward, Atlanta 9 20 2 107 Jaime Garcia, St.Louis 1 1 16 24 Gaby Sanchez, Florida 2 1 5 18 Neil Walker, Pittsburgh - 1 - Starlin Castro, Chicago - Ike Davis, New York - Jose Tabata, Pittsburgh - Jonny Venters, Atlanta - 3 - 3 3 - 2 2 - 1 1 - 1 1