Florida Marlins left fielder Chris Coghlan won the National League Rookie of the Year award in a close vote yesterday, and Oakland Athletics closer Andrew Bailey took the AL honor.

Coghlan edged Philadelphia Phillies pitcher J.A. Happ, receiving 17 first-place votes and 105 points in balloting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Happ, the only player picked on all 32 ballots, had 10 first-place votes and 94 points.

"It's very exciting," Coghlan said. "I couldn't have written it better."

Called up from the minors in May, the 24-year-old Coghlan topped NL rookies in batting average (.321), runs (84), hits (162), total bases (232) and on-base percentage (.390).

Bailey, a surprise All-Star this season, was selected first on 13 of 28 ballots and finished with 88 points. Texas shortstop Elvis Andrus was the runner-up with 65 points, one more than Detroit pitcher Rick Porcello.

Bailey, who had 26 saves and a 1.84 ERA, was driving when he got word on his cell phone that he won.

"At first I thought it was a prank call. Which one of my friends is playing a prank on me?" said Bailey, 25. "I didn't want to take my eyes off the road."

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

MICHIGAN DIDN'T FILE PRACTICE REPORTS

The University of Michigan released embarrassing details of an internal audit yesterday that said the beleaguered football program had failed to file monthly forms tracking how much players practice — an issue currently under NCAA investigation.

The audit was completed months ago but the details surfaced this week, even as coach Rich Rodriguez is trying to save a season that includes six losses in the last seven games.

The audit looked at last season — Rodriguez's first at Michigan — and at last spring's offseason. It said the football program failed to file monthly Countable Athletically Related Activities forms created by the school to track how much players work out and practice as a tool to comply with NCAA rules.

The school said in August it was looking into the issue after the Detroit Free Press cited anonymous football players saying they were exceeding NCAA limits when it came to practice time.

Last month, the NCAA also began looking into practices of college football's winningest program.

ELSEWHERE

More college football: Two of three Tennessee freshman football players charged last week in an attempted armed robbery have been dismissed from the team.

Kiffin said wide receiver Nu'Keese Richardson, 18, and defensive back Mike Edwards, 18, were permanently dismissed from the team, while former starting safety Janzen Jackson, 18, will continue to be barred from team activities while Kiffin awaits more information in his case.

• California star tailback Jahvid Best will not play in the Big Game against Stanford this week as he recovers from a concussion.

Best sustained his second concussion in an eight-day period when he fell on his back and head Nov. 7 against Oregon State.

• UNLV has fired football coach Mike Sanford after five losing seasons, a 15-43 record and no bowl appearances.

UNLV is 4-7 overall and 2-5 in the Mountain West.

Sanford, 54, will be paid a $225,000 buyout.

• MMA: UFC President Dana White said yesterday that heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar is recovering from a bacterial infection in his intestinal tract.

"He's in stable condition and should be released soon," White said from Bismarck, N.D.

Lesnar, 32, announced last month he was withdrawing from his Nov. 21 UFC title defense match because of an unspecified illness.

Horse racing: Hall of Fame trainer Bobby Frankel, who won the 2003 Belmont Stakes with Empire Maker, has died after a long bout with cancer. He was 68.

Jockey agent Ron Anderson said Frankel died early yesterday at his home in Pacific Palisades, Calif. Frankel had been running his stable by phone for most of the year while he was undergoing treatment.

Frankel wound up with earnings of more than $200 million.