PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Penguins set a new season-ticket sales record after making the playoffs for the first time in six seasons.

The team has sold nearly 13,500 season ticket equivalents to fans who have bought either full-season (43-game) or half-season (21-game) plans.

The team announced Thursday that it stopped taking season ticket deposits for next season. It created a waiting list for fans who want to deposit $200 per seat for the right to purchase season tickets that become available for future seasons.

The Penguins' previous record was 12,350 full-season tickets sold for the 1992-93 season after the team won two consecutive Stanley Cups. Forty-six-year-old Mellon Arena, the oldest in the NHL, seats 16,940.

The Penguins stopped selling full- and half-season ticket plans so fans who can't afford them will still have a chance to buy seats, team president David Morehouse said. The Penguins plan to put six- and 12-game ticket plans on sale Aug. 8 and sell individual tickets starting Sept. 15.

MINNEAPOLIS — Frank Thomas hit his 500th home run, routinely putting his head down as he rounded the bases while joining one of baseball's most elite clubs.The Toronto slugger became the 21st major leaguer to reach the career mark, a milestone that has usually meant an eventual spot in the Hall of Fame.Thomas hit a three-run shot in the first inning, connecting against Minnesota's Carlos Silva and sending a 1-2 pitch an estimated 396 feet into the left-field stands.

HOUSTON — Craig Biggio became the 27th player in major league history to get 3,000 hits in Houston's 8-5 11-inning victory over ColoradoBiggio singled to center field in the seventh inning for the milestone hit and was thrown out trying to stretch the play into a double. The 41-year-old finished 5-for-6 with an RBI and a run scored.Biggio is the first player in two seasons to reach 3,000 hits. Rafael Palmeiro reached it on July 15, 2005, with Baltimore.

TORONTO — Mark Messier, the NHL's second-leading career scorer, highlights the newest class of the Hockey Hall of Fame.Also elected were players Ron Francis, Al MacInnis and Scott Stevens. NHL executive Jim Gregory was voted in as a builder.All four players were on the ballot for the first time. Other eligible players who didn't make it in included Adam Oates, Igor Larionov and Claude Lemieux.The induction ceremony for the Hall, which allows a maximum of four players in each year, will be held Nov. 12.

LOS ANGELES — David Beckham will be officially introduced as the newest member of the Los Angeles Galaxy on July 13 at the team's stadium in Carson.Beckham, currently vacationing after helping Real Madrid win the Spanish League title, will arrive in Los Angeles a few days before his news conference.