Headlines from Around the World in Sports
Baseball
Redmond hired as Marlins manager
MIAMI – Former major league catcher Mike Redmond was hired as manager of the Miami Marlins to replace Ozzie Guillen, who was fired last week.
The Marlins announced the hiring yesterday and planned to hold a news conference today.
Redmond spent the past two years managing Class A teams in the Toronto Blue Jays system. He had not previously interviewed for a big league job.
A .287 hitter over 13 seasons, Redmond played seven years for the Marlins and helped them win the World Series in 2003. Because of his ties to owner Jeffrey Loria and president of baseball operations Larry Beinfest, he was considered the front-runner for the job.
Redmond becomes the Marlins’ fifth manager since early 2010.
Baseball
Rangers switching base coaches Pettis, Anderson
ARLINGTON, Texas – The Texas Rangers are flip-flopping their base coaches, moving Gary Pettis to third and Dave Anderson to first.
Manager Ron Washington believes Pettis’s base-running prowess as a player will allow him to react more quickly and possibly take more chances, allowing the Rangers to potentially score more runs. Pettis, who had 354 stolen bases and 568 runs scored in 11 major league seasons, has been the first-base coach the past six seasons.
Anderson has been the third-base coach the past four seasons. Washington said that the switch isn’t a demotion for Anderson.
Baseball
De La Rosa exercises $11 million option for 2013
DENVER – Lefty Jorge De La Rosa exercised his $11 million player option for 2013, the final year in a three-year, $33 million contract.
Elbow surgery sidelined him for much of the last two seasons, but De La Rosa is a big part of the Rockies’ plans to rebuild the worst rotation in team history.
After winning 16 games in 2010, De La Rosa was the Rockies’ ace in 2011 before tearing an elbow ligament May 24. He wanted to return early last season but suffered a setback when his elbow stiffened up during his rehab last summer.
He ended up making three September starts, hitting 94 mph with his fastball but he was rusty, posting a 9.28 ERA in 10 2∕3 innings.
Baseball
Marion, Walters & Ruppert on Hall of Fame ballot
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. – NL MVPs Marty Marion and Bucky Walters, and former New York Yankees owner Jacob Ruppert are among 10 candidates on the ballot for the baseball Hall of Fame’s pre-integration era committee.
Former players Bill Dahlen, Wes Ferrell, Tony Mullane and Deacon White also are on the 10-man ballot, along with former St. Louis Cardinals owner Samuel Breadon, sporting goods executive Alfred Reach and umpire Hank O’Day.
A 16-member committee will meet Dec. 2-3 at the winter meetings in Nashville, Tenn.
Electees, who must receive at least 75 percent of votes, will be inducted on July 28 along with any players elected by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America in voting announced Jan. 9. The BBWAA ballot will include Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa and Roger Clemens for the first time.
Baseball
Zimmer returning for 2013 as Rays’ adviser
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Tampa Bay Rays are bringing Don Zimmer back for the 2013 season as a senior adviser, marking his 10th year with the Rays and 65th season in professional baseball.
Zimmer, 81, said in a statement that he couldn’t be happier and that the Rays always have been great to him.
The Rays are one of 13 major league teams for which Zimmer has worn a uniform, and 2013 will help him match the 10 seasons he spent with the New York Yankees for his longest tenure with one club.
Tennis
Berdych, Simon reach Paris Masters quarters
PARIS – Fifth-seeded Tomas Berdych rallied past Kevin Anderson of South Africa, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, to reach the quarterfinals of the Paris Masters yesterday.
The Czech was overpowered by Anderson’s powerful serve and strong defense in the first set, where Anderson had six aces and broke Berdych twice, while saving all three breakpoints on his own serve. But Berdcyh broke Anderson in the eighth game of the second set, and in the seventh game of the decider.
He’ll play Gilles Simon, who advanced from the third round without hitting a ball after 15th-seeded Kei Nishikori of Japan pulled out because of a right ankle injury.
Golf
Scott, Oosthuizen share lead at HSBC Champions
SHENZHEN, China – Louis Oosthuizen and Adam Scott shot 7-under 65s yesterday to share the lead after the first round of the HSBC Champions.
Oosthuizen, the 2010 British Open winner, played bogey-free with seven birdies, while Scott closed his round with two birdies and then an eagle on the par-5 ninth hole. He finished with six birdies and one bogey.
Two-time HSBC Champions winner Phil Mickelson, Bubba Watson, Peter Hanson and Shane Lowry were one shot back.
Cycling
IOC opens probe into Armstrong’s Olympic medal
LAUSANNE, Switzerland – The IOC is proceeding with an investigation that could result in Lance Armstrong losing his Olympic bronze medal for doping.
The IOC says it will “immediately” look into the Olympic involvement of Armstrong, other riders and officials implicated in the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency report describing systematic doping in cycling.
Cycling’s governing body last week formally stripped Armstrong of his seven Tour de France titles.
NFL
Jennings’s surgery to fix torn muscle ‘went well’
GREEN BAY, Wis. – Green Bay Packers wide receiver Greg Jennings had surgery to repair the torn abdominal muscle that has sidelined him for much of the season.
Jennings said on Twitter yesterday that “surgery went well tweeps!!” and posted a picture of himself in a hospital bed. No return date has been given, though Packers Coach Mike McCarthy says it would probably be a minimum of a few weeks.
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