BASEBALL
DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Tigers hired AJ Hinch as manager, giving him a chance to return to a major league dugout after he was fired in the wake of the Houston Astros’ sign-stealing scandal.
The 46-year-old Hinch replaces Ron Gardenhire, who retired late last season.
Hinch guided Houston to the 2017 World Series title, but that championship — and a lot of what Hinch accomplished there — is now viewed in a different light after an investigation found the Astros used a video feed from a center field camera to decode the opposing catcher’s signs, and players banged on a trash can to signal to hitters what was coming. In January, Major League Baseball suspended Hinch and Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow for this season, then the Astros immediately fired both.
Hinch was a catcher for the Tigers in 2003.
NEW YORK (AP) — The Wilpon family’s control of the New York Mets neared its end after 34 years when Major League Baseball owners voted to approve the sale of the team to billionaire hedge fund manager Steve Cohen.
The vote was 26-4, a person familiar with the meeting told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because the balloting was not announced. Cohen needed 75% approval.
The transfer from the Wilpon and Katz families values the franchise at between $2.4 billion and $2.45 billion, a record for a baseball team that tops the $2 billion sale of the Los Angeles Dodgers from Frank McCourt to Guggenheim Baseball Management in 2012.
NEW YORK (AP) — Jon Lester, Corey Kluber and Brad Hand were among 15 more major leaguers who became free agents when teams declined their 2021 options, many the victims of budget cuts following a regular season without fans due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Also cut loose were Milwaukee infielders Jedd Gyorko and Eric Sogard, Chicago White Sox designated hitter Edwin Encarnación and left-hander Gio González, and Philadelphia relievers David Robertson, Héctor Neris and David Phelps. AL champion Tampa Bay declined 2021 options on right-hander Charlie Morton and catcher Mike Zunino.
There are 175 players who became free agents following the World Series and about 15 more can go free this weekend. Among the remaining decisions are on player options by Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton, Boston designated hitter JD Martinez, Cincinnati outfielder Nick Castellanos and Mets reliever Dellin Betances. Teams must decide by 5 p.m. Sunday whether to make $18.9 million qualifying offers to eligible former players.
Lester gets a $10 million buyout from the Chicago Cubs that completes a $155 million, six-year contract rather than a $25 million mutual option. The 36-year-old left-hander was 3-3 with a 5.16 ERA in 12 starts this year with 42 strikeouts and 17 walks. He earned a prorated $5,555,556.
Cleveland declined Hand’s $10 million option and also turned down first baseman Carlos Santana ($17.5 million). Kluber, whose option was for $18 million, lasted just one inning in his only start in the third game of the season for Texas before a shoulder injury ended his year.
PRO FOOTBBALL
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Herb Adderley, the Hall of Fame cornerback who joined the NFL as a running back and became part of a record six championship teams with the Packers and Cowboys, has died. He was 81.
His death was confirmed by the team, with no details given.
The former Michigan State star played in four of the first six Super Bowls and won five NFL championships with Green Bay and one with Dallas during his 12-year career. He was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1980.
Along with former Packers teammates Fuzzy Thurston and Forrest Gregg, Adderley is one of four players in pro football history to play on six championship teams. Tom Brady is the other.
NEW YORK (AP) — The NFL is recommending that players on the sidelines who are not participating in a game or about to go on the field wear protective masks.
In a memo obtained by The Associated Press, the league’s management council also suggested the 32 teams enhance physical distancing on the sidelines while the NFL considers expanding the bench area.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
The bowl season will start Dec. 19, the day most of the major college football conferences are set to play their championship games, and includes 37 games.
College football’s postseason schedule was finally set. Several bowls, including the Holiday Bowl in San Diego and the Hawaii Bowl, have already called off their games for this season because of issues related to the pandemic.
But there will still be opportunities for 72 teams to go bowling in the 36 games that lead up to the College Football Playoff national championship on Jan. 11 in Miami Gardens, Florida.
The CFP semifinals will be played Jan. 1 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, and Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. The Peach Bowl in Atlanta will also be played earlier on New Year’s Day. The Cotton Bowl will be the first New Year’s Six game played on Dec. 30. The Orange and Fiesta bowls will be played on Jan. 2
BASKETBALL
The NBA and its players agreed to extend the deadline for opting out of the Collective Bargaining Agreement by one week until Nov. 6, and talks will continue in the interim regarding the numerous issues that have to be decided before next season begins.
It is the fourth extension of the opt-out deadline since the pandemic started in March. If either the NBA or the National Basketball Players Association chooses to opt out by that date, the CBA would be terminated Dec. 14, “unless the parties agree otherwise,” the NBA said.
The NBA and NBPA need to adjust language in the CBA before a plan for next season can be finalized, simply because many rules in that document were written with a normal season — free agency in the summer, season beginning in October, fans in arenas, revenue meeting projections — in mind. The league is targeting a Dec. 22 start to next season, though for that to happen a deal would have to be struck soon.
GOLF
SOUTHAMPTON, Bermuda (AP) — Ryan Armour and Wyndham Clark survived ferocious wind in the Bermuda Championship to share the lead going into a weekend that includes 64-year-old Fred Funk.
Armourl managed three early birdies and another on the par-5 17th for a 1-under 70 at Port Royal. Clark played in the afternoon and reached 10-under par until a pair of late bogeys for a 68. They were at 8-under 134, a shot ahead of Kramer Hickok (68).
The big surprise was Funk, who only played because he had a chance to be paired with his son, Taylor, who played at Texas. Funk, whose last PGA Tour victory was in 2007 at the Mayakoba Classic, chipped in for birdie from the behind the ninth green for a 72. Funk is the oldest player to make the cut on the PGA Tour since 65-year-old Tom Watson five years ago in the RBC Heritage at Hilton.
BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) — Playing his fourth event since revealing he’s fighting bladder cancer, John Daly shot an 8-under 64 for a share of the lead with Jim Furyk in the PGA Tour Champions’ TimberTech Champions.
Daly had his lowest score in his five-year career on the 50-and-over tour. The two-time major champion won his lone Champions title in 2017 in Houston. The 50-year-old Furyk won this year in his first two starts on the senior tour.
PAPHOS, Cyprus (AP) — Wales' Jamie Donaldson and and England's Marcus Armitage shared the lead at 11 under in the Aphrodite Hills Cyprus Open when second-round play was suspended because of darkness.
Donaldson was on the final hole when play was halted. Armitage completed 15 holes.
TENNIS
VIENNA (AP) — Top-ranked Novak Djokovic lost for only the third time this year, falling 6-2, 6-1 to 42nd-ranked Lorenzo Sonego of Italy in the Erste Bank Open quarterfinals.
Sonego will face Daniel Evans in the semifinals. Evans beat Grigor Dimitrov 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-3. In the other quarterfinals, fifth-seeded Andrey Rublev beat defending champion Dominic Thiem 7-6 (5), 6-2, and 2018 champion Kevin Anderson topped Daniil Medvedev 6-4, 7-6 (5).
AUTO RACING
MARTINSVILLE, Va. (AP) — Grant Enfinger raced his way into the Truck Series championship round with a victory at Martinsville Speedway.
Enfinger entered the race in a must-win situation after an engine issue last week at Texas dropped him to sixth in the standings. He gas four victories this season.
Enfinger will race for the championship next week at Phoenix against Shelden Creed, Brett Moffitt and Zane Smith, who finished third to claim the final slot.
