Twins’ Baldelli is MLB’s youngest skipper
The Minnesota Twins have made Rocco Baldelli the youngest manager in the major leagues.
The Twins hired the 37-year-old Baldelli on Thursday, bringing the former Tampa Bay Rays player, assistant and coach to Minnesota for his first job as a manager. He replaces Paul Molitor, who was fired after four seasons with a 305-343 record.
Baldelli will be the first major league manager born in the 1980s.
He spent the last four years on the staff of Rays manager Kevin Cash, the first three as first base coach. His role for 2018 was a newly created position called major league field coordinator.
Charlie Montoyo, a bench coach for the Rays this season, was hired as manager of the Toronto Blue Jays. He succeeds John Gibbons, who was not retained after the team finished 73-89.
The 53-year-old Montoyo, from Puerto Rico, managed the triple-A Durham Bulls from 2007-14 and spent three seasons as Tampa Bay’s third base coach before becoming bench coach this year.
Darnell Coles resigned as the Milwaukee Brewers’ hitting coach and the Brewers fired bullpen coach Lee Tunnell and head trainer Dan Wright . ... The Baltimore Orioles agreed to terms with four international players, among them Gilbert Machado of Venezuela. The 17-year-old shortstop is not related to former Orioles shortstop Manny Machado of the Dodgers.
ETC. Suspension upheld
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman upheld the 20-game suspension levied against Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson by the league’s department of player safety, ruling after a seven-plushour hearing that the discipline was warranted by “clear and convincing evidence” Wilson had violated Rule 48, which pertains to hits to the head.
The NHL Players’ Assn., acting on Wilson’s behalf, had appealed the suspension, which was imposed for his hit to the head of St. Louis Blues forward Oskar Sundqvist in an exhibition game. Wilson, who will not be paid during his suspension, can next appeal to a neutral arbitrator. — helene elliott
Tony Stewart is reconsidering a return to the Indianapolis 500 in part because of injuries Robert Wickens suffered in an IndyCar crash. Wickens suffered severe injuries in an Aug. 19 crash at Pocono that included a thoracic spinal fracture and a fractured neck.
Stewart, in his second full season of retirement as a NASCAR driver, is an Indiana native who holds the Indy 500 above all other events. He won twice there in NASCAR’s Brickyard 400 but was never able to win the Indy 500 and last entered the race in 2001.
Chicago Bulls forward Bobby Portis, averaging 10.5 points, will be sidelined four to six weeks because of a sprained right knee.
Caroline Wozniacki was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis before the U.S. Open, the Danish tennis player revealed at the WTA Finals in Singapore. The former world No. 1 made the announcement after being eliminated from the year-end competition following a 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 loss to Elina Svitolina in her third round-robin match . ... Roger Federer made it 17 wins in a row at the Swiss Indoors in Basel when he defeated Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany 6-3, 7-5 to reach the quarterfinals.
Patrick Reed returned from his post-Ryder Cup break with a bogey-free round in windy conditions for an eight-under 64 and a twoshot lead in the HSBC Champions at Shanghai. Reed putted for birdie on every hole at Sheshan International, a remarkable feat in such tricky weather . ... Cameron Champ shot a seven-under 65 in wet, windy and unseasonably cool conditions at the Country Club of Jackson to take the first-round lead in the Sanderson Farms Championship at Jackson, Miss.
Lindon Crow, a starting cornerback for the New York Giants who intercepted a Johnny Unitas pass in the 1958 NFL title game known as the “greatest game ever played” and later coached at Panorama City St. Genevieve High, has died, his wife, Sandy, said. He was 85.
Crow, who played at USC and with the Los Angeles Rams, was a three-time Pro Bowl selection. — eric sondheimer