Bobby Winkles, the former A’s and ASU manager, dies

Bobby Winkles, the baseball coach who built Arizona State into a national power from scratch and went on to manage and coach in the majors with the A’s and Angels, died Friday. He was 90.

Arizona State said Winkles died with family and friends by his side.

Winkles fielded the Sun Devils’ first varsity squad in 1959 and won national titles in 1965, 1967 and 1969. He went 524-173 in 13 years in Tempe.

Winkles was a charter member of the College Baseball Hall of Fame and coached such stars as Reggie Jackson, Rick Monday, Sal Bando, Larry Gura and Gary Gentry. Arizona State retired his No. 1 jersey in 1972 and the field at Packard Stadium was dedicated in his honor in 2001.

Winkles went on to manage four years in the majors, going 170-213 in stints with the California Angels and Oakland A’s from 1973-78.

Winkles also spent several seasons in assorted coaching roles with the Giants, Chicago White Sox and Montreal Expos.

From Swifton, Arkansas, Winkles starred as an infielder and studied philosophy at Illinois Wesleyan University.

Tennis

SERENA’S COACH DEVISES PANDEMIC-FRIENDLY EVENT >> Serena Williams’ coach Patrick Mouratoglou says his tennis academy will host a five-week tournament starting in May that will give players the chance to get back on court during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The inaugural edition of the Ultimate Tennis Showdown (UTS) — which aims to fill the gap in the tennis calendar created by the health crisis — will take place without fans at the facility in the south of France, and be broadcast live, organizers said in a statement.

The event will comply with local physical distancing requirements to ensure the safety of players, coaches and a limited number of UTS staff onsite, the statement added.

The tournament will begin on May 16-17 and 10 matches will be held every weekend for five weeks, accounting for a total 50 matches throughout May and June.

STARS DISCUSS COVID-19 FUND >> Novak Djokovic says he spoke with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal about working with the ATP to set up a fund to help lowerranked tennis players financially affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

Djokovic talked about trying to amass somewhere around $3 million to $4.5 million to distribute, perhaps to players ranked from around 200th or 250th to around 700th.

He said the ATP and “most likely” the Grand Slam tournaments would be involved.

WNBA

SKY’S DOLSON: ENTIRE FAMILY HAD CORONAVIRUS >> Chicago Sky center Stefanie Dolson announced that she tested positive for the coronavirus, making her the first known Chicago professional athlete to contract COVID-19. Dolson said in a video that aired Friday night during ESPN’S broadcast of the WNBA draft that she and her “whole family” tested positive about a month ago, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Dolson, who is living in New York, did not share any details about her own condition and could not be reached for comment by the Tribune. However, the team’s principal owner, Michael Alter, told the paper that Dolson’s symptoms “never got really bad.”

Basketball

VANESSA BRYANT POSTS TRIBUTE TO KOBE ON WEDDING ANNIVERSARY >> Vanessa Bryant described her late husband Kobe as “my king” in a message posted on social media on Saturday on what would have been the couple’s wedding anniversary.

“My king, my heart, my best friend. Happy 19th wedding anniversary baby,” she wrote on Instagram to accompany a photo of the couple.

“I miss you so much. I wish you were here to hold me in your arms. I love you.”

Basketball superstar Kobe and one of the couple’s daughters, 13-year-old Gianna, were among nine people killed in a helicopter crash in Southern California on Jan. 26.

Friday WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert announced the new Kobe & Gigi Bryant WNBA Advocacy Award.

College basketball

INTERNATIONAL PROSPECT KRIISA COMMITS TO ARIZONA >> Top European prospect Kerr Kriisa committed to Arizona on Saturday. The 6-foot-2 point guard from Estonia chose the Wildcats over BYU, Oregon and Syracuse.

Kriisa played in the Lithuanian National Basketball League (NKL) on an amateur contract this season, averaging 14.8 points and 6.0 assists per game and shooting 39.0 percent from 3-point range. He was the MVP of the Adidas Next Generation Tournament in Kaunas, Lithuania, in 2019 and participated in the NBA’S Basketball Without Borders Global Camp that year.

College athletics

NCAA DROPS SAT/ACT REQUIREMENT FOR INCOMING FRESHMEN >> The NCAA announced it will waive testscore requirements for incoming freshmen for the 2020-21 academic year as high schools across the country continue to adjust to off-campus instruction because of the coronavirus pandemic.

On Wednesday, the College Board announced it was canceling the June

SAT and hopeful that an SAT will be available on Aug. 29 — after many colleges begin new school year. The April 4 ACT was pushed back to June 13.

Golf

MONAHAN: NO PGA TOUR EVENT WITHOUT CORONAVIRUS TESTING >> If the PGA Tour resumes action as planned in mid-june, everyone involved in the event will need to have tested negative for COVID-19.

That was the message from tour commissioner Jay Monahan, speaking on NBC Sports Network’s “Lunch Talk Live.”

Earlier this week, the PGA Tour announced its intention to restart play June 11-14 with the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas.

Monahan said of the preparations for that event and the ones to follow, “We are going to need to be able to test players, caddies and other constituents before we return, but we need to do so in a way that’s not going to take away from the critical need that we’re currently facing.”

Soccer

SPAIN SET TO FINISH SOCCER SEASON WITHOUT FANS IN STADIUMS >> Soccer matches and other sports events in Spain will take place in empty venues at least until the end of the summer, the mayor of Madrid said.

José Luis Martínez-almeida told the Onda Cero radio station that the coronavirus pandemic likely “won’t be under control” by then for events with big crowds to resume normally.

Spain has been one of the hardest-hit countries with more than 190,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19.

The Spanish league is not expecting to resume at least until the end of May. It is working on several scenarios, including playing without fans.