College Football
WACO, Texas – Matt Rhule is the new coach at Baylor, where he takes over a beleaguered Big 12 Conference program after winning 20 games over the past two seasons at Temple.
Rhule becomes the full-time replacement for two-time Big 12 champion coach Art Briles, who was dismissed after a scathing report over the university’s handling of sexual assault complaints, including some against football players.
Former Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe had been out of coaching two years when he put his retirement on hold in May to serve as Baylor’s acting head coach this season. The Bears are 6-6, and headed to the Cactus Bowl even with a six-game losing streak.
Golf
LONDON – Thomas Bjorn is the first Scandinavian to be appointed captain of Europe’s Ryder Cup team.
The 45-year-old Dane will lead the team against the United States in 2018 at Le Golf National in Paris after being chosen by a five-man panel, including Europe’s past three captains.
Bjorn says “I have lived and breathed the European Tour for so long, and now I will do the same with the Ryder Cup for the next two years. I’m very much looking forward to taking on this task.”
A 15-time European Tour winner, Bjorn has played in three Ryder Cups and been a vice captain in four matches.
MLB
OXON HILL, Md. – All-Star ace Chris Sale is joining the reloading Boston Red Sox, leaving behind his shredded reputation with the Chicago White Sox.
Boston acquired Sale on Tuesday for a package of four prospects, including high-priced Yoan Moncada.
Sale was a top trade target at the winter meetings and the AL East champion Red Sox were getting him instead of Washington, which also pursued.
A few hours earlier, Boston got prime setup man Tyler Thornburg from Milwaukee. After that deal was announced, without tipping his hand, Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said: “We’re trying to win now, as you can see.”
Boston acquired Sale for minor league pitchers Michael Kopech and Victor Diaz, outfielder Luis Basabe and Moncada, a third baseman.
NEW YORK – Derek Jeter’s No. 2 is being retired, the last of the Yankees’ single digits.
The Yankees said Tuesday the number will be retired on May 14 before a Mother’s Day game against Houston, and a plaque in his honor will be unveiled in Monument Park during the ceremony.
Jeter’s number is the 21st retired by the team. He won five World Series titles and was a 14-time All-Star during a 20-season career that ended in 2014 and he is sixth in career hits with 3,465.
OXON HILL, Md. – Don’t be surprised if the New York Mets sneak Tim Tebow into some spring training action.
Manager Terry Collins said he’d like Tebow to play in spring training games even though the former NFL quarterback has a long ways to go in his transition to baseball.
Tebow may be a mainstay in Mets minor league camp, but Collins knows people – especially close to where Tebow won the Heisman Trophy at the University of Florida – want to see him play.
The Mets signed Tebow to a minor league contract late this year. An outfielder who didn’t play the sport in college, he hit .194 in the Arizona Fall League, striking out 20 times in 70 plate appearances.
Associated Press
