BASEBALL
Nationals hire Dusty Baker
Dusty Baker got another managing job, this time with the Washington Nationals. The Nationals announced Baker’s hiring on Tuesday, nearly a month after firing Matt Williams when the club missed the playoffs. In the 66-year-old Baker, the Nationals get someone who has worked 20 seasons as a manager in the majors and whose 1,671-1,504 record — a .526 winning percentage — includes the second-most victories among active managers. He led the San Francisco Giants to the 2002 World Series and reached the post-season a half-dozen other times. “I am certain that the Nationals, like all of our clubs, hired the best person for the job. It is encouraging that in this case the best person turned out to be African-American,” commissioner of Major League Baseball Rob Manfred wrote in an e-mail to reporters. “This is a positive step and I am intent on making continued progress on diversity in the managerial ranks going forward.”
RUGBY UNION
Queensland sign Goromaru
The Queensland Reds have signed Japan fullback and World Cup star Ayumu Goromaru for next year’s Super Rugby season. Goromaru led Japan to a shock 34-32 pool-stage win over South Africa in what has been described as the biggest upset in Rugby World Cup history. Goromaru scored 24 points in that match and twice received man-of-the-match honors at the tournament. Goromaru, who is also Japan’s all-time leading point-scorer, has played his entire career in his nation’s Top League. The Reds yesterday said that the 29-year-old Goromaru is to replace former New Zealand flanker Adam Thomson, who has moved to the Melbourne Rebels, as Queensland’s designated foreign player. Goromaru could play against the new Japan-based Super Rugby side on May 21 in Brisbane.
CRICKET
Former England captain dies
Former England captain and president of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) Tom Graveney has died at the age of 88, Britain’s Press Association announced on Tuesday. Graveney made 11 centuries in 79 Test matches for England from 1951 to 1969, scoring 4,882 runs at an average of 44.38. Appointed MCC president in 2005, he was an honorary life member of the Lord’s club. Graveney played county cricket for Gloucestershire and Worcestershire, and had a spell playing in Australia with Queensland. He remained involved in the sport as a commentator following his retirement in 1972. A message from the Lord’s Twitter account read: “Deeply saddened to hear of the death of former @englandcricket captain and MCC President Tom Graveney.” BBC radio cricket correspondent Jonathan Agnew wrote: “Never saw Tom Graveney bat, but he is synonymous with a golden era of England batsmen. Loved a chat in the bar and lived for cricket. RIP.”
CRICKET
Malik retires from Tests
Pakistan batsman Shoaib Malik is to retire from Test cricket at the end of their ongoing match against England in Sharjah to give the nation’s younger players a chance, he said on Tuesday. Malik, 33, made a shock return to Test cricket at the beginning of the three-match series in the United Arab Emirates, marking his comeback with a career-best 245 in Abu Dhabi. He has since scored 47 runs in five innings, including a golden duck in his last one on Tuesday, but he did record his best Test bowling figures of 4-33 on the day he announced his retirement.
Taiwan’s Lee Hao-yu on Friday went 0-for-3 in his MLB debut for the Detroit Tigers against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, becoming the 19th Taiwan-born player to reach the big leagues. The Tigers ultimately lost 1-0 in 10 innings, ending their six-game winning streak. The 23-year-old started at third base and batted eighth for Detroit. He was promoted from Triple-A Toledo ahead of the four-game series against the Red Sox at the latter’s home stadium, replacing injured utility player Zach McKinstry. “Being right-handed, and given our schedule, I think six of the next 12 games are going to
Matheus Cunha on Saturday fired Manchester United toward the UEFA Champions League with a 1-0 win at Chelsea, while Tottenham Hotspur remain in the relegation zone after twice blowing the lead to draw with Brighton & Hove Albion. Chelsea failed to take advantage of a United defense ravaged by injury and suspension as a fourth straight league defeat for the Blues left their Champions League hopes in ruins. United have missed out on the riches of Europe’s elite competition for the past two seasons, but are closing in on a return thanks to an upturn in fortunes under interim manager
Denmark’s double Olympic badminton champion Viktor Axelsen, long a rival of Taiwan’s former world No. 2 Chou Tien-chen, yesterday announced his retirement at age 32, saying back problems meant he could no longer “compete and train at the highest level.” Axelsen, who won gold at the Tokyo Games in 2021 and again in Paris in 2024, had back surgery in April last year and said he had not overcome his physical issues. “Accepting this situation has been incredibly difficult,” he said in a statement. “But I have now reached a point where my body won’t allow me to continue.” Axelsen retires as one
Italian soccer is at its lowest ebb in nearly 40 years after a wholesale European exodus at club level followed the nation’s failure for the third successive time to qualify for the FIFA World Cup, and compounded a leadership and structural crisis. The exits suffered by Bologna and ACF Fiorentina on Thursday in the UEFA Europa League and UEFA Conference League respectively meant no Italian teams are left in European competition this season. Italy’s last remaining UEFA Champions League contenders, Atalanta BC, went out in the round of 16 last month. It is the first time since the 1986-1987 campaign that Italian clubs
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