Off the wire

BASEBALL

White Sox hire Grifol

The Chicago White Sox hired Kansas City Royals bench coach Pedro Grifol to replace Hall of Famer Tony La Russa as their manager, a person familiar with the situation said Tuesday. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the team has not announced the hiring. ESPN first reported the move. Grifol, 52, will try to lift a team coming off a disappointing season. The White Sox finished second in the American League Central at 81-81 and missed the playoffs after running away with the division in 2021. La Russa missed the final 34 games because of health problems and announced he would not return. Grifol spent the past 10 seasons in a variety of coaching roles with Kansas City under former managers Ned Yost and Mike Matheny, including the past three seasons as the Royals bench coach.

FOOTBALL

Former ASU WR out for season

Highly regarded Arkansas State transfer receiver Corey Rucker will miss the rest of South Carolina's season with a foot injury. Gamecocks Coach Shane Beamer said Tuesday that Rucker was scheduled for surgery. Beamer also said he expects Rucker to make a full recovery and be back in time for the team's practice sessions next spring. Rucker, a 6-1 junior, was expected to make a quick impact on the offense after catching 59 passes for 826 yards and 9 touchdowns last season at Arkansas State. But he suffered the foot injury in August workouts and only got on the field in a 56-20 win over UNC-Charlotte in September when he caught his only pass of the season for a 52-yard touchdown. Rucker hurt himself again the next week against South Carolina State and has not played since. He joked on social media that while his first year with South Carolina was over, "at least it was a 100 percent rating."

Suspended Spartans reach 8

One of the Big Ten's top defensive players and three other Michigan State football players were suspended Tuesday for their roles in the melee in the Michigan Stadium tunnel after last Saturday's loss to Michigan. Michigan State Athletic Director Alan Haller and coach Mel Tucker announced the latest suspensions in a statement, bringing the total number of suspended players to eight. The players suspended Tuesday were defensive end-linebacker Jacoby Windmon, cornerbacks Malcolm Jones and Justin White and defensive end Brandon Wright. Haller and Tucker said the disciplinary action was taken as the school continues to review electronic evidence of the postgame events Saturday night in the long and narrow tunnel leading from the field to the home and visitor locker rooms. Windmon leads the Big Ten with 10 1/2 tackles for loss and is tied for second with 5 1/2 sacks. His five forced fumbles are most in the nation. He has been named conference defensive player of the week three times. On Sunday, Michigan State announced the suspensions of linebacker Tank Brown, safety Angelo Grose, defensive end Zion Young and cornerback Khary Crump. The Spartans play at No. 14 Illinois this Saturday.

Ex-Niners executive dies

John McVay, the executive who helped launch the San Francisco 49ers dynasty and grandfather of Los Angeles Rams Coach Sean McVay, has died. He was 91. The 49ers announced his death Tuesday. McVay spent 22 seasons with the 49ers starting in 1979 in various capacities. He played an integral role along with coach Bill Walsh in building one of the league's greatest dynasties that won five Super Bowl titles in a span of 14 seasons. McVay originally joined the Niners in 1979 with Walsh as the director of player personnel. Over the next 17 seasons he had various titles including general manager and director of football operations. Before joining the 49ers, McVay was the head coach of the New York Giants for two-plus seasons. He had a 14-23 record for New York and his most memorable game featured a late fumble by Joe Pisarcik when the Giants could have kneeled out the clock. Herm Edwards returned it for a winning TD for Philadelphia in a 19-17 win on Nov. 19, 1978.

TENNIS

Djokovic wins in Paris

Defending champion Novak Djokovic beat Maxime Cressy of the United States 7-6 (1), 6-4 in the second round of the Paris Masters on Tuesday. Cressy saved three break points in the eighth game but then hit two double-faults in the tiebreaker, which Djokovic won with an ace. Cressy also double-faulted at 4-4 in the second set to hand two break points to Djokovic, who broke with a forehand return winner. The Serb converted his first match point with a backhand volley. Meanwhile, Andrey Rublev and Hubert Hurkacz stayed in contention for the two remaining spots at the ATP Finals. Rublev cruised past John Isner 6-2, 6-3 in the second round, while Hurkacz edged wild-card entry Adrian Mannarino 7-6 (5), 6-4 in the first round. Carlos Alcaraz, Rafael Nadal, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Casper Ruud, Daniil Medvedev and Djokovic have already qualified for the eight-man tournament.

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