Welcome to Thursday’s Morning Mashup. For the latest news, start at our WEEI.com home page or click here for the top stories from our news wire.
THURSDAY’S BROADCAST HIGHLIGHTS:
MLB: Red Sox at Yankees, 7:05 p.m. (NESN; WEEI-FM)
MLB: Indians at Tigers, 1:10 p.m. (ESPN)
MLB: Reds at Cardinals, 7 p.m. (MLB Network)
MLB: Rockies at Giants, 11 p.m. (MLB Network)
NFL: Dolphins at Bengals, 8:25 p.m. (NFL Network)
College football: Hampton at North Carolina A&T, 7:30 p.m. (ESPNU)
College football: UConn at Houston, 8 p.m. (ESPN)
College football: Kansas at Texas Tech, 8:30 p.m. (FS1)
Hockey: World Cup of Hockey, Canada vs. Europe, 8 p.m. (ESPN2)
Soccer: Europa League, FSV Mainz at Gabala, 11 a.m. (FS2)
Soccer: Europa League, Internazionale Milano at Sparta Praha, 1 p.m. (FS1)
Soccer: Europa League, Red Bull Salzburg at Schalke 04, 1 p.m. (FS2)
Soccer: Europa League, Astra Giurgiu at AS Roma, 3 p.m. (FS2)
Soccer: Europa League, Zorya Luhansk at Manchester United, 3 p.m. (FS1)
AROUND THE WEB:
— Theo Epstein apparently is finding it a lot easier to work for management in Chicago.
The Cubs announced Wednesday that the former Red Sox general manager agreed to a five-year extension to continue as president of baseball operations of the long-suffering franchise. Epstein, who was GM when the Red Sox ended their 86-year championship drought in 2004, has turned the Cubs into 100-game winners for the first time since 1935 as they pursue their first World Series title since 1908.
“In the five years under Theo’s leadership, he has brought in a strong executive team and acquired and developed some of the best players in the game,” Cubs owner Tom Ricketts said. “Now, the results are on the field.”
General manager Jed Hoyer and senior vice president of scouting and player development Jason McLeod — also former Red Sox employees — will receive extensions as well, Ricketts said.
Rickets explained that he and Epstein first discussed an extension over dinners in early March, although the deal was not finalized until this week.
“We sat down at spring training, had a nice dinner, talked about getting an extension done,” Ricketts said. “Basically, I told him I thought he was the best in the game at what he did. He told me no matter what I paid him he wasn’t going to leave Chicago, so we were off to a good start. We checked back in on it a couple times during the summer. There was no real time pressure.”
— Marlins players walked alongside as a hearse carried the body of Jose Fernandez, the pitcher who died over the weekend in a boating accident in Miami.
During the Wednesday procession, the players and coaches wore T-shirts featuring Fernandez’s image and the letters “RIP.” Crowds along the route chanted “Jose! Jose!” while some waved Cuban flags in honor of the 24-year-old Cuban-American.
A public viewing of the closed casket was held for fans later in the day at a local church.
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio asked the Coast Guard and Army Corps of Engineers to analyze the jetty where the 32-foot boat crashed to determine if it poses a chronic danger to boaters.
“While our hearts are heavy with grief for the numerous lives lost every year on the water, we can do more to save others,” Rubio wrote. “As a boater myself, I have experienced firsthand the challenges this particular jetty can present to others trying to navigate around it.”
ON THIS DAY TRIVIA (answer below): On Sept. 29, 1968, the Red Sox closed out the season with a 4-3 loss to the Yankees. Despite going 0-for-5, Carl Yastrzemski won the American League batting title with a .301 average. Which Sox player finished first in the AL with 109 RBIs?
QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Honestly, the journey’s incomplete. We continue on. I couldn’t be more proud, and I told them after the game: Don’t let one inning take away from that they’ve done for seven full months. They’re AL East champions, we’re AL East champions and we’ve got a lot of work left ahead of us. But one inning should not take away from the fact that we’re champions.” — Red Sox manager John Farrell, after the Red Sox clinched the AL East despite Wednesday’s 5-3 walk-off loss to the Yankees
STAT OF THE DAY: 15-4 — The Patriots’ odds to win the Super Bowl at Bovada sports book, as they now have the best odds of any team
‘NET RESULTS: Mets minor league Tim Tebow hits a home run on the first pitch he sees in the instructional league.
TRIVIA ANSWER: Ken Harrelson
SOOTHING SOUNDS: Suzzy Roche of The Roches was born on this day in 1956. She’s the one in the middle at the start of this video.