Rookies of the Year: Fernandez and Myers

November 12, 2013 at 12:00a.m.

NEW YORK

Jose Fernandez arrived early. Wil Myers made it big after a blockbuster trade. Neither one needed much time to create a splash, and together they brought both baseball Rookie of the Year awards back to Florida.

Fernandez stood out in a very deep National League class this season, and the precocious Miami Marlins pitcher received 26 of 30 first-place votes from a Baseball Writers’ Association of America panel in results announced Monday.

Myers won the American League prize after the Tampa Bay slugger put up impressive offensive numbers in barely half a season. The right fielder was chosen first on 23 of 30 ballots, beating out Detroit shortstop Jose Iglesias and Rays teammate Chris Archer.

Fernandez easily topped runner-up Yasiel Puig of the Los Angeles Dodgers as Cuban players ran 1-2 in the NL race.

Huntington second in executive of year vote

ORLANDO, Fla.

Boston Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington has been voted The Sporting News baseball executive of the year following the team’s worst-to-first turnaround. The award, based on a vote of 31 major league executives, was announced Monday night at the annual GM meetings. Cherington received 15 votes, followed by Pittsburgh’s Neal Huntington (nine), Kansas City’s Dayton Moore (four) and Atlanta’s Frank Wren (three).

Kent pulls away for 81-77 win over Temple

PHILADELPHIA

Kent State coach Rob Senderoff saw his team had an early case of big-game jitters. The first road game and a national TV appearance in front of a loud, red crowd made for an uncomfortable start.

“I think we were really overanxious on both ends of the floor,” he said. Once the Golden Flashes settled down, they settled in for a nice comeback win.

Derek Jackson and Devareaux Manley each scored 17 points to rally Kent State past Temple 81-77 on Monday night. Darren Goodson scored 12 points and Kellon Thomas had 11 for the Golden Flashes (2-0). Jackson and Goodson each made three 3-pointers as part of Kent State’s 11 of 22 performance.

Djokovic beats Nadal to win ATP Finals

LONDON

Novak Djokovic capped off his season by defending his ATP World Tour Finals title with an impressive 6-3, 6-4 win over Rafael Nadal on Monday night. There’s no doubt Djokovic is the man to beat on indoor hard courts. And just for the record, his 22 consecutive wins to finish 2013 matched top-ranked Nadal’s best stretch of the year.

Djokovic’s winning run started after a U.S. Open final defeat to Nadal, and during a span when the Spaniard replaced him atop the rankings. His victory in London denied Nadal the only big trophy missing from his resume.

Messi out 6 to 8 weeks with another leg injury

BARCELONA, Spain

Lionel Messi probably won’t play soccer again until 2014. Barcelona said Monday that the four-time world player of the year has another leg injury — his third of the season — and this time needs six to eight weeks to recover. That would rule Messi out until about Christmas, when the Spanish league takes its annual winter break.

The Argentina forward tore his left hamstring Sunday in Barcelona’s 4-1 victory at Real Betis. He struggled with a hamstring problem toward the end of last season, and Barcelona scuffled without him. This season, the 26-year-old forward hurt his left thigh in August and then was sidelined for three weeks after tearing a small muscle in his right thigh in late September.

Correction

In an Oct. 24 story about a boys soccer tournament match between Boardman and Massillon Jackson, an incorrect player for Boardman was identified as having committed a foul that led to a penalty kick. The player should have been identified as Adam Calhoun.

Staff reports/Associated Press