SPORTS digest

Mets tab Indians coach Callaway as manager

NEW YORK

Looking for a fresh voice to shepherd their prized arms, the Mets found it in new manager Mickey Callaway.

New York agreed to a three-year contract Sunday with the Cleveland Indians pitching coach, according to a person familiar with the decision. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because no announcement had been made.

A news conference to introduce Callaway is expected within the next few days.

With his contract set to expire, Terry Collins stepped down at the end of the season after seven years as Mets manager and accepted a position as a special assistant to general manager Sandy Alderson.

The 42-year-old Callaway, who has never managed at any professional level, has done an excellent job as Cleveland’s pitching coach for the past five seasons under highly successful skipper Terry Francona. Led by ace Corey Kluber, the Indians led the major leagues with a 3.30 ERA and 1,614 strikeouts this season.

Red Sox hire Joey Cora as their new manager

BOSTON

The Boston Red Sox have hired Houston Astros bench coach Alex Cora to be their new manager.

The team made the announcement on Sunday, a day after Cora’s Astros reached the World Series.

Cora replaces John Farrell, who was fired this month despite winning back-to-back AL East titles. Farrell’s teams won the 2013 World Series, finished last twice and then in each of the past two years won the division but got eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.

A native of Puerto Rico, Cora is the first Hispanic manager in Red Sox history.

He played 14 years in the major leagues before retiring in 2011, including parts of four seasons with the Red Sox. He was a member of Boston’s 2007 World Series team.

Timberlake receives Super Bowl invite

Justin Timberlake has finally been invited back to the Super Bowl halftime show, 14 years after the “wardrobe malfunction” with Janet Jackson caused a national controversy.

The NFL announced Sunday night that Timberlake will headline the Super Bowl halftime show Feb. 4 in Minnesota.

This will be Timberlake’s third Super Bowl halftime performance, the most for any entertainer. Timberlake performed at the 2001 Super Bowl with N’Sync, and he sang “Rock Your Body“ with Jackson in 2004 in Houston. That performance concluded with Timberlake ripping her costume to reveal her right breast bare except for a nipple shield.

During an interview broadcast at halftime of NBC’s “Sunday Night Football,” Timberlake laughed off questions about a repeat of the infamous moment, which drew CBS a $550,000 fine from the Federal Communications Commission that was later overturned.

“That won’t happen this time,” he said.

Timberlake has won 10 Grammys, and the Tennessee native also has won four Emmys. He said the best Super Bowl performances have spoken to the mood of the nation.

“What I really want to do is take the opportunity to put together a performance that feels like it unifies,” Timberlake said. “I feel like that would be the ultimate accomplishment, and then the icing on the cake is at some point within that 12 minutes that everybody is shaking their booty.”

Canfield-Poland tickets are on sale this week

Tickets for the Canfield-Poland Week 10 football game are on sale at both schools’ athletic offices.

Tickets are available at Canfield each day from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Sale hours at Poland are from 8 am. to 3 p.m. Tickets also can be purchased at Trolio’s T-Shirts daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Student tickets sold in advance are $4 and adult tickets are $6. All tickets will be $6 at the gate on Friday night at Poland’s Dave Pavlansky Field. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

Staff and wire reports