Theo Epstein ends Mike Quade’s stint as manager of the Cubs

Theo Epstein is looking for a manager to lead the Chicago Cubs. He knows exactly the type of candidate he wants too.

In his first major on-field move since becoming the team’s president of baseball operations, Epstein fired Mike Quade on Wednesday and began the search for the manager’s replacement. The move came one day after the club introduced General Manager Jed Hoyer and Jason McLeod, the new head of scouting and player development.

Epstein, who joined the Cubs a little more than a week ago, quickly laid out the qualifications he has in mind for the team’s next manager. One of those is managerial and/or coaching experience in the major leagues, which eliminates a popular fan choice in Ryne Sandberg, a Cubs Hall of Famer.

Epstein spoke with Sandberg on Wednesday and let him know that he was not in the Cubs’ plans. Sandberg, who managed in Chicago’s minor league system and left the organization after Quade was chosen to replace Lou Piniella during the 2010 season, does not have major league managerial or coaching experience. Sandberg managed Philadelphia’s triple-A team last season and could be a candidate in St. Louis.

ETC.

Bryans will finish No. 1 again

American twins Bob and Mike Bryan will finish the year ranked as the No. 1 ATP doubles pair for a record seventh time.

The 33-year-old Bryans’ first-round win at the Valencia Open on Wednesday means they cannot be overtaken by No. 2-ranked pair Michael Llodra and Nenad Zimonjic.

Since 2003, the Bryans have only twice failed to finish No. 1 — in 2004 and 2008. This year, they have won seven titles, including the Australian Open and Wimbledon. They have won an Open-era record 74 titles.

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Roger Federer advanced to the quarterfinals and Andy Murray withdrew because of an injury just before his first-round match at the Swiss Indoors in Basel.

Andy Roddick also advanced, using his serve to beat Tommy Haas of Germany, 6-3, 6-4, in the late match. The seventh-seeded American had 12 aces and never allowed Haas a break-point chance.

Federer, defending champion at his hometown event, dropped a set against Jarkko Nieminen of Finland for the first time in their 12 matches but came through, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3.

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Kelly Slater clinched an unprecedented 11th Assn. of Surfing Professionals world championship during the third round of the Rip Curl Pro Search at Ocean Beach in San Francisco. Slater, 39, is the oldest surfer to win the world title. He became the youngest when he won his first title in 1992.

—Baxter Holmes

UCLA sophomore Patrick Cantlay on Friday will receive the Fred Haskins Award, which goes to collegiate golf’s best player. Cantlay will join Kevin Chappell as the only Bruins players to receive the award. Other recipients include Tiger Woods (1996) and Phil Mickelson (1990-92).

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Former NASCAR driver Jeremy Mayfield, barred from the association since 2009 for a failed drug test, was arrested at his western North Carolina home and charged with possession of methamphetamine, and police said he might face more charges.

Mayfield was arrested Tuesday night in Catawba and charged with possessing 1.5 grams of meth, according to records from the Catawba County Sheriff’s Office. Mayfield, 42, posted $3,000 bond and was scheduled to appear in district court Wednesday. A call to the clerk’s office in Newton was not immediately returned Wednesday afternoon.

Detectives from neighboring Lincoln County said roughly $100,000 worth of items that belonged to businesses in that county was also found at Mayfield’s home, and they plan to charge him with possession of stolen goods.

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Bubba Smith, the former NFL player-turned-actor and TV pitchman, died of acute drug intoxication and other conditions, the Los Angeles County coroner’s office said.

A caretaker at Smith’s home in Baldwin Hills found his body Aug. 3.

Autopsy results showed the 6-foot-7 Smith, who was 66, had high levels of the weight-loss drug phentermine in his system, coroner’s spokesman Ed Winter said in a news release. He also had heart disease, an enlarged heart and up to 75% blockage of some blood vessels.