Maddon, Piniella win

Joe Maddon had a good reason for interrupting his honeymoon.

About an hour after he landed in Rome, the newly married Maddon easily won the American League manager of the year award Wednesday for guiding Tampa Bay from baseball’s basement to the World Series in one season.

Lou Piniella took the NL honor after leading the Chicago Cubs to the league’s best record.

Maddon, who succeeded Piniella as Tampa Bay manager in 2006, was a runaway winner in balloting by the Baseball Writers’ Assn. of America. He received all but one of the 28 first-place votes -- the other went to Minnesota’s Ron Gardenhire.

Piniella beat out Charlie Manuel of the World Series champion Philadelphia Phillies to earn his third manager of the year award and first in the NL. The fiery skipper also won in 1995 and 2001 with Seattle.

This time, he got 15 of 32 first-place votes and totaled 103 points to 67 for Manuel, listed first on eight ballots. Florida’s Fredi Gonzalez finished third with five first-place votes and 48 points.

Two other managers earned first-place votes: Joe Torre of the Dodgers (three) and Tony La Russa of the St. Louis Cardinals (one).

Dale Sveum got a third-place vote after managing only 12 games. He took over the Brewers on an interim basis when Ned Yost was fired in September.

--

The Oakland A’s completed their trade with the Colorado Rockies for outfielder Matt Holliday.

Colorado received right-handed reliever Huston Street, lefty starter Greg Smith and promising outfielder Carlos Gonzalez from the A’s. The clubs reached tentative agreement Monday but had to wait for the results of physicals.

Rockies General Manager Dan O’Dowd said the Rockies earlier this year offered Holliday a deal worth $107.5 million over five seasons, but agent Scott Boras rejected it back in March.

--

Retired major leaguer Vinny Castilla will coach Mexico at the World Baseball Classic in March.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Report: Not enough minorities coaching

Minorities are getting more interviews but still aren’t getting enough college football jobs, according to the Black Coaches and Administrators.

Almost one-third of the candidates interviewed last year were minorities, said a study released by the group, but only four were hired for 31 head coach openings in NCAA Division I football.

The recent firings of Ty Willingham at Washington and Ron Prince at Kansas State -- both effective at the end of the season -- left the NCAA’s top division with four black head coaches, plus one Latino and one Pacific Islander.

“In the world of college football, the facts and statistics reflect an unmistakable bias and a systemic problem that has yet to be fixed. My deep concern is, ‘Why are the college football hiring practices out of sync?’ ” said BCA executive director Floyd Keith.

--

Texas center Chris Hall will miss Saturday’s game at Kansas after spraining his left knee in practice.

SOCCER

Mexico defeats Ecuador in a friendly

Vicente Matias Vuoso scored on a header in the fourth minute of injury time, lifting Mexico to a 2-1 exhibition victory over Ecuador at Phoenix’s Chase Field, the home of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

--

Chivas USA’s Sasha Victorine will miss the start of the 2009 MLS season after undergoing microfracture surgery on his left knee. . . . Chelsea was dumped out of the League Cup on penalty kicks by lower-league Burnley, while defending champion Tottenham advanced to the quarterfinals with a 4-2 victory over Liverpool.

ETC.

Federer defeats Stepanek; Murray wins

Roger Federer kept his hopes alive for a fifth Masters Cup title by beating Radek Stepanek, 7-6 (4), 6-4, at Shanghai, China. Stepanek was playing in the place of Andy Roddick, who withdrew from the tournament earlier with a sprained ankle. Andy Murray reached the semifinals by beating Gilles Simon, 6-4, 6-2 in the other Red Group match.

--

North Carolina men’s basketball Coach Roy Williams said reigning national player of the year Tyler Hansbrough is “extremely doubtful” for Saturday’s season opener. Hansbrough hasn’t practiced for two weeks because of a stress reaction in his right shin. . . . Peter Marshall of the United States broke the short-course record in the 50-meter backstroke at a World Cup meet in Stockholm, Sweden. Marshall won in 23.05 seconds, beating Robert Hurley’s mark of 23.24. . . .

Two mid-tier NASCAR teams, Dale Earnhardt Inc. and Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates, said they agreed to merge starting next year. The merger was necessary because of the tough economy and stiff competition, which has made it difficult for owners to secure enough sponsorship funding, the teams said. DEI also has struggled since popular driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. left this season to join Hendrick Motorsports.

-- Jim Peltz