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MINNEAPOLIS - The last time the Minnesota Twins searched for a manager, Paul Molitor was in the mix. He withdrew from consideration, with the franchises future uncertain during Major League Baseballs failed attempt to eliminate two clubs.The job didnt open for another 13 years, but this time Molitor was ready. The challenge he accepted is to help turn around a team that lost 92 or more games in each of the last four seasons.The Twins announced Monday they had agreed to a three-year contract for the Hall of Fame infielder and native of Minnesota, who will be introduced Tuesday as Ron Gardenhires replacement during a news conference at Target Field.Its pretty exciting. Im a huge Molitor fan, second baseman Brian Dozier said. Hes a bright individual, with a better IQ in the game of baseball than anyone Ive ever been around. Hes just an exceptional man.This is the first managing job at any level for Molitor, who has the 10th-most hits in major league history. He spent 2014 as a coach on Gardenhires staff. Prior to that, he served for 10 seasons as a minor league instructor in the organization, a noted influence on many young players.Three finalists who had multiple interviews with general manager Terry Ryan were Molitor, Boston Red Sox bench coach Torey Luvollo and Twins minor league manager Doug Mientkiewicz, according to reports. Matching the organizations patient, deliberate style, Ryan took his time with the search before settling on the candidate widely believed to be the favourite all along, particularly given the franchises penchant for promoting from within.I know he hasnt managed, but I dont think that should be a problem at all, just because his knowledge of the game. Hes been around the game for so long now, Dozier said. Its just taking all hes learned over his career and just going on the other side of it now.Molitor, 58, will be the 13th manager of the Twins, who will begin their 55th season. He was an initial candidate in 2001 when Tom Kelly retired, after serving as bench coach during Kellys last two years, but Gardenhire got the job then.Gardenhire led the Twins to the AL Central title in his first year, the first of six on his watch, and a spot in the 2002 AL championship series. The last of those division titles was as late as 2010, but gaps in the organizational talent pool quickly caught up with a club that was revered throughout the previous decade playing in the dingy, low-revenue Metrodome as one of best-run in baseball.These days, the fan base is filled with frustration. Ryan, long one of the most revered decision-makers in the game, has not been immune from the criticism, either, and he realized the importance of this hire.Molitors Hall of Fame and 3,000-hit club credentials were pluses, sure, but his reputation of valuable work with prospects in his role as a roving tutor specializing in baserunning and infield play were equal strengths for Ryan to assess. Molitor served the 2004 season as hitting coach with the Seattle Mariners but has otherwise spent the majority of his post-playing days tutoring throughout the Twins organization.Ill tell you this much, there wont be a team anywhere in the league with a better leader than (Molitor), Twins third baseman Trevor Plouffe tweeted. Very excited to battle with him!Molitor made his reputation with the Milwaukee Brewers and won a World Series with the Toronto Blue Jays, but he finished a stellar 21-year career of flawless compact swings with the Twins from 1996-98.The soft-spoken native of neighbouring St. Paul attended the same high school as Twins first baseman Joe Mauer. After a standout career at the University of Minnesota, the Brewers took Molitor with the third pick in the 1977 draft.His time in the majors wasnt without tumult. Brewers fans were stung when he signed with the Blue Jays. He struggled with injuries. Then there was the drug problem that dogged the early stage of his career, use of cocaine and marijuana he later said was a reaction to pressure he felt by his image as the clean-cut, Midwest-raised star.___AP Sports Writer Jon Krawczynski contributed to this report. Wholesale Air Max 90 . -- Billy Donovans bench came up big, bailing out top-seeded Florida in a tight game against what was supposed to be an overmatched opponent. Cheap Air Max 90 2019 . -- Oakland Athletics third baseman Scott Sizemore has undergone surgery on his left knee to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament. http://www.outletairmax90cheap.com/outlet-air-max-90-2019-cheap.html . -- Michael Phelps is 0 for 1 in his comeback to the pool. Cheap Air Max 90 Essential . Once again, the third baseman delivered in a big spot. 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The result means Atletico Madrid now tops the table, with Madrid level on points in second and Barcelona a point behind in third with nine games remaining as the title race shapes up to be the closest in years.TEMPE, Ariz. - Their second 10-win season in a row secured, the Arizona Cardinals went back to work Monday to prepare for a game Thursday night against the rolling St. Louis Rams.Coach Bruce Arians said there would be no significant physical work done in the teams two practices before boarding a plane on Wednesday because the players are still recovering from playing on Sunday.You do basically everything as a walk-through, he said.Arians has criticized the NFLs Thursday night games in the past.Im on record about Thursday night football, he said. Its here to stay. Hopefully, we dont have Wednesday night football.Arians said the short week is a lot tougher on the road team.You have to travel on Wednesday and flying at any time you have swelling, its not a good match, he said.Arizona is playing meaningful games in December, and thats always a goal, the coach said.For some teams, it (playing in December) doesnt mean a damn thing except the seasons almost over, Arians said. Ive been on that side. This one means a lot because everything rides from here on in, so every game is a real playoff game, especially in the NFC with so many teams sitting at nine (wins).One of those teams is Seattle. The Seahawks are a game behind the Cardinals and come to Arizona a week from this Sunday. The flip side of playing on a short week is getting extra time to rest and prepare for the next game.Yeah, its a bad week until Friday, Arians said, then its a nice week and youre glad you played Thursday night.With iits 17-14 win over Kansas City on Sunday, Arizona reached 10 wins two years in a row for the first time since 1976.dddddddddddd.The Cardinals coaches put the game plan together for the Rams last week, even as the team was preparing for Kansas City. It better be a good one because St. Louis has outscored its last two opponents, Oakland and Washington, by a combined 77-0.Theyre playing as good a football as anybody now, defensive end Calais Campbell said. Its a division game, a team you know. They know us, guys youve played against multiple times. Its going to be a good football game.The Cardinals had lost two straight, both on the road, before beating the Chiefs. The team improved to 7-0 at home, the most for the franchise in the 16-game era.Arizona is 13-2 at home in Arians two seasons with the team.The Cardinals ground game, so bad most of the season, broke out behind Kerwynn Williams, who had never carried the ball in a regular-season game until Sunday. Two days after being elevated from the practice squad, Williams rushed for 100 yards, the first time this season anyone had reached the century mark.But Williams wont necessarily be the featured back in St. Louis.With Andre Ellington out for the season with a hip injury, the Cardinals plan to rely on the trio of Williams, Stepfan Taylor and Marion Grice.But have no doubt, Williams will get the ball.Oh yeah, Arians said. Hell get his chances to do it again.___AP NFL websites: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL ' ' '