Welcome to Tuesday’s Morning Mashup. For the latest news, start at our WEEI.com home page or click here for the top stories from our news wire.

WHAT’S HAPPENING LOCALLY TUESDAY:
MLB: Red Sox at Twins, 8:10 p.m. (NESN; WEEI)

AROUND THE WEB:

♦ Monday’s big story in the sports world was Real Madrid’s signing of Argentinian 7-year-old soccer prodigy Leonel Angel Coira, aka Leo. The boy will not be paid but will start training with the Spanish club’s youth team in Madrid next month (the family moved to Spain three years ago). “[My] dream is to meet [Lionel] Messi, play in the first division with Madrid and for Argentina in the World Cup,” Coira told the Spanish newspaper ABC.

While the signing of such a young child made headlines around the world, a Real Madrid spokesman insisted the team has signed younger players in the past. “They only have to be a standout,” Juan Tapiador said. “We look for something different, that quality or talent that makes them stand out from the rest.”

Here are a couple of highlights of the player.

♦ Joe Paterno, Penn State’s 84-year-old football coach, was hit by a player during a drill at Monday’s practice and reportedly suffered a hairline fracture of his pelvis. “I expect to be back at practice soon. I’m doing fine; tell everyone not to worry about me,” Paterno said in a statement while at a local hospital. “I like the effort I have seen from the squad during our first few practices, but we have a long way to go to get ready for the schedule we have.”

♦ Real Clear Sports has a list of the baseball players who have had the biggest single-season dropoffs in the wild card era. Tony Clark is on the compilation for his 2002 season with the Red Sox. A pre-Red Sox Adrian Beltre is No. 2. Andruw Jones takes the top spot.

ON THIS DAY TRIVIA: On Aug. 9, 1949, which Red Sox player’s team-record hitting streak ended at 34 games?

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Stay positive. The game of basketball, we all love it. And we’re going to try everything in our power to make sure that this game stays at a high level. And for me personally, I do it because of the fans. Every night I go out on the basketball court, I try to showcase my talent at the highest level because of the fans. They are our league. Our fans are our league.” — LeBron James, speaking to kids in his hometown of Akron, Ohio

STAT OF THE DAY: .327 — David Ortiz‘ average in 42 career games against the Twins, his original team, after a 4-for-5 game Monday night in the Red Sox’ 8-6 victory

‘NET RESULTS: A yacht collides with a tanker at a race in London.

TRIVIA ANSWER: Dom DiMaggio

SOOTHING SOUNDS: Groundbreaking rapper Kurtis Blow is 52 Tuesday.

Leave a Reply