NEW YORK -- Major League Baseball has appointed its first African American umpire crew chief, promoting Kerwin Danley to the position this week, The Associated Press has learned.

A person familiar with the move spoke to the AP on Wednesday night on condition of anonymity because the announcement had not yet been made.

MLB often shuffles its roster of umpires in the offseason to account for retirements, promotions and new hires.

Danley, 58, has worked two World Series and been on the field for 10 other postseason rounds, including the AL Championship Series last year. He's also been chosen to call two All-Star Games.

Danley called his first game in the majors in 1992 as a minor league fill-in and was hired to the MLB staff in 1998.

Danley played college ball at San Diego State and was a first-team All-America outfielder in 1983 when he batted .399. His teammates with the Aztecs included future Hall of Fame outfielder Tony Gwynn -- Danley's roommate -- and current Colorado manager Bud Black.

In a neat coincidence, Danley was the first base umpire when Gwynn got his 3,000th hit during a 1999 game in Montreal and gave his former teammate a hug by the bag.

Danley began his umpiring career in 1985 in the Northwest League, and kept working his way up through the minors. He is known for having an even temperament, always an attractive quality when MLB picks its crew chiefs. He has totaled just four ejections in the past five seasons, according to retrosheet.org.

Danley also was an instructor at the first umpire camp at MLB's Urban Youth Academy in Compton, California.

There have been about 10 full-time African American umpires in the majors since Emmett Ashford ascended to become the first in 1966. There have been several blacks in MLB umpire leadership positions, including Peter Woodfork, senior vice president of baseball operations, supervisor Cris Jones and the late Chuck Meriwether, a longtime big league umpire who became a supervisor.

Measure what matters with the breath of fresh air in performance monitoring

In a crowded market of fitness monitoring devices, they all tend to measure WHAT you are doing. The Frontier X focuses on measuring HOW you are doing.

This clever device measures breathing rate and cardiac strain for an in-depth look at performance and health.

Former women’s marathon world record-holder Paula Radcliffe has been using the device for several months.

“You can see how breathing rate is actually a very accurate reflection of how you’re working,” Radcliffe said. “As a runner you have to run according to feel and what your body is capable of.

“That’s why Frontier X really resonated with me, because it looks after your health and it gives you that ability to tune in to your body, but it doesn’t take over your run. You don’t have to listen to it other than a buzz if you’re working too hard.”

“Frontier X is by far the most advanced of any wearable technology available today” – Paula Radcliffe

The Frontier X is a chest strap, worn like a heart rate monitor, yet it records much more. Rather than just beats per minute, the chest-mounted computer measures and records the functioning of the heart and lungs and generates a continuous ECG graph.

By recording this information ‘on the chest’ and within the device itself it can offer a deeper insight into the data when connected to your smartphone after a training session.

The makers of the device have created algorithms that have been tested and validated in laboratory trials, with patents filed on the technology and design.

Whereas heart rate can be affected by various factors such as sleep, stress, caffeine consumption or simply the weather, breathing rate has been shown by recent studies to present a more accurate measure of effort, regardless of conditions.

Frontier X measures breathing rate and uses this to help you find the perfect training intensity.

Frontier X also measures the strain on the heart. While this is helpful for performance it can also serve as a great insight for newcomers to running, perhaps advised to ‘lose weight and get fit’.

It can serve as a reminder to those who might otherwise strain their hearts.

After setting thresholds on the device via the app, it will provide tactile feedback in the form of a buzz should you exceed the limits, allowing you to adjust your pace for best performance.

The Frontier X can be used alone and operate independently of a watch or phone, with the device taking care of all the computing and processing power.

Downloading this data after training provides a visual presentation with ECG graphs as well as information such as breathing rate, strain, cadence, heart rate and training load.

Recommendations are presented given your accumulated training load, breathing rate and cardiac strain.

These are insights which have never been available before and provide the most comprehensive data on your performance and health outside of a laboratory setting.

FRONTIER X IS AVAILABLE AT AN INTRODUCTORY PRICE OF £299.00 AT FOURTHFRONTIER.COM
Offer valid until March 31

New Jersey forward John Hayden was fined $2,016.13, the maximum allowable under the collective bargaining agreement, for cross-checking Red Wings forward Tyler Bertuzzi during the Devils' 4-1 win on Tuesday night in Detroit.

The incident occurred at 19:14 of the third period after Bertuzzi checked Hayden's teammate, rookie forward Jack Hughes, into the boards. Hayden was assessed a major penalty and a game misconduct for cross-checking. The money will be sent to the NHL Players' Emergency Assistance Fund.

Hayden is in his first season with the Devils after being traded from the Blackhawks in the offseason. With New Jersey having traded away several assets up front, Hayden expects to see time on the team's fourth line in the final month of the season. He has two goals, three points and 75 penalty minutes in 37 games this season.

The Devils, who dealt forwards Taylor Hall (Arizona) and Blake Coleman (Tampa Bay) earlier this season, also sent winger Wayne Simmonds to Buffalo at the trading deadline Monday. New Jersey has won three in a row and four of five since trading Coleman on Feb. 16.

Sunrisers Hyderabad have announced David Warner as their captain for the upcoming IPL that starts on March 29. Warner takes over from Kane Williamson , who led the side in 2018 and 2019. Williamson was named captain in 2018 after Warner had been barred from participating in that season of the tournament in the aftermath of Australia's ball-tampering controversy, which occurred before the start of the league that year.

Williamson led the Sunrisers to the final in 2018, where they lost to the Chennai Super Kings in Mumbai, and was the tournament's leading scorer with a tally of 735. Last year, the Sunrisers lost to the Delhi Capitals in the eliminator, after finishing fourth on the points table.

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Announcement #OrangeArmy, our captain for #IPL2020 is @davidwarner31. #SRH #IPL

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Warner had earlier captained the side between 2015 and 2017, and had led them to the title win in 2016. Warner has led the Sunrisers in 45 matches overall, with 26 wins and a win-loss ratio of 1.368. Williamson, in comparison, led the side to 14 wins in 26 games with a win-loss ratio of 1.272.

With Williamson not the captain anymore and Warner a sure starter, the Sunrisers have the option of rotating their overseas players for the other three slots in the XI. They already have match-winners Jonny Bairstow, Mohammad Nabi and Rashid Khan in their squad and Mitchell Marsh, Fabian Allen and Billy Stanlake among the other non-Indian names. When Williamson was captain, they were forced to pick Warner and Williamson in the top order, leaving only two overseas slots open.

India 8 for 133 (Verma 46, Kerr 2-21, Mair 2-27) beat New Zealand 6 for 129 (Kerr 34*) by four runs

India squeezed past an error-prone New Zealand into the Twenty20 World Cup semi-finals and probable tournament favouritism, after Shafali Verma added to her tournament highlight reel and and then Harmanpreet Kaur marshalled her bowlers to suffocating effect at the Junction Oval in Melbourne.

Sent in to bat by Sophie Devine, India benefited from another whip-crack start thanks to Verma, who cashed in on two dropped chances on her way to 46 off 34, after scores of 29 and 39 against Australia and Bangladesh. While the innings faded at its back end, the bowlers had been given more than enough to defend on a sluggish surface that rewarded canny slow bowling against a New Zealand side eager to get to grips with the turning ball.

After Shikha Pandey struck first, Suzie Bates and Devine perished to deliveries they needed to wait just a fraction longer before hitting, and from that early loss of three wickets it was always going to be a game of catch-up. Amelia Kerr threatened when she took 18 off Poonam Yadav in the 19th over, but Pandey kept her nerve to send India through as New Zealand scored 29 off the last two overs when they needed 34.

Hurricane Verma blows into Junction Oval

There was absolutely nothing dull about Verma's latest appearance, although it was at times on the scrappier side as both sides adjusted from the pace of Perth to the slower Junction Oval surface. A few early plays and misses gave way to boundaries, and then the sign that Verma was really in when she deposited successive deliveries from Anna Peterson over the straight boundary for sixes, when an obliging half volley was followed by an even more generous full toss. All was not well at the other end, however, after Smriti Mandhana dragged Lea Tahuhu onto the stumps and then Taniya Bhatia's sound supporting innings was ended with a square cut off Rosemary Mair that arrowed straight to Kerr.

Verma's innings was also to grow more ragged, as she was twice put down by New Zealand at long-on and then midwicket. Further wickets, as Jemimah Rodrigues front edged a full toss and then Kaur offered the tamest of return catches to Leigh Kasperek, contributed to a sense of claustrophobia, and Verma's stay was to end with a catch to long-off. Spectacular as some of her shots had been, the innings was petering out.

Kerr restricts India

Despite a greenish tinge on the pitch, New Zealand loaded up on spin after the early overs, as Devine called upon no fewer than seven bowlers in her efforts to slow down India. Best of the bunch was Kerr, not surprisingly, who twirled her legbreaks and variations with typical skill and was rewarded with the wickets of Verma and Veda Krishnamurthy lbw on the sweep after New Zealand opted for the recourse of the DRS.

Having been 1 for 68, India declined as far as 7 for 111 before Pandey and Radha Yadav scrounged some vital runs at the death, including the only six of the innings not fired off by Verma. New Zealand were left feeling mixed about proceedings: they would probably have taken a target as low as 134 at the start of the match, but their profligacy in missing numerous chances - a trend for several teams in the tournament so far - left a sour sense of opportunity spurned.

Slow bowling, fast exits

Patience is a virtue when facing India's spinners, not only in terms of waiting for the bad ball but also in terms of waiting for each individual ball to actually arrive. For New Zealand's top order, this wait proved too much under World Cup pressure, as Bates and Devine played too presumptuously and too soon at balls whirring slowly down at them. Pandey's mediums gained the first breakthrough as Priest, having already found the boundary, aimed for midwicket and could only offer a skier to be caught inside the fielding circle after it swirled tantalisingly in the breeze.

Bates, spoiling to go on the attack herself, made a pre-movement across her stumps that gave Deepti Sharma a split second in which to slow her pace further, and have the New Zealand No. 3 rushing through her shot and bowled behind her pads. Devine, having dominated against all comers recently while churning out six consecutive half-centuries, waited and waited for Poonam's full toss to reach her, only to mistime it for another simple catch.

New Zealand suffocated

Despite a salvaging stand between Maddy Green and Katey Martin, the required rate drifted up and up over six, seven, eight, nine and 10, as an expectant Indian-centric crowd anticipated a victory.

Fifty-seven runs were still required off 35 balls when Green finally decided that attack was her only available path and ran down the pitch to Rajeshwari Gayakwad, who had artfully held one back just enough to gain the drop and turn required to spin past the bat and offer Bhatia a simple stumping. From there only a brilliant rearguard from Kerr, who scooped 18 from Poonam's final over, gave the Indians some jitters, before Pandey delivered an exceptional final over to close it out.

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HOUSTON -- Rookie of the Year front-runner Ja Morant appreciates point guards who combine extreme aggressiveness and extraordinary athleticism, which is why his favorite player as a kid was Russell Westbrook.

In fact, Morant argues that Westbrook should have more fans.

"I still feel like he's highly disrespected," Morant told ESPN on Wednesday before playing against Westbrook for the first time. "People take his play for granted. I mean, he averaged a triple-double for the last three or four years, and I'm pretty sure they see what he's doing this year, but it's still the same thing. I just love that he still just goes out and plays and handles his business and doesn't worry about it."

Westbrook, the 2016-17 MVP and a nine-time All-Star, didn't disagree with Morant's opinion. Westbrook dismissed the matter as any sort of concern.

"I don't really care what nobody else thinks about my game," Westbrook said. "I appreciate guys like [Morant] and other guys, but as long as I'm OK and satisfied with what I bring to the table, I'm going to keep busting everybody's ass."

Westbrook delivered another performance of that sort in the Houston Rockets' 140-112 win over Morant's Memphis Grizzlies. Westbrook led the Rockets with 33 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists and 4 steals, and Houston outscored the Grizzlies by 37 points in his 34 minutes.

It was Westbrook's first game against Morant, who had 12 points and nine assists. Westbrook sat out the Rockets' previous two meetings with Memphis because of Houston's season-long plan to rest him on back-to-backs.

Such dominance has been routine for Westbrook recently. He has averaged 31.8 points, 7.8 rebounds and 7.1 assists in his past 25 games while shooting 50.2% from the field.

"The excitement that he brings to the game, I just don't know another player in the league who brings that kind of intensity and is actually skilled," said Westbrook's Rockets co-star, James Harden, who had 30 points on 9-of-16 shooting in the win.

Westbrook's production has been even more impressive since the Rockets fully committed to a small-ball approach. He has averaged 34.0 points on 56.9% shooting in six games since the Rockets traded center Clint Capela in a four-player, 12-team deal that brought forward Robert Covington to Houston, ensuring that the Rockets would play without a traditional center in the starting lineup for the rest of the season.

The Rockets have won five of those six games, the lone loss coming when Utah's Bojan Bogdanovic made a tightly contested, 29-foot buzzer-beater. Westbrook, who was 15-of-24 against the Grizzlies, has shot better than 50% from the field in all six games, the longest such streak of his career.

"It makes it even harder to guard him because this small-ball lineup that we have on the floor now is just all shooters, so you have no help," said Rockets guard Austin Rivers, who scored 23 points off the bench. "It's just one-on-one, and you can't guard him one-on-one. He's too explosive. He's too strong. They try putting bigs on him because of that, and he just has the quickness advantage. There's just really nothing you can do."

VILLANOVA, Pa. -- Kyle Lowry was as headstrong as any Villanova star to wear the uniform, and nearly wore out his welcome with coach Jay Wright before he ever hit the court. The two have since become extremely tight, and when Lowry returned for a night in his honor, Wright requested a picture with Lowry and his two young sons, and a trio of former Wildcats. When the fussy kids were still shooting hoops, Lowry wrangled them over for a quick picture.

"They listen way better than you did," Wright cracked.

"They know I don't play," Lowry said.

The photo op still fresh in his mind, Wright smiled as he said, "That was my favorite part of tonight."

But No. 12 Villanova's 70-61 survive-to-the-finish victory over St. John's on Wednesday night was certainly a close second. The Wildcats had 13 turnovers, two offensive rebounds and trouble shaking the Red Storm until late on a night the program saluted Lowry by retiring his No. 1 jersey at halftime. Lowry, a five-time All-Star guard for the NBA champion Toronto Raptors, might have provided a dose inspiration for the young Wildcats (22-6, 11-4 Big East).

"We were commentating on his toughness and competitiveness," Wright said. "That's something the young guys have to learn."

Saddiq Bey hit four 3-pointers and scored 23 points and Justin Moore had five 3s for 21 points for the Wildcats.

St. John's came in 12½-point underdogs and kept the deficit within single digits for most of the second half. Greg Williams Jr. buried a 3 for the Red Storm (14-14, 3-12) with 4:37 left that pulled them within six.

Moore, though, steadied the Wildcats with his fifth 3 of the game, a driving layup and a pull-up jumper in succession that stretched the lead to 13 and sealed another win for the perennial Big East power. "They had guys who made plays," St. John's coach Mike Anderson said. "We had guys who almost made plays."

Lowry made plenty of big plays in his two seasons with the Wildcats as one of the early pieces that helped build Wright's program into a national power.

Lowry was flanked by former teammates and called the jersey recognition honor a "once in a lifetime" experience that he was able to share with his wife and two young sons. His sons, Karter and Kameron, played with the microphones at a halftime news conference.

Lowry played from 2004 to 2006 when the Wildcats made their first two NCAA tournament trips of Wright's young tenure.

"From the time I got here, he was kind of on that proverbial hot seat," Lowry said. "Now, he's never going anywhere and he's one of the best coaches in the history of college basketball."

Wright has since won two national titles at Villanova and was named the AP Coach of the Decade. Wright has related how Lowry skipped classes and was disruptive at practice, so much so that it got to the point where the feisty guard might not have made it to a second season. Lowry laughed when he recalled his rocky relationship with his coach.

"My freshman year, I was such an immature kid and I didn't know what to expect, I didn't know what I wanted or what I could do or what my abilities were off the court," Lowry said. "I didn't know what I was, I didn't know who I was. Me and Coach never talked about basketball. We always talked about these things off the court. That's why me and Jay, to this day, have the relationship that we have. It wasn't nothing about basketball. He didn't worry about me on the court. He worried about me as a man."

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

WILMETTE, Ill. — The new racing season is upon us, hope and excitement fill the pits and garage areas around the globe.

While most of the spotlight will be on the highest levels of professional motorsports, lots of action takes place at the grassroots level.

This month we will take a look at the role of the gentleman racer in the motorsports ecosystem.

Top-tier series require big budgets to compete. Funds are used for cars, engines, parts, tires, shop space, haulers, salaries and related expenses. Additional money is spent for track rental, travel and entry fees.  Most teams will have sponsors paying to support the team in return for media exposure and activation opportunities.

Sponsorship and in-kind exchange may cover up to two-thirds of the team budget with the remainder coming from purses, prize money and merchandise sales.

At lower levels of racing, the ability to generate sponsorship revenue may be limited. This leaves a gap to be filled. We know that racers typically spend everything they have, and often exceed all available resources. Speed costs money and all racers want to go fast.

Teams are left with the decision to limit budgets or be creative in covering the shortfall.

This is where the paying driver enters the equation. Instead of being paid by the team, they will drive for free. In most cases, they will bring with them money in the form of sponsorship or funds to pay for the seat. This money goes directly to the team budgets.

One aspect of the driver bringing money that may not be looked on as favorable involves moving out an existing driver in favor of a sizeable sponsorship with another wheelman. Existing contracts may be honored and paid out, but this still unsettles fans.

A driver may be trying to gain experience through seat time and paying for the ride will give them an opportunity. The ultimate goal for many is to advance through the ranks of racing to the highest level.

Another form of pay to play may be the aspiration of individuals to be part of the racing lifestyle, usually on a part-time basis. Spending the weekend in the paddock away from the office is not a bad option. Flying to the race track with a helmet bag as carry-on is the ultimate trip.

The goal for drivers may be to learn how to use their performance vehicles at their limit or work on obtaining competition licenses in larger racing series.

Many teams and manufacturers offer “arrive-and-drive” packages.  These inclusive packages offer a race-prepped track car and hospitality packages.

There are several series that host events on the world-renowned race tracks. Access to the iconic venues is limited, but participation with a track day school can provide that access. Similar to golf, many racers have that “bucket-list” of tracks they would like to drive on.

What does it cost to be a gentleman racer?

It is not cheap. Renting a seat for a weekly show at a local dirt track might run $1,500 to $3,000. A Chili Bowl ride may cost as much as $15,000. A fully-equipped McLaren may cost $30,000 for a weekend of racing, while a ride in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship may cost as much as $2 million.

Away from the track, many are using driver simulation rigs to hone their skills.

Participation in iRacing.com has exploded, with many professional drivers competing alongside aspiring esports gamers and grassroots racers. The ultimate strategy is to have a fully equipped setup rig with moving seats and multiple screens.

Not all gentleman racers compete on the track. Fastball Racing co-owner and driver Bobby Patton is a successful businessman and co-owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers. His team carried the Major League Baseball team’s colors in the Baja 1000 and the Dakar Rally with limited manufacturer support from Toyota.

As racing gets more expensive, entities will look at deals that will provide them with the resources necessary to stay competitive on the track.  The other option is to cut costs and manage expenses, resulting in team parity.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Renowned German manufacturer BMW will be the featured marque at this year’s Historic Sportscar Racing Classic Daytona presented by IMSA, the classic 24-hour race at Daytona Int’l Speedway that runs for the sixth time Nov. 4-8.

“BMW has been a fixture on the international sports car racing scene for 50 years and is also a popular and competitive car of choice for HSR competitors,” said HSR President David Hinton. “It is rare for an HSR race weekend to go by without numerous podium appearances by competitors in BMWs. The HSR Classic Daytona in particular draws a diverse lineup of BMWs each year, and we hope the 2020 race’s featured status will bring even more of these impressive racing machines to Florida this November.”

The spotlight on BMW at the HSR Classic Daytona celebrates the Munich-based manufacturer’s past and current sports car racing success at Daytona Int’l Speedway.

An overall victory by Peter Gregg, Brian Redman and John Fitzpatrick in a BMW CSL in 1976 broke up what would have been a run of 13-straight 24-hour race wins at Daytona by Porsche.

Two more overall victories were earned by Chip Ganassi Racing in the 2011 and 2013 runnings of the Rolex 24 At Daytona with BMW-powered Riley Daytona Prototypes.

More recently, BMW Team RLL has won the GT Le Mans class in each of the last two runnings of the Rolex 24 At Daytona. The Bobby Rahal-led team’s No. 24 BMW M8 GTE took the class win in last month’s 58th running of the Rolex 24 while the sister No. 25 entry won in 2019.

BMW has also seen some success in the HSR Classic Daytona since the 24 Hours of Daytona tribute race was introduced in 2014. Tireless BMW racing legend Dieter Quester earned a B.R.M. Chronographes watch as the top GT finisher in Group B in the 2017 HSR Classic Daytona. Quester co-drove with Luca Riccitelli to a third-place overall finish in a rare 1979 BMW M1 Procar.

Vancouver Canucks goaltender Jacob Markstrom underwent a minor lower-body procedure Wednesday and will be re-evaluated in two weeks, Canucks general manager Jim Benning announced.

Markstrom underwent an MRI on Monday after suffering the injury in a 9-3 win over Boston on Saturday.

Backup Thatcher Demko will receive the bulk of the workload in Markstrom's absence. He started and made 37 saves en route to the Canucks' 4-3 overtime win Tuesday in Montreal.

"I want the guys to have confidence in me," Demko said after the win over the Canadiens. "This being the first game of the stretch, it was an important game for me to come in and just kind of calm the group. If I don't play well, maybe they get a little bit nervous for the next handful of games. It was good for me to kind of get in a rhythm. Obviously, there's a lot more games that I'm going to be playing. I just want to keep getting better as we go."

With concern over Markstrom as the postseason push continues in a congested Western Conference, Benning dealt for New Jersey goaltender Louis Domingue just before the NHL trade deadline on Monday. Domingue, who has rotated between the Devils and their AHL affiliate this season, should slide in as the interim backup.

Markstrom stopped 34 of 37 shots in Saturday's victory over the Bruins, but briefly exited in the first period after taking a stick to the mask in a different injury. He missed 1:48 of the period. Markstrom improved to 23-16-4 with a 2.75 GAA and a .918 save percentage with the win. He has made 43 starts.

With 74 points, Vancouver was tied with Edmonton for second place in the Pacific Division as play began on Wednesday night.