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NEW YORK (AP) — Joe West has made it official, retiring from Major League Baseball after umpiring a record 5,460 regular-season games. Roberto Ortiz became the first Puerto Rican-born umpire to join the big league staff in a series of retirements and promotions announced Friday by MLB. “I am honored and blessed to have the privilege of becoming the first Puerto Rican umpire to be hired by MLB,” the 37-year-old Ortiz said. “It fills me with pride to be able to represent my family and my island of Puerto Rico in what I consider the best league in the world.” Longtime umpires Gerry Davis, Kerwin Danley, Brian Gorman and Fieldin Culbreth also have retired. Ben May, Ryan Additon, Sean Barber and John Libka joined Ortiz in promotions to the full-time MLB staff...

By AARON BEARD, AP Basketball Writer The famed rivalry between No. 9 Duke and North Carolina is changing. One Hall of Fame coach is gone, with the Tar Heels' Roy Williams retiring last spring and former UNC player and assistant Hubert Davis replacing him. On Saturday, outgoing Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski will make his final trip to Chapel Hill for the annual showdown. Davis’ debut and Krzyzewski’s latest stop on his farewell tour add another dynamic as the rivals jostle for position atop the Atlantic Coast Conference. “I wouldn’t say it’s pressure,” Duke big man Mark Williams said of Krzyzewski’s UNC finale. "Obviously the stakes are a little different, but we’re still playing the same game.” The Blue Devils (18-3, 8-2 ACC) and Tar Heels (16-6, 8-3) ...

By DAVE SKRETTA, AP Sports Writer BEIJING (AP) — It was supposed to be a foregone conclusion that Russia's powerful stable of figure skaters, including world champions in three of the four disciplines, would run away with the team gold medal at the Beijing Olympics. Nathan Chen and the rest of the Americans must have taken exception. The three-time world champ's winning short program set the tone for Team USA on Friday, and everyone else followed suit. Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue won the rhythm dance with a season-best score, and Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier Las Vegas Raiders Jerseys  capped the first of three days of team competition with a personal-best short program. That left the Americans with 28 points, two ahead of the Russians and se...

By GREG BEACHAM, AP Sports Writer LAS VEGAS (AP) — Most of the world’s best hockey players are spending this weekend in opulent hotel suites in one of the planet's top party towns instead of being confined to modest Olympic accommodations in freezing-cold Beijing. The NHL All-Stars still aren't happy about missing their chance to compete for gold medals, but nobody was complaining Friday morning about the consolation prize of a sunny weekend in Vegas. “It's disappointing, because you realize you never know when you’re going to get an opportunity to go to the Olympics,” said Pittsburgh left wing Jake Guentzel, Baltimore Ravens Jersey a probable member of the U.S. team. "It’s something you dream about, and it’s disappointing that it didn’t happen. But it’s not too ...

By RONALD BLUM, AP Baseball Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Whatever little chance there was of an on-time start to spring training all but vanished Tuesday during a contentious 90-minute negotiating session between locked out players and Major League Baseball. Players made two slight moves during the first meeting in a week. The union lowered its proposed pool of money for pre-arbitration-eligible players from $105 million to $100 million. The union also cut the number of players it wants Steve Madden Shoes credited with an additional year of major league service to the top 20 at each position in each league by WAR, or the top seven, depending on position, down from 30 and 10. Players and owners did not attend the session Tuesday but participated by video. ...

By WILL GRAVES, AP Sports Writer PITTSBURGH (AP) — Caitlyn Callahan was standing in a Starbucks in the fall 2019 when she peered down at her phone and was met with a jolt that changed the course of her life. A couple of clicks told her the New York Yankees had just made Rachel Balkovec the first woman to be a full-time coach in the major leagues. Suddenly, a door that Callahan assumed was closed had swung wide open and her inner ballplayer resurfaced. “If you’ve ever been in one of those playoff situations where you’re that batter up and there’s someone on second (base) and that excitement, that, like, 'Ready to go. Running Shoes  ,I want to be in the box like that,’ that was what it felt like,” Callahan said. “Just being so excited to see that. It gives me chill...