Major League Baseball

BC-Sports Showcase Digest,ADVISORY

Published Jun. 27, 2018 6:17 p.m. ET

A look ahead to top enterprise and feature stories planned globally by AP Sports. New digests will go out each Thursday and Monday and will be repeated on other weekdays. Please note that story plans may change depending on news and other issues.

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All times are Eastern.

Adds: BBO--ADVANCE SCOUTING for Friday, June 30.

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THURSDAY, June 28

HKN--HURRICANES-BRIND'AMOUR'S HOME

RALEIGH, N.C. -Rod Brind'Amour came to Carolina in 2000- and never left. He worked his way up from key trade acquisition to captain of a Stanley Cup-winning team to the front office to assistant coach and, now, head coach. Along the way, he became as much a part of North Carolina's landscape as NASCAR and barbecue - even coaching his son's T-ball and youth hockey teams in his spare time without drawing much attention. He's also one of only four coaches in the four major pro sports to earn the top job of the team with which he won a championship as a player. By Joedy McCreary. UPCOMING: 800 words, photos by 3 a.m. Thursday.

BBN--METS MELTDOWN-NOW WHAT?

NEW YORK - With the New York Mets sinking fast toward the bottom of the National League standings, baseball operations were turned over Tuesday to a trio of Sandy Alderson's assistants when the general manager made the stunning announcement that he was stepping down because his cancer has returned. John Ricco, J.P. Ricciardi and Omar Minaya have decades of front office experience between them, both in New York and elsewhere around the majors. But it might take all three of them to clean up this mess - and time is of the essence. By Baseball Writer Mike Fitzpatrick. UPCOMING: 800 words, photos by noon Thursday.

FRIDAY, June 29

BBO--ADVANCE SCOUTING

OAKLAND, Calif. - Buck Showalter receives regular calls from veteran, out-of-work scouts looking for jobs. Longtime baseball men who once hit the road ahead of their clubs to offer detailed insight of upcoming opponents are largely no longer as advance scouting for many teams has turned to technology: video and analytics. Showalter's Baltimore Orioles don't have an advance scout working in the ballpark. Same for World Series champion Houston, Minnesota and Oakland. Advance scouting may not be a thing of the past, but the methods have changed dramatically. ''Advance scouting by humans is history,'' said Mets scout Shooty Babitt. By Janie McCauley. UPCOMING: 900 words, photos by 2 a.m.

SATURDAY, June 30

SOC--WCUP-WOMEN IN THE BOOTH

MOSCOW - Fox's Aly Wagner and Telemundo's Viviana Vila are the first women match analysts for a men's World Cup on U.S. television. Katy Sparks is filling a similar role in Britain, which led to a flap when former England captain John Terry said he watched a match with no volume. As Beth Mowins and Jessica Mendoza have broken through to become national play-by-play broadcasters, women have become more prominent on sports airwaves. By Ronald Blum. UPCOMING: 1,000 words, photos by noon Saturday.

MONDAY, July 9

CAR-ARCA-GIRL POWER

NEWTON, Iowa - Venturini Motorsports made history in Chicagoland Speedway in late June when it started three female drivers in an ARCA race - a first for a stock care event. But it wasn't that big of a shock that team owner Bill Venturini, who once won a title in the series with an all-female pit crew led by his wife and current co-owner Cathy, was behind the move. By Luke Meredith. UPCOMING: 700 words, photos by 3 a.m. Monday, July 9.

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Again, if you have questions about the Sports Showcase Digest or the material listed, please reach out to Oskar Garcia at 215-446-6632 or ogarcia(at)ap.org.

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AP Sports