FRISCO, Texas -- Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott "is right on track or maybe a little ahead of schedule" as he returns from a compound fracture and dislocation of his right ankle suffered last season, coach Mike McCarthy said Tuesday.

McCarthy said he attended Prescott's workout on Saturday, calling it the most extensive the quarterback has had so far.

"I was very impressed with his progress," McCarthy said. "Just coming off the type of injury. His footwork, he's doing all the normal movements that you look to do in a quarterback-school format this time of year."

Shortly after Prescott's injury on Oct. 11, a four-to-six-month recovery period was predicted. He had a second surgery on his right ankle in December to clean up a previous issue, but that has not slowed his rehab.

Asked whether he anticipated Prescott taking work in 11-on-11 drills during the offseason program, McCarthy said, "I'm just hoping we have the [organized team activities]."

"He's surrounded by an excellent medical and strength and conditioning component," McCarthy said. "He's right where he needs to be for this time."

McCarthy said Prescott has been at The Star four days a week as part of Phase 1 of the voluntary offseason program. While other teams have had players follow the NFL Players Association's recommendation to stay away, McCarthy said that attendance at the Cowboy's virtual meetings has been 100% and that "most" of the players have been taking part in the workouts.

"Our players are here," McCarthy said. "They're committed to what's available. We're obviously well in tune with the guidelines of what an offseason program looks like and what you can do for your players. So we feel very good about what we've accomplished, in the first week especially. We're way ahead of where we were at this time last year."

The Cowboys believe the lack of a traditional offseason program last year played a part in their 6-10 finish. As a result, they have the 10th pick in this week's draft. Most of the talk around the Cowboys leading into Thursday's first round has been about improving a defense that allowed a franchise-record 473 points in 2020.

Owner and general manager Jerry Jones was asked about filling a need over what could be a better player available on offense, such as Florida tight end Kyle Pitts. A year ago, the Cowboys had similar defensive needs but selected wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, their sixth-rated player, at No. 17 overall.

"I think the real thing to do is don't be stupid over your needs," Jones said. "Just don't be ridiculous."

Jones acknowledged that "we've got a good chance to have a top defensive player, the top, or one of the top, be there at 10." Cornerbacks Patrick Surtain II and Jaycee Horn are among the top considerations.

Executive vice president Stephen Jones said that earning the 10th pick was "gut-wrenching" but that "once you have it, there's nothing painstaking about it.

"You're getting to pick up there, and in this draft I really do believe we can find an elite football player with elite football character that's healthy, that's everything you want," he said. "When you put everything into the mix, you're going to be pleased. I think we're going to be pleased with the type of player we're able to pick there."

Alex Cora returned this season to a Boston Red Sox team without Mookie Betts, but even with that generational star missing from the top of his lineup, the manager sees parallels with the 2018 squad he led to a World Series title.

Like that 2018 team, these Red Sox will need to lean on their full roster to win.

"That's something I don't agree with you guys when you talk about 2018, because we had to maneuver at first base, at second base, at third base and behind the plate," Cora said. "We had the same situation. Yeah of course you had one of the best players in the big leagues and one of the best hitters in the big leagues, but besides that, we had to mix and match. I don't think it's that much different."

Still, a lot has changed since that championship team. Cora and the Red Sox parted ways for a year while he served his suspension for his role in the Houston Astros sign-stealing scheme. After missing the playoffs in 2019, Boston shipped Betts to Los Angeles in 2020, where he is now one of the faces of baseball on the defending champion Dodgers. The only remaining starters from Boston's championship core are designated hitter J.D. Martinez, shortstop Xander Bogaerts and third baseman Rafael Devers. Andrew Benintendi now plays for the Kansas City Royals and 2018 ALCS MVP Jackie Bradley Jr. roams the outfield for the Milwaukee Brewers.

The Betts trade still stings for many Red Sox fans, who'd hoped Boston could make a deal to keep the homegrown superstar. Instead, the team not only traded Betts but moved the three years and $96 million left on left-hander David Price's contract in the same deal, in order to create future financial flexibility. But while it's only late April, Boston now finds itself atop the American League East, surprising both fans and baseball observers with a 14-9 record, three games ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays and Toronto Blue Jays.

Another difference between the 2021 Red Sox and the 2018 team: Chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom. Bloom's long-term vision is to build a Dodgers-like organization on the East Coast -- one that relies on depth and versatility, while building the financial wherewithal to make an occasional big splash.

Emblematic of that, Bloom & Co. signed one of Los Angeles' own, utility man Enrique Hernandez, in February. Boston's front office identified Hernandez as a priority free-agent target following the team's last-place finish in 2020, a player who represented the archetype for the team's roster-building strategy because of his ability to play multiple positions. While hitting .250/.295/.432 out of the leadoff spot, Hernandez has provided above-average defense in center field, second base and shortstop.

The Red Sox, relying on such versatility, have so far thrived on contributions from unexpected sources. Infielder Christian Arroyo -- a 2013 first-round pick by the Giants who served as a centerpiece of the trade that sent Evan Longoria from Tampa Bay to San Francisco -- continues playing himself into the lineup at second base, hitting .296/.345/.426 in 17 games after coming into the season with a career batting line of .219/.283/.360 in 85 games. Additionally, reliever Garrett Whitlock -- a Rule 5 selection from the New York Yankees whom the front office views as a potential starter -- has been a revelation out of the bullpen so far, allowing no runs in 11⅓ innings in five games, striking out 14.

Building the team's roster around Swiss army knife players like Hernandez and Marwin Gonzalez, who has played every position this young season except center field and catcher, allows Cora to pivot his lineup around the team's matchups and its hottest hitters.

"Christian Arroyo has helped us with not moving certain guys too much. I think right now, you guys can see Enrique is playing more center field than we probably anticipated, but because of the way Christian is playing, the way Marwin is playing, it helps us," Cora said. "We have our defensive numbers. We do believe on a daily basis, defensively, we're pretty solid out there regardless of who plays and at the same time, we're trying to maximize our offense and try to keep a balance, splitting our lefties, using Marwin as a switch-hitter depending on who we're facing and what we've got in the bullpen and where to put him in the lineup."

Martinez acknowledges it will be hard for this iteration of the Red Sox to live up to the 2018 World Series champions, but he feels confident in this group's ability to be a dynamic offense.

"That 2018 team was a special team. That's a tough team to compete against," Martinez said. "In '18, I measured things by if we could have won the game. Did we get that opportunity? Did that opportunity come? ... Every game this season, we've always had a chance when we've won or lost to have that one hit, that one play that changes the game. Last year, I feel like we didn't have that."

If Boston hopes to make a run at the playoffs, it'll need continued output from the top of its order, with Martinez once again performing like one of the best hitters in the sport after a lackluster 2020. Martinez is hitting .370/.446/.753 with seven homers and a major-league-leading 21 RBIs in 21 games. The lineup continues to lean on the offensive trio of Bogaerts, outfielder Alex Verdugo -- who has posted a 133 OPS+ since being obtained in the Betts trade -- and Devers.

"I think we have a really good offense now too. We had one of the best hitters in Mookie here in '18, but we've got other key players like [Verdugo] and Kiké coming in," Martinez said. "If Christian Arroyo swings it like he swings it, that's a big plus and he can really impact this team. Bogie and Devers are Bogie and Devers. They are going to hit."

Those in the front office acknowledge that the team will need better performances out of the bottom of the lineup, with hitters like first baseman Bobby Dalbec and outfielders Hunter Renfroe and Franchy Cordero struggling to generate much production. For now, the roster's depth is making up for their lack of offensive output.

"We like matchups, but with Christian right now, it's not like he's getting lucky getting hits, but he's getting good at-bats so we can play him at second knowing that we're going to be solid there and we can keep Enrique in center field and then move Marwin to give Xander an off day or Raffy an off day or Bobby an off day," Cora said. "It's funny because when you talk about Marwin, he's the guy giving everyone an off day, but he's still an every-day player. We just move him around."

With the Yankees struggling out of the gate and Tampa Bay's weakened pitching rotation following the trade of Blake Snell and the departure of Charlie Morton, Boston sees an opportunity to make a strong run at a playoff spot this season.

Ace Chris Sale continues to progress through his rehab from Tommy John surgery, inching closer to throwing off a mound after an occurrence of neck stiffness and a bout with COVID-19 delayed his progress. Meanwhile, Eduardo Rodriguez looks strong in the early part of the season, with a 4-0 record and a 3.52 ERA and 0.87 WHIP in four starts. Much of the season's success will hinge on the back of the rotation, with the spotlight on Nick Pivetta and Garrett Richards. While Pivetta has been solid -- posting a 2.93 ERA in six games since joining Boston via trade last August -- Richards has struggled, with a 6.48 ERA in four starts so far in 2021.

At least in the early part of the season, though, Cora said his main issue is having too many options to slot into the day's lineup.

"That's the biggest challenge, when to unplug somebody or when to plug somebody, but I think it's very similar to what we did in 2018," Cora said. "Our leadoff hitter then was Mookie Betts and people see it that way, but besides that, the rest of the guys were platoon guys that we tried to maximize their abilities."

Yes, Betts is gone, but Boston hopes that the depth of its roster can spark that 2018 playoff magic again.

CHICAGO -- Outfielder Luis Robert was placed on the injured list Tuesday by the Chicago White Sox as a precaution after he reported feeling flu-like symptoms.

General manager Rick Hahn said in a statement that Robert informed the team's medical staff of the symptoms Monday night. The team is awaiting further test results.

"Our hope is that his symptoms resolve quickly and that the testing protocols clear him to return to the active roster soon," Hahn said.

The 23-year-old Robert is hitting .305 with one home run and six RBIs in 21 games. He finished second in the AL Rookie of the Year voting last season.

Chicago recalled right-handed pitcher Alex McRae and outfielder Luis Gonzalez from their Schaumburg, Ill., training facility.

NEW YORK -- Major League Baseball would consider expansion fees in the range of $2.2 billion for new franchises, though there are no current plans to add teams.

Commissioner Rob Manfred spoke Tuesday during SporticoLive's online discussion of its estimates to baseball franchise valuations. The company estimated the average MLB franchise value is $2.2 billion, led the New York Yankees at $6.75 billion.

Colorado and Miami paid $95 million each to join in 1993, and Arizona and Tampa Bay paid $130 million to join in 1998.

Manfred has said repeatedly that MLB will not consider expansion until the Oakland Athletics and Tampa Bay Rays get new ballparks. The Athletics have proposed a stadium in the Howard Terminal area of downtown Oakland, and the Rays have said they will pursue splitting seasons between the Tampa Bay area and Montreal starting in 2028, after the expiration of their lease at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.

No plans for those cities have been finalized.

Manfred has mentioned as possible expansion candidates: Charlotte, North Carolina; Las Vegas; Montreal; Nashville, Tennessee; Portland, Oregon; and Vancouver, British Columbia.

"If in fact these assets are worth an average $2.2 billion, I think that's kind of a lodestar in terms of where you would start in terms of evaluating expansion opportunity," Manfred said. "Expansion is not purely additive, right, from the perspective of the existing owners. There are huge shared revenue streams that are diluted as a result of having 32 as opposed to 30 as your denominator, and if that was in fact the expansion number, and that has to be taken into account, as well."

Manfred also said MLB made the correct decision on April 2 to relocate its All-Star Game from Atlanta's Truist Park over the league's objections to changes to Georgia voting laws that critics have condemned as being too restrictive. MLB announced four days later than the July 13 game will be played at Coors Field in Denver.

"We were injected into a very politicized situation. I think we did the right thing," Manfred said. "We thought our players were going to be in an extraordinarily difficult situation given how politically charged it was. And we think that the decision we made will actually be player protective."

ON A 68-DEGREE Saturday in late October, Art Shamsky left his apartment to see a friend. He grabbed a baseball and an old glove, and took the subway to a deserted train car on the Long Island Rail Road. New York was still skittish, and Shamsky had been too. He'd never been so vulnerable in his life. But he wasn't thinking about the pandemic, or himself. One thought kept floating through his head: "What if he doesn't recognize me?"

Shamsky had just turned 79 years old, but there was a constant whir about him; always someplace to go and something to do. When he was young and came to New York for the first time, the crowded frenetic life bothered him. Now he missed it. If things were normal, and he wasn't wearing a mask, he probably wouldn't be able to move about the city without being recognized. Shamsky was a member of the Amazin' 1969 New York Mets. It had been more than a half century since they won the World Series, but he was still getting 10-20 fan letters a week. And it never got old. Shamsky may have been born in St. Louis, but he was made in New York. He was forever an Amazin' Met.

The train rumbled past Queens and Westbury, places where he was adored. His final stop was Central Islip, near the home of shortstop Bud Harrelson. If Shamsky was a glue guy who helped keep the team together all these years, then the past seven months only cemented his hold. In August, they lost pitcher Tom Seaver to Lewy body dementia and complications of COVID-19. Seaver was the team's true star, with Hollywood looks, a farm-boy work ethic and two nicknames: "Tom Terrific" and "The Franchise."

When Harrelson learned of his teammate's death, he cried out "No!" But a few hours later he had forgotten about it. Harrelson has Alzheimer's disease, and if 2020 reaffirmed anything, it's that time is precious. Shamsky didn't want to wait.

Harrelson's ex-wife Kim Battaglia, one of his caregivers, met Shamsky at the train station. They drove to the house, and met Harrelson inside. "Hey Buddy," he said, "It's Sham."

The room filled with awkward small talk, but then Shamsky said something familiar, and Harrelson's blue eyes lit up.

"Do you want to have a catch?"

AN AGING CELEBRITY, who, despite many Google searches I cannot seem to find, once was asked about the secret of longevity. "Don't fall," they said.

I never really thought about that quote until Thanksgiving 2019. My mom wasn't feeling well, and she fell coming out of the shower. She did not want to go to the hospital, but then spent the next three months in hospitals, plagued by numerous medical issues, and never again stood long enough to walk to the bathroom. Linda Dian Merrill died March 2, 2020, days before the coronavirus shut down the world. She was 73, but was wonderfully weird and youthful, somehow managing to have fewer lines on her face than me.

In the isolation of the past year, I've been oddly thankful. I didn't have to worry about tracking in a deadly virus when I visited her apartment, or say goodbye to her on an iPad. I couldn't fathom what it would have been like for her to be here, of a certain age and directly in the crosshairs of a global pandemic.

Now, a year later, the coronavirus has killed more than 570,000 in the United States. About 80 percent of those who have died were 65 and older, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, despite that demographic representing just 16 percent of the population. Nursing homes and group-care centers were hit especially hard in the early stages of the pandemic, people living and dying alone while younger generations fought over haircuts, masks and freedom. Some political types even suggested that grandparents might be willing to die to save the economy. The elderly became disposable. Maybe that's always been part of America, and COVID-19 just laid it bare.

But in sports, there is a reverence for past players and their history. Especially baseball. In 2020, while people were trapped indoors, baseball-card collecting experienced a boom. People like '69 Mets pitcher Jerry Koosman received 50 letters a week. It brought happiness to Koosman, who looked forward to his 100-foot walk to the mailbox with his border collie Buddy (who's not named after Harrelson).

The '69 Mets were heroes who transcended sports, but for the past year, they've been like everyone else who falls on the wrong end of statistical categories, grappling with their mortality in a time when staying alive and healthy is deemed a victory. They share that victory together, because when you're part of something special, bonds never break. Friendship can keep you going during the darkest year of your life.

It could be said that 1969 was a difficult year too. The country was divided over the Vietnam War and still reeling from the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy the previous year. Racial tensions were high. Two unimaginable things happened that summer: A man landed on the moon and the perennially hopeless Mets suddenly had the look of a winner.

They had never, in their seven years of existence, been above .500 after the ninth game of the season, never finished higher than ninth in the 10-team National League. Their preseason odds to win the World Series were 100-to-1. The '69 season did not start with great promise, either. The Mets opened with an 11-10 loss to the expansion Montreal Expos and lost 14 of their first 23 games. But they won 11 straight from May 28 to June 10 and took the city on an unforgettable joyride.

The games were dramatic, the pitching was dominant and a cast of various underdogs contributed in clutch moments. If living among the dredges of Major League Baseball humbled them, winning together fused them. They trusted each other up and down the lineup.

In mid-August, the Mets sat in third place in the National League East, 10 games back. They proceeded to win 38 of their last 49 and finished first, eight games ahead of the Chicago Cubs. They swept Hank Aaron and the Atlanta Braves in the NLCS. Their World Series opponent was the Baltimore Orioles, a collection of future Hall of Famers who'd won the AL East by a margin of 19 games.

The Mets lost Game 1, then rattled off four victories to become champions. They were the sports version of Neil Armstrong and The Beatles. Shamsky appeared on the cover of a fashion magazine, locked in an embrace with model/actress Lauren Hutton. America was so in love with the Mets that a group of players went to Las Vegas and did two shows a night at Caesars Palace.

They sang "The Impossible Dream."

They represented hope.

"They captured the attention of the world," says television writer Phil Rosenthal, a New York native and "Everybody Loves Raymond" creator. "What made the '69 Mets extra special was that they were underdogs. If you were a short little kid like me, and somewhat weak and bullied, maybe this team meant even more because they were relatable.

"If you were alive, it meant something to you. That's how big it was. The little guys won."

WHEN THE PANDEMIC hit New York, Shamsky retreated to Florida. He didn't think he would be there long.

His city was resilient. When terrorists flew planes into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in 2001, the people of New York came together. They became stronger.

But now, everyone had to be apart. Shamsky tried to stay busy in Florida. The key to staying upright, he says, is being active. Having a purpose. He worked out six days a week, and took long walks in the sun. He learned how to do Zoom calls and started "The Art Shamsky Podcast."

"You have to find ways to stay connected," he says. "Otherwise, you fade away."

Shamsky never let the friendships from 1969 fade away. He's the guy who temporarily stood in as best man at teammate Tommie Agee's wedding when Cleon Jones was running late. And when Agee died suddenly of a heart attack at age 58, he and Jones made a point to look after his widow Maxcine and their little daughter J'nelle, making check-in calls and visits. A few years ago, Shamsky gave a speech at J'nelle's 30th birthday party.

He wanted to be an All-Star, but it was never going to happen in New York. Not with manager Gil Hodges' platoon system. Shamsky, a left-handed outfielder, batted .300 in 1969, but because of matchups, Ron Swoboda started over him in four of the five games of the World Series. To this day, Shamsky says he wouldn't trade 100 more at-bats, or 100 times his salary, for that season.

His first guest on the Art Shamsky podcast was his old teammate Ed Kranepool. A few months into the pandemic, the COVID-19 numbers started spiking in Florida.

"I see people without masks on, and it's a little scary," Shamsky says. "They don't care."

He went back to New York.

THE FIRST TEAM casualty to COVID-19 came in May. Nancy Pignatano was terrified of getting sick. She was living in Florida with her husband Joe, the Amazin' Mets bullpen coach. She was following the precautions.

They stayed indoors, had their groceries delivered and limited her outdoor trips to grabbing the paper and the mail. But she caught COVID anyway and died in May at the age of 86. For months, Joe didn't understand that she was gone. He has dementia. His family would tell him that she was out golfing with friends, and he'd smile and be OK.

Their younger son, Frank, still lives in Brooklyn. The last words he heard from his mom were over the phone. "Frankie, I love you," she told him. "I can't talk."

Frank is the one to pass along the memories now. He was 12 years old that season -- his nickname was "Little Piggy" -- but he speaks as if it was his best year too. The Mets kept a tomato garden in the bullpen during the '69 season. Joe found the wild plant, and instead of ripping it out, he watered and tended to it. "He was a Brooklyn Italian," Frank says. "You give them a patch of dirt and they plant tomatoes."

Joe's very best friend, Frank says, was Gil Hodges. They played together for the Brooklyn and L.A. Dodgers and the 1962 expansion Mets, then started coaching together in Washington in 1965. They'd be at the ballpark all day, then meet for cards later with their wives at night, the room a chain-smoking haze of crab claws, mixed nuts and banter.

"I tell my kids it was a simpler time," Frank says. "You could have a house and a car in the garage and have kids on one salary. You can't do that today."

Hodges was a Marine during World War II, but he always downplayed it. He used to tell his son Gil Jr. that he worked behind a desk. It wasn't until the boy was older that he found out that his father was a gunner in the 16th Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion, fought in Okinawa and was awarded a Bronze Star.

He played with Jackie Robinson in 1947, the year Robinson broke the major league color barrier. Hodges was a straightforward man with little ambiguity, but he was also a dreamer. Just before Game 1, 19-year-old Gil Jr. was sitting in his dad's office, marveling over the Orioles' stat sheet, when he asked him what the Mets were doing on the same field with Baltimore. Hodges got up, closed the door and sat next to him.

"Listen, son," he told him, "I have 25 guys out there who think we can win. That's all that matters."

The Mets had back-to-back 83-79 seasons after the World Series, and Pignatano kept tending to the tomato plant. They had high hopes heading into '72, a season that was delayed by a players' strike. During spring training -- Easter Sunday -- Hodges and his coaches spent a morning playing 27 holes at a golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida. Pignatano was putting his clubs in the trunk, Frank says, when Hodges suffered a heart attack, fell backward and smacked his head on the sidewalk. Pignatano held him as he was dying.

Hodges was 47 years old. For years, Pignatano blamed himself. He was right next to him. If he hadn't turned around, he thought, he could've caught him. But Pignatano couldn't have done anything. Hodges' son tried to explain that to him many times.

"When you love someone like that ... " Gil Jr. says, "you will always feel like you could've done something. But it was out of his hands."

Pignatano has a picture of Hodges in the house, and he'll point to it and always says the same thing.

"That's my best friend."

THE LAST TIME they saw Tom Seaver was in 2017. Five old teammates stood in a parking lot trying not to say goodbye, trying not to think about how it would probably be the last time they'd be together.

It was two years before the '69 Mets 50-year reunion, and Shamsky had decided to write a book. Perhaps no sports team has been written about more than the '69 Mets, so Shamsky's co-author, Erik Sherman, was apprehensive at first. But after some brainstorming, Shamsky came up with the perfect pitch. They'd travel to Seaver's home in Calistoga, California, along with several other teammates, then Shamsky and Sherman would write about the experience.

Harrelson, Koosman and Swoboda accompanied them on the trip. "After the Miracle" chronicles the experience. They didn't know what to expect. Seaver was having memory problems by then, and Harrelson was in the early stages of Alzheimer's. But on the last day of the trip, they caught Seaver on a good day. They ate lunch together and Seaver showed them around his vineyard.

The Hall of Famer had a deep appreciation for the collective effort it took to win his only championship, the diving catch by Swoboda that saved him in Game 4; the six innings of no-hit ball that Koosman threw in Game 2 that swung the momentum the Mets' way.

They appreciated each other's differences. They still do. Koosman, for example, occupies some of his time watching Fox News, Newsmax and OAN, while Swoboda still calls Vietnam "an illegal war."

"He's a radical leftist and I'm a conservative Republican," Koosman says with a laugh. "No ... We love each other. We do. We're good friends. You play that long with somebody, you experience something that no one else had. ... You have a bond like a brother. When we talk, it's just like we saw each other yesterday."

A few hours after they won the World Series, Swoboda sat in the Diamond Club on the fourth floor of Shea Stadium, staring out the window at the trampled-over field, taking in what they'd just done. He came to realize that nothing in his life would shine brighter than that moment when he was 25.

Around summertime, in the height of the pandemic, Swoboda worried about his country. He thought about the divisiveness and the struggle between fact and fiction on the internet. The late 1960s was a tumultuous time. But Swoboda said it was nothing like now.

"I feel a big darkness coming on here," he says, "because we're so separated as people."

ED KRANEPOOL KNEW about darkness. He was trapped under the gray clouds of New York. He could not go out because he received a transplanted kidney a year earlier, which made him more vulnerable.

Despite having the toes removed from his left foot because of an infection, Kranepool was still active before the pandemic, working in the credit-card processing business. He loved meeting clients for lunch and the feeling he'd get when he walked into a restaurant and someone said, "Krane!" and then he could tell his stories.

But then the days were reduced to him waiting for the New York Post and Newsday to hit his door. That, along with coffee and breakfast, got him to about 9 a.m. Then he had nothing to do. His wife played canasta with her friends on the computer, and that kept her occupied, but Kranepool felt isolated.

He knew it could be worse. By summertime, thousands of New Yorkers in nursing homes and long-term care facilities had died of COVID-19. To buoy spirits, the Mets conducted virtual visits with area long-term care facilities and nursing homes. In August, Kranepool was the special guest for the Amazin' Alumni series with AristaCare at Cedar Oaks, a facility in a bedroom suburb of New York City. About 10 residents eagerly waited in a parquet floored room with balloons and a Mets banner precariously hanging in the back. Kranepool was on the Zoom call while waiting in the parking lot for his wife Monica -- the boss, he jokingly calls her.

But there were technical difficulties, and his face was reduced to a gray-and-white avatar. Kranepool couldn't find the video button, then his connection was poor and the feed stuttered. "Is that any bettah?" he asked.

The feed faded in and out for 40 minutes and was indecipherable at times. It was almost fitting when midway through the call the Mets banner fell in the back. But members of his audience, who hadn't hugged their children or grandchildren in almost six months, didn't seem to care. They asked questions and clung to his words.

"I wish I could get to the ballpark," he told the group. "So let's clear up the act with COVID. I don't like watching the games on TV. I like to be there."

When it was over, a man sitting in the front started to cry. Robert Bongard, a 70-something in a Mets jersey, hadn't seen his wife since the pandemic started, and hadn't had a whole lot to look forward to. He said he'd waited his whole life to meet an Amazin' Met.

WHENEVER SOMETHING BAD happens, Jay Horwitz is usually one of the first to get a call. Horwitz was the Mets' head of media relations for nearly four decades, and is now the team's historian and vice president of alumni relations. He is so devoted to the Mets' family that every night, around suppertime, he calls Gil Hodges' widow Joan. "I enjoy talking to her," Horwitz says.

On Aug. 31, Horwitz was home reading the paper when he got the call nobody wanted: Tom Seaver had died at age 75. Eleven teammates are now gone, and every death is hard, but losing Seaver felt like the end of an era. There would be no public service, not with the pandemic, and no tributes in front of a packed ballpark.

Horwitz scrambled to call Seaver's old teammates. He didn't want them to hear about it on the news. Cleon Jones was working on a house in Mobile, Alabama, when Horwitz called. Normally, it takes a lot to pull Jones away from his work, but when Jones got the call about Seaver, he put everything down and went home to tell his wife.

"She just prayed and we held hands," Jones says. "It was a loss of not only a teammate. It's the loss of a friend and someone I highly respected."

In the clubhouse celebration after the World Series, Jones and Seaver were interviewed together, and Seaver held his teammate tightly.

"It's the greatest feeling in the world," Seaver said of the championship.

The exchange might not seem like much today, but it meant everything to Jones, who grew up in the Jim Crow South. When Jones was a child, a white man ordered his parents to get to the back of a bus line, and a fight broke out. Police came looking for his dad, and his parents fled their hometown of Mobile, Alabama, going separate ways and leaving Jones to be raised by his grandmother.

He endured racial slurs and rejections as he rose through the minor leagues, and it didn't stop when he reached the Mets. Jones hit .340 in 1969, and caught the final out of the World Series. He loved that team, despite the one or two players who Jones said would have a smile for him and his Black teammates on the field and contempt for them off of it. Half a century later, Jones won't identify those players. He'd rather focus on the 20-plus others he calls "brothers."

"There are so many ways to fight," Jones says. "But you have to do it in a way that is going to be beneficial."

He eventually went back home to Alabama and Africatown, which once served as the docking place for the last slave ship to come to America. He started the Last Out Community Foundation, a non-profit organization that refurbishes and builds affordable homes for the community. Jones is very hands-on. One day last summer, he couldn't come to the phone because he was chopping down a tree. He does just about anything, and even fixes roofs. He says he can still climb ladders, but refrains from jumping off houses like he used to.

"I'm 78," he says, "but don't tell anyone."

Because of his work, Jones isn't the easiest person to get ahold of. Swoboda oftentimes just talks to his wife Angela. When hurricanes were bearing down on the Gulf Coast last fall, Kranepool told Jones and his wife to come up to New York and stay with him. "Well, I don't think it's going to be that bad," Jones told Kranepool. "But I appreciate it, Eddie."

Jones has watched racial and social progress inch forward and slide backward. When he saw the video of George Floyd being killed by a Minneapolis police officer late last spring, he thought about all the times Black men have been confronted with those situations but didn't have the benefit of a camera phone. He has no idea whether the social justice efforts will lead to substantial change.

"As a minority, as a Black person, we dream a lot," Jones says. "But we dream because it was a long time before we could do anything else. Now, some of us cease to dream because they see no way that things can change or be different for them because it's been so bad so long.

"But I'm a positive thinker. I just believe things will be better in the future."

IN THE KITCHEN at Bud Harrelson's house sits a digital photo frame. It rotates pictures of him in various stages of his life. Sometimes, a photo of him in his Mets uniform pops up, and he'll remember. "That's me," he'll say. Other times, the ballplayer in the photo is a stranger.

He was called Twiggy back in his playing days because he was 5-foot-11 and 155 pounds, but his teammates never questioned his toughness. Harrelson is known as much for a brawl with Pete Rose during the 1973 NLCS as he is for his Gold Glove.

Harrelson had a two-year stint as the Mets' manager in the early 1990s. In 2000, he became a co-owner, coach and vice president of the Long Island Ducks, an unaffiliated minor-league team. One of his favorite things to do was to walk around the concourse, sign autographs and meet people.

Harrelson went public with his diagnosis because he wanted to educate others about Alzheimer's disease. But when Shamsky invited him on the trip to Calistoga in 2017, Harrelson didn't want to go. He didn't know what to expect. But in the end, he found it comforting. Seeing Seaver, he told Battaglia, made it feel as if he wasn't alone.

Harrelson's neurologist told him that the best way to slow the disease's progression was socialization. The pandemic ended all of that.

He had caregivers who came in -- he was one of the lucky Americans who could afford it -- but when the pandemic hit, Battaglia had to send them home. They didn't want to risk getting Harrelson sick. But even before that, much of the burden still fell on the family. Harrelson's cognition has declined to the point in which he needs round-the-clock care, and requires help for basic things such as showering, dressing and using the bathroom.

He's uncomfortable with having strangers help him with private matters, so his family handles much of that. Including Battaglia.

It's not all that unusual, she says, when you're in the middle of an impossible outcome, when there is no miracle rally and the only ones left to manage what's left of a parent's life are the children. Battaglia and Harrelson divorced in 2013, but in March 2020, she moved into the house and took care of Harrelson so their 33-year-old son Troy, and the other children, didn't have to carry the whole burden.

"I love him," she says of Harrelson. "It's not a job for me.

"He's the kindest, most generous man I have ever met."

AFTER BEING COOPED up for nine months, Ed Kranepool wanted to visit his son and his grandchildren for Christmas in North Carolina. He had it all planned out. He'd pack up some presents in their Audi, make sandwiches for him and Monica, and they'd arrive in 10 hours and wouldn't even have to go inside anywhere along the way. They'd have a quiet Christmas together, and then they'd keep going south to see their daughter in Florida. Everything would be fine.

When Kranepool told his doctor of his plan, it did not go over well. "My doctor told me I was crazy," he says. "I'd spent nine months in the house. Why expose myself when the vaccine was at the end of the tunnel?

"It wasn't the smartest thing to do."

Kranepool stayed home. Christmas was another gray, gloomy day spent inside.

In January, Kranepool became eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. He secured a late-January appointment in the Bronx, where he was a high school star nearly 60 years earlier, and the lifetime Met received the Moderna vaccine at a site near Yankee Stadium.

SHAMSKY AND HARRELSON got vaccinated too. By August, Battaglia was able to hire full-time caregivers. She recently found one with whom Harrelson connects, and he's happy most of the time. But the lack of socialization in the past year, she says, has accelerated his decline. Sometimes Harrelson needs to be reminded to eat. He speaks mostly in one-word answers. He wakes up in the middle of the night, prompting Battaglia and his other caregivers to nervously check a monitor to make sure he's OK.

Early this spring, Battaglia was searching for home safety information for Harrelson when she came upon a new memory-care facility nearby. It would surround him with people trained in dementia care and give him much-needed socialization. In June, Harrelson will move into the facility. Battaglia says she wasn't looking for any option that took him away from his home. But she concedes that it's time.

"It's harder and harder to manage home care," she said. "And it's isolating."

Shamsky started checking in regularly with Harrelson after the '19 reunion. Harrelson needed a helper at the event, and Shamsky happily volunteered. He rode out with him onto the field in a cart that day, hanging on to his old teammate so that he wouldn't fall out.

Battaglia, who serves on the Alzheimer's Association board in Long Island, says Shamsky has been a constant. But she doesn't blame any old friends who wanted to call and didn't. She understands that people have families and lives of their own. She also knows the awkwardness and uncertainty of seeing someone from the best time in your life who's devolved into his worst state.

But here's the thing: Harrelson, in some ways, never really forgot baseball. During last year's lockdown, his adult children would take him out to play catch, trying to engage him, and Harrelson would precisely toss the ball back and forth for at least 20 minutes. It was one of the few things that still felt natural to him.

When Shamsky called last fall, Battaglia told him to bring his glove. So he grabbed one of his old Mets gloves and a baseball and got on the subway. Erik Sherman met them at Harrelson's house. They stood about 30 feet apart and played a three-way game of catch in the front yard. Back and forth. Harrelson smiled. It was like they were warming up for a game.

"For lack of a better word, it was spiritual for me," Shamsky says. "Invigorating."

They ate lunch, and Shamsky said his goodbyes on that autumn day in the middle of the pandemic. He said he'd be back.

ESPN producer William Weinbaum contributed to this report.

Wimbledon will abandon its traditional rest day on the middle Sunday of the tournament from 2022.

Organisers also revealed they are hoping to have fans at a minimum of 25% capacity this year.

Ticket prices will stay at 2020 levels, with prize money yet to be decided.

"We plan to deliver the best Championships possible in accordance with public safety. It will necessarily be different from Wimbledon as we know it," Hewitt said.

A 'new tradition' for Wimbledon

Wimbledon is the only one of the four Grand Slams where there is no play on the middle Sunday.

The rest day has meant that the Monday of the second week has always been very busy with all the men's and women's last-16 matches being held on the same day.

There has been play four times on the Sunday because of rain disruptions during the week, with the tournament opening its doors in 1991, 1997, 2004 and 2016 and enjoying a carnival-like atmosphere that is different to the other days.

Bolton said Wimbledon wanted to find ways of preserving some of that atmosphere and was carrying out a public consultation to see what fans would like to see.

"Over time Wimbledon has continuously evolved to meet changing demands and behaviours of our fans - always changing, always staying the same is something we talk about often," AELTC chief executive Sally Bolton said.

"We want more of this wonderful event to be available to more people around the world to share in the joy of the Championships.

"Including Middle Sunday permanently in our schedule will allow us to do just that and become a new tradition which we hope we can become immensely proud of.

"It enables us to do more with the second Monday, which is known as 'manic' for good reason."

The last-16 matches will be spread across the Sunday and Monday, with Bolton saying it would give players more of a platform for quality matches and offer fans a better chance to watch more of the action.

Several 2021 plans still to be finalised

Wimbledon was cancelled last year because of the coronavirus pandemic and while it will return on 28 June, there are still several aspects to be finalised.

Bolton said they were waiting for government guidance based on research it is carrying out at the moment on the return of fans to stadiums before making decisions on capacity.

Much will also ride on the government's roadmap for easing lockdown in England, which states all legal limits on social contact will be removed no earlier than 21 June.

"We very much hope that the 25% will be a minimum position that we can build from," she said, adding that a decision on ticket distribution would therefore be left "as late as possible".

Uncertainty over attendances means organisers will not decide on prize money amounts until June.

Plans for Henman Hill - where fans without showcourt tickets can sit on the grass to watch the action on a big screen outside Court One - are still being formulated, but Bolton said it could be possible to open it with social distancing still in place.

Wimbledon was the only Grand Slam to be cancelled last year and the All England Club received a total of £180m from the pandemic insurance it took out.

The annual surplus paid to the LTA - British tennis' governing body - fell as expected, but remained at a healthy £35.9m.

No private houses for players

Among the other changes to this year's tournament is that players will be unable to rent private housing and will have to stay in a hotel.

The rule applies even to British players who live nearby, including Andy Murray.

"The minimised risk environment we created for the players is a requirement from the government to bring athletes without them going into quarantine upon entry into the UK," Bolton said.

"Players enjoy private housing and we hope to bring it back next year but it's just not possible this year."

Unlike at some recent Grand Slams where there were electronic line calls, there will still be line judges at Wimbledon this year but the shot clock - which ensures players serve within 25 seconds - will be used for the first time.

All events will take place as usual, with the exception of the invitational (legends') events.

Analysis

BBC tennis correspondent Russell Fuller

All eyes are now on the series of test events currently taking place in the UK with fans in attendance.

There seems little prospect of capacity crowds at Wimbledon this year, but genuine hope that the capacity will rise above 25%.

Manic Monday will be missed, in the way we have missed the excitement of 10 Premier League games all kicking off at 3pm on a Saturday afternoon. But we will at least be able to savour each last-16 match a little more.

All the players will have to stay in official hotels and will be limited to an entourage of three.

But despite the pandemic, and in contrast to some recent Grand Slams, real human beings will call the lines.

The debate around British and Irish Lions selection can rage with the intensity of the Test series itself.

However, most fans would sit up and take notice of any side put forward by Sir Ian McGeechan and Jim Telfer, the legendary Scottish coaching duo who masterminded the iconic Lions series win against the world champion Springboks in 1997.

We reunited the pair on this week's BBC Scotland Rugby Podcast to nail down the definitive McGeechan-Telfer Lions XV.

The side they have selected features six Welshmen, four Irish, three English and two Scots.

Full-back: Stuart Hogg

Hogg gets the nod after leading Scotland to victories at Twickenham and the Stade de France in the Six Nations. Some have questioned the Exeter player's ability under the high ball, but Telfer is a fan.

"Every time Stuart Hogg gets the ball, the temperature goes up," he said. "You think something is going to happen.

"I don't think Hogg is as poor under the high ball as some people are trying to make out. I like attacking players, players who do something out the ordinary."

Wings: Anthony Watson & Liam Williams

Despite playing in a struggling England side, Watson edges out Welsh flier Louis Rees-Zammit to claim the right-wing berth, with another 2017 Lion, Williams, deployed on the left.

Centres: Robbie Henshaw & George North

The midfield provoked strong debate. Both men were in agreement that Ireland's Henshaw should start at 12, with McGeechan's case for Wales' North winning the day for the 13 jersey at the expense of Henshaw's Irish midfield partner Garry Ringrose.

"A couple of years ago I thought North had probably seen his international career end," said McGeechan. "He had a few injuries, wasn't playing with a lot of confidence, but he's come back really well.

"He carries very well, he's a natural try scorer and in his current mindset he could just take off."

With North picking up a serious looking injury at the weekend, Ringrose would replace him in the duo's side should he be ruled out of the tour. McGeechan also believes Scotland's Chris Harris should be in the wider squad.

Fly-half: Finn Russell

There is no shortage of quality candidates for the 10 jersey, with Ireland's Johnny Sexton, England's Owen Farrell and Wales' Dan Biggar all possessing Lions experience. But McGeechan believes Russell is ready to step up into the rarefied atmosphere of a Lions Test series and thrive.

"Finn has matured," he said. "He sees things so quickly. He's the most varied attacking kicker that we've got in the northern hemisphere. He's brave, he makes his tackles, and if there's any daylight at all he will find it."

Scrum-half: Conor Murray

Russell's lack of Lions experience is balanced with the selection of Murray at nine, a veteran of two Lions tours and 89 Test matches for Ireland.

Front row: Wyn Jones, Ken Owens, Tadhg Furlong

Jones was the outstanding loosehead in the Six Nations and is rewarded with a spot in the front row alongside Welsh team-mate Owens and Ireland's Furlong.

Locks: Maro Itoje & Alun Wyn Jones

Telfer says England lock Itoje should be one of the first names on the teamsheet when Warren Gatland and his coaches settle down for their selection meeting for the first Test.

"I think he's an outstanding player, an outstanding bloke," said Telfer. "Itoje has that extra bit about him."

Alongside Itoje is Wales colossus Jones. Both Telfer and McGeechan are united in their admiration for the Welsh captain, and both believe he should lead the Lions this summer.

"He is the natural captain," said McGeechan. "I think on and off the field he would be by some distance the natural leader that you would want there."

Back row: Tadhg Beirne, Tom Curry, Taulupe Faletau

The back row is where Gatland perhaps has the greatest embarrassment of riches. Some seriously good Test operators are going to be left watching from home.

Ireland's Beirne gets the nod at six having delivered some towering displays in the Six Nations, with Telfer believing him to be the outstanding player of the tournament. That accolade went to Scotland's Hamish Watson, but there's no room for him in this side, with England's Curry preferred instead.

"Hamish Watson is an integral part of the Scottish side and he definitely deserves to go on the tour, but I've chosen Curry because he's just that bit bigger and stronger," said Telfer. "I would sit down with Hamish Watson and tell him how good a player he is, but he's not as good as Curry.

"You've got these five or six openside flankers to choose from. You've got Justin Tipuric, one of the best players I've ever seen at seven. It's the best of the best."

After rediscovering his best stuff in the Six Nations, Wales' Faletau completes a powerful back-row selection.

Premiership players from clubs not involved in the final will be released for the British and Irish Lions' warm-up game against Japan on 26 June.

Earlier in April, Lions head coach Warren Gatland said some players could "miss out" on selection if they were not released by the league.

Gatland names his tour squad on 6 May.

The regular Premiership season finishes on 12 June, with semi-finals the following weekend, and players not involved in those play-offs will also be free for Lions training camps before the Japan game.

The Lions warm-up match falls outside the agreed World Rugby window for the release of international players and a Premiership Rugby spokesperson said they "encourage all parties in rugby to work more closely to avoid situations like this happening in the future".

"This discussion was never just about money," the spokesperson continued.

"Premiership clubs are at the very heart of English rugby - helping to nurture the pipeline of talent which supports the international game and future Lions tours.

"It is essential that we are properly consulted - and our position respected - when fixtures are scheduled which impact the domestic season."

Lions chairman Jason Leonard said: "We are very grateful to Premiership Rugby and Pro14 for the release of players after they have concluded their domestic commitments."

The Rugby Players Association (RPA) said it was "delighted" with the decision, adding "no player should lose out on a career dream due to no fault of their own".

"For all home nations players, the British & Irish Lions is the ultimate shirt in rugby," the RPA said. "At a time when players, clubs and unions have worked tirelessly together to emerge from the global pandemic that has threatened the very fabric of the game, today's announcement must pave the way to a long-term solution for future Lions tours."

The tour is set to be played in South Africa behind closed doors or with limited local support, with the first Test scheduled for Saturday, 24 July.

'Dispute threatened to turn tour into a farce' - Analysis

BBC rugby union correspondent Chris Jones

This dispute had threatened to turn the tour into a farce, and would have had a major bearing on Warren Gatland's selection if not resolved, so the fact an agreement has been reached is a relief for Lions fans, not to mention the players involved.

However while stressing this spat has not just been about money, the clubs ominously say they won't be releasing any players until after the Premiership final in the future.

Unless there is better communication and a firmer agreement over release dates and compensation payments, this row will happen all over again in four years' time.

Worcester Warriors have signed Wasps number eight Sione Vailanu on a two-year deal, starting from next season.

Vailanu was playing in Japan and Hong Kong before being spotted by Sarries.

"It's an opportunity for him to make a real difference to us. In the Premiership you need to have physical and powerful men and Sione is certainly that," said head coach Jonathan Thomas.

Worcester - led by director of rugby Alan Solomons - are bottom of the Premiership but no side will be relegated this season.

Women's Six Nations champions England will face "another level of intensity" when they play France in Lille on Friday, says full-back Ellie Kildunne.

Kildunne added that such games were ideal preparation for next year's World Cup, where England will face France in the pool stage.

"It's always a challenge playing France," she said.

"But playing them away comes with another level of intensity."

Despite slowing in the second half against Scotland and misfiring in the first half against Italy, England breezed through their Women's Six Nations pool games - highlighting the large disparity between teams in the competition.

France presented a much more significant challenge in the final, coming to within one point of their opponents before Emily Scarratt's penalty sealed a 10-6 win.

Time for celebrations has been limited as England prepare to face the same opponents in a friendly on Friday, which Kildunne sees as perfect preparation for next year's rearranged World Cup in New Zealand.

"If we can get more games at that competitive level, we're only going to get better and be in a better position when it comes to the World Cup because France are in our pool as well," she continued.

"It is always going to be a tough game but it is one to definitely look forward to."

Expect fireworks in France - Care

Saturday's final win was England's eighth in a row against France, further cementing their place at the top of European rugby.

Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live's Rugby Union Weekly, England men's scrum-half Danny Care said the victory showed the Red Roses' "championship-winning mentality".

"I think France were the better team on the day but the Red Roses stuck in the fight," he said.

"They know how to win big games. To go back to back to back is an unbelievable achievement.

"This Friday is going to be an unbelievable game. Expect fireworks."