Once upon a time, the Midwest was the heart of baseball in America. This was about 100 years ago, after the game had spread out of the major eastern cities across the country. Many of baseball's greatest stars emerged from some of its most remote regions, and from agrarian backgrounds -- Walter Johnson, Grover Cleveland Alexander, Dazzy Vance and Sam Crawford, just to name a few.

Bill James wrote about this in his "Historical Baseball Abstract." In his chapter on the 1910s, he noted, "The Irish tone of the game continued to wash out, and the game became to a considerable extent the property of Midwestern farm boys who came out of cow pasture Sunday leagues." James added that his father played in such leagues, as did my grandfather, a second baseman in southwest Iowa during the 1920s. I remember asking my grandfather which level he played at and him saying it rated about "Class D ball" and that every town had a team. Baseball was all over the Midwest.

Over the past year, it seems like we've gotten at least a couple of "what's wrong with baseball" think pieces every week. I keep them in an Instapaper folder dubbed "Baseball Obits." To be sure, there are some unusual things happening at the big league level. Year-over-year attendance is down. The style of play has become unbalanced. Games are probably too long, at least if you take in most of your baseball on television. These aren't issues we should ignore. Baseball has its challenges, but then again, it always has. And it has always overcome them.

I've written about a number of these issues, while trying to maintain a steady optimistic tone. After all, this year's average attendance (27,096) might be a bit lower than last year, but it's still a higher figure than any season before 1993. It's twice what it was in, say, 1955 or 1965. Plus, revenues are at record levels and local television ratings remain strong. It's a modern tick that we fixate on trend lines and perpetual growth. But when we do so with baseball, we lose track of some essential truths: The game remains an essential part of American culture, and as a global entity, it has never had more reach.

I have worked out of Chicago for the past 10 years. Before that, I was in Kansas City, a very different but equally vibrant baseball market. But before any of that happened, I grew up in rural Iowa, about 50 miles from Omaha, Nebraska. I grew up surrounded by corn and soybean fields blanketing the land in every direction. Yet I felt every bit as immersed in baseball then as I do now, when I attend about 130 games per season and spend my professional life puzzling over the sport.

For years, my only access to big league baseball came through the weekly delivery of the Sporting News, Kansas City Royals games on the radio (the St. Louis Cardinals were on a different station and would do in a pinch) and a weekly national telecast on NBC. But there was minor league ball nearby at Rosenblatt Stadium, men's softball in my hometown (Red Oak), the little leagues in which I played, all of the teams at school. There were also collegiate summer-league teams -- circuits in which players would come to our towns for a few months, staying with host families, and hone their skills. Baseball was everywhere.

"What a life experience that was," said Colorado Rockies manager Bud Black, who played two summers in Clarinda, Iowa. So did many other big leaguers, from Ozzie Smith to Andy Benes. "There are so many great memories. I stayed with a host family, and they were wonderful. I worked in a ball bearing factory, and that was a great life experience. And the baseball, playing for [Merl Eberly], with players from all over the country, it was really the starting point for me in getting into minor league baseball and learning how that all works. The caliber of baseball was awesome."

There was also always the College World Series, which called Omaha home long before I was born and in many ways has become that city's calling card. In fact, you could argue that Omaha is the capital of the non-big-league-baseball universe. It all comes together there, on the banks of the Missouri River -- college ball (the CWS, Creighton University and the University of Nebraska-Omaha), minor league ball (the Omaha Storm Chasers), the local high school leagues and numerous youth leagues and tournaments. At the outset of every summer, the days in Omaha are intoxicated with baseball.

The only thing lacking from this rustic puzzle was the major leagues. Last week, that changed, and it provided the perfect chance to see how baseball looks in that region, and at this time, when so many want to fixate on the sport's problems. When the Kansas City Royals and Detroit Tigers met at TD Ameritrade Park, it provided the opportunity to look at baseball in 2019 from the vantage point of home.

THE BIG LEAGUES

You don't often get to see a "first" in baseball, a sport that has been played at a big league level since 1871. I was at the first regular-season game at SunTrust Park in Atlanta. That was memorable. I saw the Houston Astros clinch their first World Series crown in 2017. But for me and my particular set of biographical circumstances, this one was special: The first big league game in the state of Nebraska.

It was less than a year ago that MLB announced the Royals-Tigers game, dubbed "MLB in Omaha." It's part of an ongoing effort to showcase big league ball in non-MLB markets, such as Williamsport, Pennsylvania, and Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Bringing the game to fruition meant that MLB, minor league baseball and the NCAA all had to come to an accord. It was truly a showcase of the game rather than a league. Commissioner Rob Manfred said in that media release, "This represents another significant step in our efforts to showcase the solidarity that links each level of our great game."

The night before the Omaha game, I attended the Royals-Tigers game in Kansas City to do a couple of preliminary interviews. One look at the standings tells you that's not a marquee matchup. But there was a nice crowd on hand at Kauffman Stadium (19,870) and it was a good atmosphere considering the limited stakes of the contest.

Before the game, I strolled around the main concourse of the K and toured the Royals Hall of Fame. There, you can see the usual kind of artifacts you see in a baseball museum, along with looped video productions of the Royals' high-water moments, such as the championships in 1985 and 2015, and George Brett's run at .400 in 1980. As Royals fans bide their time waiting for another contender, it's a nice reminder of what Kansas City baseball is like at peak moments. No one has provided more of those peak moments than Brett, whom countless young players in the Midwest worshiped for some 20 years. A native Californian who retains a beach boy look to this day, Brett still resides in Kansas City.

"I just kind of liked the Midwest vibe," Brett said. "That's why I chose to stay here."

As someone who grew up in the Royals' footprint and remains a fan of the franchise, it has always been evident to me just how much of a regional franchise it is. I've seen this mapped out in different ways in recent years, but here's a good one from Business Insider. That article recognizes the Atlanta Braves as having the most regional reach of any club based on ticket-sales data from SeatGeek, but adds, "Behind the Braves are the Kansas City Royals, who, at 6:1, have the highest ratio of out-of-state counties to in-state counties. The team plays in Missouri, where it holds 34 counties, but Royals fandom extends west into Kansas, north into Iowa and Nebraska, and south into Oklahoma and Arkansas."

Before last week, the only one of those states to actually host a game was Missouri. In fact, before last week, only 29 of the 50 states had hosted a big league ballgame. That's what was so great about the Omaha game. It served as a tangible reminder that teams have many fans beyond their primary markets, and it also gave a number of those fans a wonderful reward for their loyalty.

"Omaha is an unbelievable baseball town," Royals general manager Dayton Moore said. "Baseball has been celebrated there for many years. Not only is it home for the College World Series, but during that period of time, they have three to four weeks of youth league tournaments and games. It's really a magical baseball place, and you have kids of all ages, they play baseball during the day and go to the College World Series at night."

The Royals' region has had a rough spring battle with mother nature, with excess rainfall, tornadoes and, especially, flooding causing all sorts of havoc. This was evident Thursday, as we made our way from Kansas City to Omaha. The Missouri and other rivers remain swollen to capacity and everywhere there was water where it shouldn't be. People have lost homes and businesses and farmers are racing against the clock to salvage the planting season. Interstate 29, the primary connector between Kansas City and Omaha, remained closed north of St. Joseph, Missouri, until the day before this story was published.

In Omaha, the show goes on. The presence of the College World Series is impossible to miss. Banners fly along the streets. Numerous baseball-themed businesses display the colors and logos of this year's participants. The sidewalks teem with CWS players, walking around to take in the scene while wearing school caps and T-shirts. Even blocks away, near the Old Market area of Omaha, from which you can't even see the ballpark, you are well aware that something different is happening in town because of the crowded seating areas outside of restaurants and bars, with fans wearing a panoply of school colors.

"Omaha is an unbelievable baseball town. Baseball has been celebrated there for many years. Not only is it home for the College World Series, but during that period of time, they have three to four weeks of youth league tournaments and games. It's really a magical baseball place, and you have kids of all ages, they play baseball during the day and go to the College World Series at night." Royals GM Dayton Moore

The pessimist in me wondered what the actual scene at the ballpark would be like for the MLB game. Would the stadium actually fill up to see two second-division American League Central teams? If it did, who would be there? Would the crowd be dominated by early-arriving NCAA fans, or would it actually feel like a partisan Royals crowd? How strong is this parent-affiliate thing?

"Omaha is very similar to Kansas City," Moore said. "In terms of demographics, in terms of values, and people that enjoy the game. But more than that, they want to connect with players. Probably more so than other places I've been. That's the uniqueness of it, and Omaha is very similar to Kansas City in that regard. If [our affiliate] was in New Orleans, or Portland, or Sacramento, that's different. That's the thing that ties Kansas City to Omaha."

It turned out that there was no reason for pessimism. TD Ameritrade Park has a listed capacity of 24,000. The announced attendance was 25,454. And it was definitely a pro-Royals crowd, with blue-clad fans significantly outnumbering the rest. But there was a good mix in the venue, including a number of Tigers fans who were likely also in town to catch the Michigan Wolverines in the CWS.

Before the game, all eight CWS squads were introduced and they gathered on the infield. One member of each team then threw out simultaneous first pitches to eight members of the Royals and Tigers with some Omaha and/or CWS ties. That was an amazing sight -- eight of college baseball's best teams sharing the diamond with two big league clubs. Then to top it off, Hall of Famers Dave Winfield and Barry Larkin also threw out first pitches. (I heard a rumor that another Hall of Famer, Omaha native Bob Gibson, was in the stands but I did not actually see him.)

The Royals have three players with direct Nebraska and/or Omaha ties, veteran left fielder Alex Gordon, rookie infielder Nicky Lopez and reliever Jake Diekman. Also, Whit Merrifield stroked a CWS-clinching single for South Carolina in 2010, which was the last year the event was staged at Rosenblatt Stadium. The central figure was of course Gordon, who grew up in nearby Lincoln and played his college ball at the University of Nebraska. He also spent some Triple-A time in Omaha earlier in his career, and was part of the only Cornhusker squad to record a win in the CWS.

"There's a lot of passion that comes with [the CWS]," Gordon said. "And friendships that you take away from college. If I had gone from high school to the major leagues, I probably wouldn't be in this situation. College groomed me, on and off the field, to be where I wanted to be."

Alas, Gordon didn't play in the game after being hit in the back by a pitch Wednesday. It was a let down, and even angered me a little at first. It turned out to be the only game Gordon missed, as he was back in the lineup the next day in Minnesota. But Royals manager Ned Yost did what he felt he had to do.

That left the hometown heroics up to Lopez, who played his college ball at TD Ameritrade Park for Creighton, then his Triple-A ball at nearby Werner Field for the Storm Chasers. Lopez opened the scoring with a home run just inside the right-field foul pole. It wasn't just the first run of the game. It was the first major league run, RBI and home run ever recorded in the state of Nebraska.

"My first home run [here] was against Nebraska my junior year, right about in exactly the same spot," Lopez said. "To get my first home run here since I got drafted, it was cool."

For Lopez, it was also his first big league homer, which is memorable enough. But that it happened in his college park made it even more so. And here's the really crazy aspect of it: Lopez went 74 home games as a collegian without homering in TD Ameritrade Park. Then he homered in his 75th, and final, contest there for Creighton. So Lopez now has a two-game homer streak at the ballpark. As with so many things in baseball, you can't really make these things up.

The atmosphere at the ballpark was tremendous, even electric at times, such as when Lopez went deep. The Royals won the game 7-3, giving them their first series victory since mid-April. It has been that kind of a season for K.C., which made the getaway to Omaha a nice bit of relief.

"It was fun," Yost said. "The energy level was fun. When the energy level is like that, you sense it. You really have to stop and look around, but you sense the energy, and sense the electricity. Every time I turned around, all I saw was Royals uniforms and Royals T-shirts. It was great to play a good game for our fans here. It was special."

THE MINOR LEAGUES

With the CWS in town, the Storm Chasers are not, which is probably a good idea. I've never actually been to their current venue, Werner Park, which is in suburban Papillion. I have a number of memories of old Rosenblatt Stadium, though when I could get my non-sports-fan father to take the family on a baseball outing, it tended to be in Kansas City. The fabulous Henry Doorly Zoo is down the hill on which Rosenblatt once stood, and we'd go on field trips there when I was in elementary school. Later, in high school, my friends and I caught a summer concert there: the Moody Blues, the Beach Boys and the Fixx.

The relationship between the Royals and Omaha covers the entirety of the franchise's existence -- it's the only Triple-A affiliate the Kansas City Royals have ever had. That makes it easily the longest-standing parent- and farm-club affiliation in Triple-A. This relationship has a number of advantages.

"Obviously, [Omaha] is part of our footprint and fan base," Moore said. "A lot of great Royals fans there. A lot of Cubs fans, too, and Cardinals fans. We were proud to play an exhibition game there this year [against the Storm Chasers]. It was an amazing turnout as we really kind of celebrated our 50-year relationship, and signed a four-year agreement to extend it while we were there."

The proximity is nice, as Werner Park and Kauffman Stadium are only a little more than 200 miles apart. When the Royals' team plane flew into Omaha before Thursday's game, it was a 30-minute flight. Even more essential, however, is what this relationship means to the regional brand of the Royals. From the great George Brett-Frank White-Willie Wilson teams, to this decade's pennant winners of Gordon, Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas and Lorenzo Cain, all of those peak-time cores played in Omaha. In fact, on the wall in the Royals Hall of Fame that displays the names of the franchise's greatest players, almost all of them played in Omaha.

"I knew that they were really loyal to college baseball and there was a huge college baseball fan base," Lopez said. He moved to Omaha from suburban Chicago to play at Creighton. "When I got there, I noticed that a lot of people were either cheering for the Cubs or the Royals. The majority was for the Royals. It was pretty cool to get drafted by the Royals. The fan base in Omaha is huge for the Royals. It's been great how it all fit."

According to ballparkdigest.com, the Storm Chasers draw approximately 350,000 fans each season, ranking about 35th the past couple of years among 160 minor-league franchises listed. It's not dazzling but solid. But because Omaha averages about 5,300 fans for its Triple-A games, it's probably best that they don't play in roomy TD Ameritrade Park.

There is another thing that should really jump ut at you about that minor league attendance list: There are a lot of minor league teams and there are a lot of people who pay to see them play. When we wring our collective hands over the attendance trends at the big league level, this is an aspect that we overlook.

According to Baseball America, while minor league patronage was down last season, attendance still topped the 40-million mark. That's a little off the peak from the past decade, but still far more than used to attend minor league games. And, according to BA, as in MLB, revenues continue to climb.

Also, keep in mind that the 40-million figure is in addition to the roughly 70 million fans to take in a regular-season game at an MLB venue in 2018. It's also in addition to the 3.3 million or so who go to spring training games, and doesn't even get into other big draws, including the postseason and All-Star Game. These numbers also don't include the 5.5 million fans or so that go see non-affiliated clubs in leagues such as the Atlantic League and the American Association.

Year-to-year variances aside, professional baseball still puts a lot of butts in its seats.

COLLEGE BASEBALL

CWS attendance has topped 300,000 in every season since 2006, peaking at 357,646 in 2017. Per-game attendance has exceeded 20,000 in every season since 1996. The event has become a major economic force in Omaha, which is precisely why TD Ameritrade Park was built. The CWS has been hosted in the city since 1950 and isn't going anywhere any time soon.

This in essence makes Omaha the capital of college baseball, something that observers like ESPN's Kyle Peterson have noted creates additional opportunities. Peterson outlines a number of possibilities, such as MLB taking an active role in subsidizing baseball scholarships, which are currently at a premium. He suggests tying the annual draft into the College World Series and staging the event in Omaha. All of these proposals are worth considering.

Given the success of the first "MLB in Omaha" game, it's also worth considering the idea of moving a Royals game to the city as a CWS launch event every season. The demand is clearly there and it makes for an ideal kick-off event for days to come. In addition to the teams gathering on the infield during pregame and participating in first-pitch ceremonies, Oregon State's Adley Rutschman was on hand to accept the Golden Spikes Award as the best player in the country. Rutschman was recently selected first overall in the draft by the Baltimore Orioles. Tying all of this together annually seems like a slam dunk.

Beyond the fans who follow their teams to Omaha for their CWS runs, the event has become another baseball-related draw in the Missouri-Nebraska-Iowa region overall, and has been for decades. Back in Red Oak, I encountered a number of people who were in various stages of planning their annual pilgrimages to Omaha. And the event holds allure for at least one prominent citizen of Kansas City baseball.

"It's always great to be back," Brett said. "When my kids were younger, we always used to come up this week, for the College World Series and the little league baseball. It seemed like they have games all over Nebraska and in this town."

Overall, college baseball is not a chief revenue driver at the NCAA level, though games are widely attended at many schools, especially in the south. According to sportsbusinessdaily.com, about 20 schools around the country will top 100,000 in attendance over the course of a season, with LSU leading the way at more than 360,000. Yep, they are pretty boisterous at Alex Bregman's old school. The Tigers average more than 10,000 to top the nation pretty much every season. Not to be snide about it, but that number is higher than the current per-game average of the Miami Marlins.

Let's face it, though: As big as the College World Series has become, there is plenty of growth opportunity remaining in baseball (and softball) at that level. MLB has a vested interest in this growth, as the various levels of the sport continue to develop increased synergy. For one thing, the baseball draft has always lagged in interest beyond prospect hounds. Part of that is that everyone knows it'll be quite a while before we see freshly drafted players reach the majors. However, part of it is also that only the most invested know who the top college players are. If the college game grows, so will the draft. That's why Manfred's goal of getting all the different levels of baseball pulling in the same direction is a wise one.

YOUTH LEAGUES AND HOME

Back in Red Oak, there was a high school game on Friday night. I couldn't attend, but I was told that the stands were full and the Tigers won 4-3 on a game-winning steal of home. I wish I had seen it. They still play at Legion Park, where I played in high school and where the Red Oak Red Sox -- one of those college summer teams that's now defunct -- once toiled. On one of those teams was a young Craig Counsell, the Milwaukee Brewers' manager, who spent a summer living in Red Oak and staying with a local family.

One of the common laments about the state of baseball in recent years has been that kids don't play it anymore. Since I don't have kids, I always kind of assumed that was at least somewhat true because I heard it so often. But then I was able to dive into the issue a little deeper and found that there are actually some good things going on.

While the landscape of youth baseball has changed since I was a kid, and much more so since my grandfather was playing ball in the countryside, this is an issue that MLB has been proactive at getting a handle on. Since my interactions with the league on this topic last year, the trends have continued to point upward. According the MLB, over the past four years, baseball has added 2.7 million new participants, a 52.8 percent increase in casual participation. Overall, baseball has seen the highest growth of any of the major sports. And with more than 25.6 million participants, baseball and softball combine to be the most participated team sport in the United States.

"Commissioner Manfred has made it a priority to grow the game," Moore said. "The Play Ball initiative has been highly successful. We've introduced baseball and softball throughout the country, and in underserved areas. We've really made it a priority."

This is all good stuff. I regularly get media releases from the league about "Play Ball" events such as the ones held in Kansas City and Omaha last week, in which local youths are brought in to hob-nob with ballplayers and learn about the game. MLB purchased the Los Angeles Dodgers' old spring training complex in Vero Beach, Florida, this year to serve as a hub for training the future stars of baseball and softball. There is a MLB-sponsored youth academy in New Orleans that the league is very proud of.

Omaha has become an epicenter in the youth tournament circuit, hosting the Omaha SlumpBuster event every year. Billed as the largest youth baseball tournament in the country, this thing is truly massive -- more than 500 teams from 40 states. There were displays about it all over the hotel I spent the night in after the "MLB in Omaha" game.

On Saturday afternoon, I watched part of a youth game with my friend Mike, whose son, Casey, was playing on a well-appointed field in Papillion, just a few miles away from where the first CWS games of the week were taking place. Before I found the correct field, I toured Halleck Park, where four different diamonds had games going, all with plenty of spectators -- presumably parents. The quality of play that I saw was pretty solid, much better than I remembered from my old little league days.

From the vantage point of all of this, you can say that youth baseball looks pretty darned strong in this little corner of the world. Maybe it's losing cachet in the suburbs (or maybe not, I think some confuse the rise of soccer with a decline in baseball and softball). The game in urban areas among youths certainly has declined, and baseball has been working for years now to bring it back. But in the Midwest, based on these impressions, it's holding its own.

But it's not all good news. One of the drivers behind MLB's initiative to grow casual participation in the game is that that the sport has become increasingly the domain of the privileged. Not necessarily wealthy, but those who at least have the funds to contribute to travel teams, and the time to take their children to practices, and can put them up in hotels at out-of-town tournaments. It's an expensive proposition, and too much of the game at the youth level is predicated on the travel team model.

This is what I found during my visit to Red Oak -- home. A friend, Tony, has coached youth teams for a number of years, including this one. Another friend, Matt, helps coordinate these youth sports teams in Red Oak. They don't seem to have much trouble in stocking these teams with players. A big reason for this kind of stunned me: They are only fielding one team per age group classification, and that team has to travel to play similar teams in surrounding communities. The little league structure of my youth -- several teams, all within Red Oak, playing each other -- is pretty much gone. Travel ball is what remains.

The population of Red Oak isn't much different than it was when I was a kid, which isn't something you can say of a number of other, smaller communities in rural America. In other words, it's not that there aren't enough children to set up a five- or six-team little league. It's just that the interest level and, more importantly, the economic ability of families to allow their children to participate is limited. Much of this traces back to the economic changes in small-town America over the past 30 years. Red Oak, a town that married agricultural activity with a thriving base of blue-collar jobs, has seen reductions in both areas. There isn't as much of a middle-class element and, for many, sports are more luxury than a necessity.

I'm not sure that MLB's efforts at growing its tentacles into youth baseball can or will reach what I assume to be hundreds upon hundreds of small relatively isolated communities like Red Oak. There is only so much that can be done from the top level. If the bar of entrance is to be lowered so that all small-town kids get a shot at baseball, softball or, really, any extracurricular activity, it'll be up to the towns themselves. I hope they figure it out.

When I arrived back in Red Oak, I drove around by myself for a couple of hours, as is my habit when I return home. For me, one place is frozen in 1975. Another in 1984. Yet another in 1982. When I am in those places, insofar as it's possible, I am back at that place, in that time. On this trip, I spent extra time wandering around old ballfields on a Friday afternoon, all of which were empty.

At Chautauqua Park, a beautiful field on a high point overlooking much of the town, just below the big orange water tower with "RED OAK" emblazoned on it in black letters, I was heartened to see it restored. The dugouts were painted, the field neatly dragged, with bases in place. The fence has the same dimensions as ever -- 180 feet to right, 252 to left, a small-town, little-league version of old League Park in Cleveland. The last time I'd seen the park, grass was growing on the infield dirt and someone was tearing around it in one of those little four-wheel RVs. Now, it's just an old ballpark again, if quiet. I sat down in the bleachers and listened to the cars hiss by on Summit Street behind me and the birds singing on a warm, sunny day.

Buildings in old towns often fall into neglect, are torn down or sometimes they burn. A number of them in Red Oak have disappeared over the years. But the ballfields, they all remain and some new ones have sprouted up, in a complex near the high school. Ballfields remain everywhere, in every town, in every suburb and exurb and in the city. Baseball remains an option, no matter where you go, no matter how badly in our quickening world we seem to want to engrave its tombstone.

We hear so much about baseball as it exists in the suburbs, or doesn't exist, and in the cities, where we have lost generations of youths and are working hard to bring them back. You don't hear as much about what the game looks like from a small-town perspective. This was but one trip but, for me, looking out at that restored field on which I once tried to imitate George Brett, this was how baseball looked in the Midwest, in the year 2019, on the cusp of another summer.

With the IAAF World Championships edging ever closer, Steve Smythe highlights who tops the current rankings

There is still plenty of time before the action gets under way at the IAAF World Championships in Doha and many of the current world leaders will not head the rankings when the competition starts.

Some athletes are holding back from the early season action and are aiming for a late peak ahead of the event taking place from September 27 to October 6 but it is still useful to take a look at who is leading the way so far.

For our full four-page feature, see the latest new-look edition of AW, on sale from June 20.

Men

In the sprints and hurdles, the USA’s strength looks ominous and much will depend on what happens in the US Championships.

The marginal favourites are Americans Christian Coleman (9.85), Noah Lyles (9.86), Michael Norman (19.70 and 43.45) and Grant Holloway (12.98).

In the 400m hurdles, home favourite Abderrahman Samba (pictured) tops the rankings (47.27).

The 800m is extremely open. Nijel Amos, currently ranked second in the world (1:43.65), is marginally the favourite, while world champion Elijah Manangoi heads the 1500m (3:32.21).

The current leaders at 5000m, 10,000m and steeplechase are less tested at the highest level.

The marathon will be intriguing as it will not see the fastest runners line up, while Japan are expected to lead the way in the walks.

Home favourite and defending champion Mutaz Essa Barshim is yet to compete this year and the high jump is potentially one of the most open events.

European champion Armand Duplantis leads the pole vault with his 6.00m clearance, while Americans Jeffrey Henderson (8.38m) and Omar Craddock (17.68m) lead the long and triple jump rankings respectively.

Poland should win the hammer but the discus looks more open.

Canada’s Damian Warner is on top in the decathlon with 8711 points.

Women

The USA should take the lion’s share of golds and medals in the sprints and hurdles.

Though Sha’Carri Richardson tops the 100m easily after her remarkable NCAA performance (10.75), we will need to see if that was a one-off race. At the moment Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Elaine Thompson will start marginal sprint favourites, with European champion Dina Asher-Smith also in the mix.

USA should dominate the 400m hurdles through either Dalilah Muhammad (53.61) or Sydney McLaughlin (54.14).

Caster Semenya (1:54.98) should comfortably win the 800m if she can compete. The 1500m will be more open.

Kenya should take the most medals in endurance events, while China could dominate the walks events.

Mariya Lasitskene is favourite in the high jump (2.02m) and Caterine Ibarguen (14.79m) should head the triple jump but the pole vault and long jumps are far more open.

The hammer list is currently dominated by Americans but Anita Wlodarczyk will start favourite.

Katarina Johnson-Thompson is currently out on her own in the heptathlon (6813) but Nafissatou Thiam has yet to compete this year.

Paul Freary explains how to make this delicious dessert

AW‘s Paul Freary talks you through how to make an apple and cherry crumble, using US Montmorency Tart Cherries.

You’ll need:
• 250g Montmorency US Tart Cherries
• 750g apples
• 2 tablespoons cherry juice
• 3 tablespoons apricot jam
• 100g flour
• 140g porridge oats
• 100g brown sugar
• 100g butter
• 2 tablespoons golden syrup

There are more than 50 studies supporting the potential health benefits of Montmorency tart cherries – from inflammation and exercise recovery, to sleep. Turns out, the tart taste is an indication of the amount of anthocyanins inside. These flavonoid compounds are behind the sourness, intense red colour and potential health-promoting properties, like reducing muscle soreness after exercise, easing arthritis pain and enhancing heart health. They may even help you sleep better at night because they contain melatonin, a natural hormone that regulates our sleep cycle.

Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend says he does not expect be invited to join Warren Gatland's British and Irish Lions coaching staff in 2021.

Townsend turned down a role on Gatland's coaching team for the 2017 tour to New Zealand, for which only two Scots made the initial 41-man squad.

It continued a trend of diminishing Scottish representation on Lions tours.

But Townsend played down the idea of a disconnect between Scotland and the Lions.

"I'm sure I won't get the offer this time after turning it down last time," Townsend told BBC Scotland.

"The Lions has been a big part of my rugby career. I managed to go on a tour and it was the ultimate achievement I had in my career.

"We as coaches and players think very highly of the Lions. Anybody would love to be involved in that."

Townsend, alongside fellow Scottish players Alan Tait, Rob Wainwright and Tom Smith, was instrumental in leading the Lions to a 2-1 series win over world champions South Africa in 1997.

Since then the number of Scots to taste Test action for the Lions has dwindled, with the 2017 series draw against the All Blacks the first for over a century to feature no players from north of the border.

Townsend says competition for the famous red jersey has never been more fierce, but is confident his Scotland players can rise to that challenge as the Lions prepare to return to South Africa in 2021.

"The northern hemisphere teams have been playing excellent rugby, the teams from Britain and Ireland especially," Townsend said.

"I think you've got the teams ranked second, third, fourth and seventh in the world that form the British and Irish Lions. That would never have happened before. Competition for places is stronger than it's ever been and that makes it a challenge for us as Scots.

"We haven't won Grand Slams like the other teams over the last few years but I'm a big believer in our players, that they can get on that Lions tour. World Cup, Six Nations and beyond, if they're playing well in those tournaments they've got a good chance of going."

A women's British and Irish Lions team must be adapted so it is something players "can really aspire to be part of", says England captain Sarah Hunter.

The men's Lions tour New Zealand, South Africa and Australia; mirroring that would not work in women's rugby, where top teams include Canada and the USA.

"It would be great to have it, but we need to make sure it fits with the women's game," Hunter told BBC Sport.

"Does it need to be in line with the men's Lions, or does it stand alone?"

The men's Lions - drawn from the cream of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales - have been in existence since 1888.

Lions managing director Ben Calveley said last week it was a matter of "when, not if" a women's side was formed.

The difficulty of replicating the men's tours of the southern hemisphere can be seen in the women's rankings; France, Canada and the USA are in the world's top five, with South Africa as low as 11th.

"The issue is around finding out how it fits in with the women's rugby calendar, how it fits in a World Cup year, and who would we get the most competition out of," Hunter said. "Because it doesn't necessarily mirror [the men's game].

"Hopefully it is in the process [of being formed], but logistically how do we make it happen so that it is sustainable and it is something people can really aspire to be part of."

Calveley, who became the Lions' first full-time managing director in 2018, said forming a women's outfit would be a "wonderful thing".

The Barbarians established a women's side in 2017, increasing the calls for the Lions to follow suit.

"If you look at women's sport generally - and women's rugby is no different - it's going from strength to strength," Calveley told Rugby World magazine.

"We had a wonderful Women's World Cup in Ireland recently and I'm sure the next edition will be similarly fantastic. Then there's the inclusion in the Olympics of sevens.

"Who doesn't want to be part of that? It's in the when-not-if category."

Hunter added: "The important thing now is to establish something that is in conjunction with the British and Irish Lions but fits for the women's world game, and hopefully that can become historic and part of the women's game globally."

The summer transfer window is in full swing, but there's plenty of work to be done given the flurry of international tournaments that have occupied the attentions of some of this summer's biggest targets. Which players are likeliest to move before the 2019-20 campaign? David Amoyal rates the top rumours from around world football in the latest edition of our summer Rumour Rater.

- When does the transfer window close?
- Pogba wants out. How should Man United respond?
- Transfer hot list: Five players every club wants
- Ogden: Liverpool De Ligt's best option; expect him to join PSG

Romelu Lukaku to Inter: 40 percent; Milan Skriniar to Manchester United: 1 percent

The Belgium international recently called Antonio Conte the best manager in the world and openly expressed his desire to play in Serie A. He had previously replaced his agent Mino Raiola with Federico Pastorello, who has a strong working relationship with Inter, where a few of his clients play.

Manchester United are asking for €70 million to move Lukaku and have turned down Mauro Icardi in a potential swap -- the Nerazzurri may have to sell the Argentine striker to a third team to raise the funds. While the Red Devils could certainly use a centre-back of Skriniar's calibre, the Slovakia international recently fired his agent so he could negotiate his own extension with Inter, and Conte sees him as a key piece for his project.

Rodri to Manchester City: 70 percent

Pep Guardiola is determined to sign the Spanish midfielder to help replace Fernandinho long term, and City are among the clubs willing to pay his €70m exit clause. Rodri appears to be leaning toward joining Manchester City over Bayern Munich, and Atletico Madrid have already identified Marcos Llorente as his replacement.

Joao Felix to Atletico Madrid: 50 percent

The Portuguese wonderkid has been one of the most discussed players since breaking into Benfica's first team this season, and with the Colchoneros ready to cash in on both Rodri and Antoine Griezmann, they have the bankroll to pursue him. Benfica have made it clear that they won't accept anything but the €120m of Felix's buyout clause, while the Spanish club is looking for a way to curb the immediate outlay, possibly including a clause on future sale in order to break the impasse.

Issa Diop to Manchester United: 40 percent

Manchester United's quest for a centre-back continues, as the Red Devils have made the signing of a defender their top priority for the summer. After being scared off by the demands of Napoli and Leicester for Kalidou Koulibaly and Harry Maguire, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side have redirected their attention toward 22-year-old Issa Diop from West Ham, for whom they have been open to spend up to £45m. United's offer, which reportedly also included a player, was however snubbed by the Hammers, considering they are adamant they won't settle for less than £60m to let the former Toulouse centre-half leave the club.

Mario Balotelli to Parma: 15 percent

Bringing Gervinho back to Serie A last summer proved to be a stroke of genius considering he was one of the main reasons they comfortably avoided relegation, so it's not surprising to see Parma looking to double down by going after Super Mario. But at the moment, Balotelli's agent Mino Raiola is asking for a very substantial salary of €4m a season after taxes, more than double what Gervinho earns, so unless that changes, a deal is quite unlikely.

Kostas Manolas to Napoli: 50 percent

Napoli have already agreed to personal terms with Manolas and are now looking to include one player to lower his €36m exit clause, offering Amadou Diawara, who could be an intriguing addition for Roma following Daniele De Rossi's departure. Should Manolas join Carlo Ancelotti's squad, he would be expected to replace Raul Albiol, who is on his way to Villarreal, rather than Kalidou Koulibaly, who will almost certainly stay for at least one more season.

Lucas Torreira to AC Milan: 20 percent

While the Uruguayan midfielder's first season in the Premier League was a success on the pitch, Torreira has publicly stated that he has struggled to adapt to living in England. With his former manager from his time at Sampdoria Marco Giampaolo set to be appointed as Gennaro Gattuso's successor at Milan, it's not surprising to see him linked to the Rossoneri, especially considering they could use a player at his position. While Milan are trying to get some relief from UEFA with their financial fair play parameters, it's very unlikely Arsenal will let him leave considering the positive impact he had on the team.

Dennis Praet and Joachim Andersen to Arsenal: 35 percent

Speaking of Torreira, the Gunners are once again looking to Sampdoria for reinforcements. They're interested in acquiring both Belgian midfielder Praet, who has been a starter in the past three seasons, and Danish centre-back Andersen, who emerged as one of the best young players at his position during the 2018-19 campaign. The Gunners' first bid of €48m for both was turned down as Sampdoria are asking for €55m, there also could be more competition to sign the duo from Milan in the coming weeks.

David Neres to Everton: 30 percent

Following Ajax's brilliant run in the Champions League, it's not surprising to see the Brazilian international in transfer headlines. Among the keenest suitors is Everton, where coach Marco Silva would be more than happy to link up Neres with his Selecao teammate Richarlison. The £40m offer that the Liverpool-based club was preparing, however, won't be enough to sway Ajax, as the Dutch club believe that the player's value has considerably increased since January, when they already turned down a similar bid coming from China.

Mats Hummels to Borussia Dortmund: 60 percent

With the announced departures of two club legends like Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben, a new era is dawning at Bayern Munich. The rejuvenation process set in motion by the Bavarian club will affect several departments of Niko Kovac's side, including the defence, where the signings of Lucas Hernandez and Benjamin Pavard could push centre-back Mats Hummels out of the club. Borussia Dortmund -- the 30-year old's former outfit -- have already submitted a €30m offer to bring him back to the Signal Iduna Park, in a deal that could benefit both parties, considering Dortmund are looking to add more experienced players to their ranks.

Can South Africa end New Zealand's unbeaten streak at the World Cup? Follow ESPNcricinfo's Live Report to catch up on all the analysis and chatter that surrounds the action in Birmingham. If the blog doesn't load straightaway, please refresh the page.

New Cricket Australia high performance chief Drew Ginn may be set to dictate a change of course for the management of the nation's fast bowlers, drawing lessons from his multi-Olympic gold medal winning time in rowing.As a member of the "Oarsome Foursome" and subsequent high performance work in both rowing and cycling, Ginn developed ideas that run contrary to those prevalent in the way that CA and the states have managed fast bowlers in recent years, namely the preference for controlled workloads of training, and match bowling at high intensity.Instead, Ginn can be expected to further investigate whether or not cricket should adopt the sorts of ideas used in rowing, whereby higher consistent training loads at lower intensity are used and then built up for specific moments, whether they be selection trials or international competitions such as the Olympics. Nick Cummins, chief executive of Cricket Tasmania where Ginn led the high performance program for the past two years, told ESPNcricinfo that the 44-year-old would not be afraid to challenge current conventions."He's got some strong views on fast bowler management probably based out of his experience with rowing," Cummins said. "For example in rowing he's said rowers would never row flat out aside from in races or maybe the race leading up to the big race. So he finds it interesting that the way a fast bowler's managed at the moment is that when you train you only train flat out and you're limited in your amount of training."One of the discussions is do you bowl 1000 balls at 50% rather than 50 balls at 100%, because in rowing you'd do most of your rowing at 50%, 30% or 10%. Of other sports that understand back injuries, rowing would be right up there, and ultimately his view is putting load through a body at all times is important, which kind of links back to that county cricket idea, Courtney Walsh saying 'I never stopped bowling, that's why I didn't get injured'. Drew's view is never stop bowling, but just don't bowl at 100% all the time. The current convention is only bowl at 100% and then rest. It'll be interesting to see where that goes."Management of fast bowlers has been a problematic area for CA over numerous years, with near constant debate over the approaches to be taken. Ginn has already made his presence felt by expressing his views at national high performance conferences, something Cummins had been looking for when he went searching for a new head of high performance in Tasmania in 2017 at a time the state was performing poorly.

"It became apparent that we were really going to have to have a game changer in terms of the type of person to bring in," Cummins said. "Drew was in the mix with a number of other candidates but when I met with him he was clearly the best. Not so much for expertise around cricket, but certainly expertise around high performance and a real system leader. That's key with that job, whether Tasmania or Australia, is we don't need another head coach to do their job. A head of high performance needs to manage the system and effectively coach the coaches."While cricket knowledge was far from the forefront of Ginn's qualities, Cummins argued that elite performance was now such a broad area that working collaboratively with experts and managing them effectively was as important. The balance CA have achieved through hiring Ginn and the far more cricket-steeped Ben Oliver as head of national teams will make for an intriguing next few years in terms of decision-making."His knowledge of cricket when he started was limited to backyard cricket so he's had to start from scratch, but in many ways that's been quite useful because he's come in with a very open mind and also come in from a perspective of not having a fixed view on how things should be," Cummins said. "Drew's attitude was ask lots of questions, gain an understanding of the oddities of cricket, but principally his job is to ensure that Adam Griffith and then Sally-Ann Briggs [the coaches] had the support and direction to succeed and more broadly working with the physios, strength and conditioning, umpires, premier cricket. In all instances there's a strong reliance on having subject matter experts, and he isn't that."But given the breadth of high performance anyway, even if he was Greg Chappell, he still wouldn't have expertise around women's cricket, strength and conditioning or umpiring or player welfare. Anyone who runs an organisation is going to have an area they're very strong and areas they don't know anything about. So consequently what you're looking for is a great leader, not a great coach."Resourcefulness is something else that Ginn has brought from a background in rowing, a sport that despite its storied history and Olympic presence is largely amateur and self-funded. Cummins recalled how the construction of an indoor marquee to allow Tasmania's players to train through the middle of a harsh Hobart winter was the result of a logical tradeoff."He's always looking at how we can deliver something so he doesn't accept no for an answer," Cummins said. "The marquee was a good example, it was about $50,000 and I said 'we just don't have that money' and he came back and said 'righto, the players are prepared to forego their pre-season trip, which is about $50,000, if they can have the marquee instead'. So I said 'okay if you're prepared to be flexible on that then let's do it'."He's had that attitude to 30 or 40 different parts of the system. He'll take that approach at the national level, particular coming from a sport where money is at an absolute premium. He's always amazed and envious of the resources that professional cricketers have compared to rowers who are largely amateur and largely self-funded. I think he'll use resources very responsibly, and ensure cricket goes onwards and upwards."

In Twins lore, it will go down as the Max Kepler Game.

Kepler twice played the hero as the Minnesota Twins pulled out a 4-3 victory over the Boston Red Sox in 17 innings, the longest game in Target Field history and one of the best games of the season. Kepler tied the game with a home run in the bottom of the 13th inning and then won it with a bases-loaded walk-off single, somehow sneaking a ground ball down the right-field line past a five-man infield.

Yeah, it lasted more than 5 hours, 45 minutes and featured 16 relief pitchers. You wouldn't want this on a nightly basis, but these games are rare enough to be appreciated and loved, not legislated out of existence with that silly "start the inning with a runner on second base" nonsense that has been discussed.

The game even featured some 17th-inning controversy. With Luis Arraez on first base and one hit, Eddie Rosario tried to bunt for a base hit and hit it foul, with his right foot on the far edge of the batter's box. Red Sox manager Alex Cora argued to no avail that Rosario should have been ruled out for making contact with the ball outside the batter's box. Rosario would eventually double in the at-bat, sending Arraez to third base. After Kepler's game-winning hit, Cora angrily confronted the umpiring crew and had to be restrained by his coaches.

Was Cora right in his argument? It didn't appear so. Rosario took a couple steps forward as he bunted, but his heel was still on the chalk when he made contact -- it was a legal bunt attempt. Cora admitted after the game that he let his emotions get the best of him after a tough loss. And it's not like the Red Sox didn't have their chances. In the top of the 17th, Andrew Benintendi reached third base after a single, stolen base and throwing error, but J.D. Martinez struck out -- he went 0-for-8 with five K's -- and Rafael Devers and Xander Bogaerts grounded out. In the 14th, Benintendi left the bases loaded. In the 10th, they didn't score after Brock Holt's leadoff double.

As for Kepler, he wasn't even supposed to play, only entering the game in the sixth inning. After Mookie Betts homered in the top of the 13th, Kepler did this:

MAXIMILLIAN KEPLER-ROZYCKI!!!!! WE'RE TIED! #MNTwins pic.twitter.com/tRYOCjZMSm

— FOX Sports North (@fsnorth) June 19, 2019

And here's the walk-off hit, the latest for the Twins since Pedro Munoz's walk-off home run in the 22nd inning on Aug. 31, 1993, against Jason Grimsley of the Indians:

KEPLER SAYS GOOD NIGHT! ?

THIS.
GAME.
IS.
OVER! #MNTwins pic.twitter.com/TZmafsMBNm

— FOX Sports North (@fsnorth) June 19, 2019

Kepler is now hitting .279/.362/.566 with 18 home runs, 49 RBIs and 49 runs. He has become an All-Star candidate in what is shaping as a breakout season -- just one of several for the Twins as their magical ride continues.

Yankees win as Stanton returns: Giancarlo Stanton went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts in his first game since March 31 after missing 68 games with a variety of ailments, but the Yankees still beat the Rays 6-3. Edwin Encarnacion hit his first home run in pinstripes:

Born to Fly. pic.twitter.com/QP7yB3Zx94

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) June 19, 2019

Think he's happy getting out of Seattle? Cameron Maybin also homered -- for the fourth straight game -- as the Yankees ran their streak to 21 games in a row with a home run.

The interesting thing in this game was Kevin Cash removing "bulk" guy Ryan Yarbrough after he had breezed through three scoreless innings. The Rays were up 2-1, but Chaz Roe came in and gave up hits to five of the first batters he faced as the Yankees scored three runs in the sixth.

Pulling Yarbrough was certainly understandable given all the righties in the Yankees' lineup and Roe is tough on righties with his nasty slider (although he hasn't been quite as dominant this season). His linescore was a little unfair as he gave up a few soft hits:

• Gleyber Torres: 70.5 mph

• Cameron Maybin: 78.2 mph
• DJ LeMahieu: 100.7 mph
• Luke Voit: 82.2 mph
• Gary Sanchez: 96.2 mph

All five hits were singles, and only two were hit hard, but give the Yankees credit for putting the ball in play.

As for Stanton, he started in right field and hit fifth in the lineup. The general feeling is the Yankees obviously don't need him to be a savior. They've been winning and scoring runs without him. Heck, Maybin is hitting .315/.387/.505; that's better than Stanton produced last year (.266/.343/.509). Maybe the missed time and the Yankees' backups holding their own will actually take some pressure off Stanton -- he's now just an additional cog in an unbelievably deep lineup that includes Encarnacion and still awaits the return of Aaron Judge. Less pressure perhaps, but not zero pressure, given that his 2018 performances was a letdown after his 59-homer season with the Marlins in 2018.

Charlie Blackmon note of the day: Blackmon's past five games:

3-for-5, 2B
3-for-6, HR
4-for-6, 2B
4-for-7, HR, 2B
4-for-5, 2 HRs, 3B

Most consecutive games with three-plus hits, past 50 years:

George Brett, 1976: 6
Blackmon, 2019: 5
Jose Altuve, 2017: 5
Rod Carew, 1975: 5
Ted Sizemore, 1970: 5

During his current eight-game hitting streak, Blackmon is hitting .571/.571/1.167 with six home runs, five doubles, a triple, 14 runs and 15 RBIs. He has raised his average from .295 to .341.

Verlander's home run problem: The Reds beat Justin Verlander and the Astros 4-3 on the strength of three home runs. Jesse Winker led off the bottom of the first with a home run off a 1-2 four-seamer, Derek Dietrich added a two-run shot later in the inning off a 1-2 slider and then Kyle Farmer connected on a 3-2 slider in the seventh.

It hurts that all three home runs came on two strikes -- especially since Verlander gets the strikeout 51 percent of the time when he gets to two strikes -- but two of the home runs weren't exactly crushed. Farmer drilled his home run to deep left field, golfing out a low slider, but Winker's home run was 368 feet to the opposite field and Dietrich's went just 339 feet, a Great American Ball Park special.

Verlander has now surrendered 20 home runs and yet his ERA remains a sparkling 2.59, even after allowing the four runs in this game. He has allowed 32 runs, 23 of them coming on home runs, as batters are hitting just .157 off him and .128 with runners on base. Verlander is on pace to allow 44 home runs and you can probably surmise that nobody has ever allowed 44 home runs with a 2.59 ERA.

Lowest ERA while allowing 40-plus home runs:
Ralph Terry, 1962 Yankees: 3.19 (40 HR)
Jack Morris, 1986 Tigers: 3.27 (40 HR)
Robin Roberts, 1955 Phillies: 3.28 (41 HR)

Those guys pitched a lot more innings, however, than Verlander will pitch, as Terry threw 298⅔ innings, Morris threw 267 and Roberts tossed 305. Only six pitchers have allowed 40 home runs with an ERA under 4.00, so Verlander's season is certainly a historic outlier so far.

Here are the lowest ERAs while allowing 30-plus home runs:
Denny McLain, 1968 Tigers: 1.96 (31)
Juan Marichal, 1966 Giants: 2.23 (32)
Randy Johnson, 1999 Diamondbacks: 2.48 (30)

That was the year McLain won 31 games -- he also made 41 starts and pitched 336 innings. Only 14 pitchers have allowed 30 home runs and posted an ERA under 3.00. The best comparison to Verlander would be Max Scherzer in 2016, when he allowed 31 home runs in 228.1 innings and finished with a 2.96 ERA. Scherzer held opponents to a .199 average that year.

Verlander, by the way, has now had 13 consecutive starts of at least six innings and five or fewer hits allowed. He's the second pitcher since 1908 to do that. The first: Verlander, last season.

Prediction: He cuts down on the home runs and keeps that ERA under 3.00.

It has been this kind of season for the Nationals: Speaking of Scherzer, he was scheduled to start one of Wednesday's doubleheader games against the Phillies but broke his nose during bunting practice:

Max Scherzer broke his nose after taking a ball off the face during a bunting drill. pic.twitter.com/M9o4hYBj0J

— ESPN (@espn) June 19, 2019

Scherzer will now probably skip his start on Wednesday and get pushed back to the weekend series against the Braves. That's obviously a big series for the Nationals, as it's starting to look like do-or-die time in the NL East race. They still have time to make a run -- and they have 17 games remaining against the Braves -- and after playing the Phillies (if it ever stops raining) and the Braves, they have a favorable stretch in the schedule with the Marlins, Tigers, Marlins, Royals, Phillies and Orioles for six series before meeting the Braves again on July 18.

Orioles note of the day: The A's hit six home runs in their 16-2 victory over the Orioles -- the ninth time the Orioles have allowed at least five home runs. That ties the 2016 Reds for most five-homer games. Baltimore has 89 games remaining. They're on pace to allow 326 home runs.

To put that in perspective: That's an average of 36.6 home runs from each spot in the lineup. When does Ravens training camp start?

Positive Marlins note of the day: The Marlins blanked the Cardinals 6-0 behind seven scoreless innings of two-hit baseball from Jordan Yamamoto. According to Elias Sports Bureau research, he's just the second pitcher since 1893 to begin his career with two starts of at least seven innings and three or fewer hits. The first was the immortal Jay Hughes, way back in 1898. A 23-year-old from Honolulu, Yamamoto was a 12th-round pick by the Brewers in 2014 and was part of the Christian Yelich trade -- really, he was the fourth-best prospect in the deal after Lewis Brinson, Monte Harrison and Isan Diaz. The Marlins promoted him from Double-A, where he had a 3.53 ERA and 53 hits in 65.1 innings with a so-so strikeout-to-walk ratio of 64 to 25. He's not overpowering (87-92 mph), but has a high spin rate on his fastball and a full arsenal of six pitches, including a cutter he likes to throw about a quarter of the time. He looks like an interesting arm to watch.

Oh, he's a BAAD Mama Yama. #JuntosMiami pic.twitter.com/LKPZg5tNQ5

— Miami Marlins (@Marlins) June 19, 2019

When the Wimbledon wildcards are announced on Wednesday there may well be an unfamiliar name among them - Paul Jubb.

Last month, the 19-year-old raised a few eyebrows in the tennis world when he became the first Briton to land the US colleges' prestigious NCAA men's singles title, previously won by Grand Slam winners Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe and Bob Bryan.

That victory should have guaranteed him a wildcard for September's US Open, but he will be denied the privilege because he is not American.

The York-born player, who moved to Hull to live with his grandmother at the age of three, began playing tennis at primary school before he stepped up his commitment to the sport while attending Malet Lambert school.

After winning the under-16s national title, he decided to take the opportunity of further developing his skills in the American college system.

He is not the only Briton to follow that route, with British number two Cameron Norrie also coming through the US system and recommending more players consider it.

"Lawn Tennis Association coach James Trotman [who has worked with British number one Kyle Edmund] played a big part and mentioned my name to a few people, including my current coach Josh Goffi," Jubb told BBC's Look North.

"Josh, while he was recruiting in London, came up to Hull to watch me train. The ball got rolling and a few months later I was at the University of South Carolina, where, aside from playing tennis, I'm also studying retail management."

Jubb only lost two matches during the college season before overcoming previously unbeaten Nuno Borges of Mississippi State in the NCAA final in Florida, in May.

"It was a huge confidence booster," he added. "Hopefully, it's a step in the right direction for a long future."

Jubb is back in his homeland at the moment. He took part in his first ATP Challenger match this month, taking a set off compatriot and world number 204 James Ward before eventually losing.

"My expectations weren't high," he said of his defeat at the Surbiton Trophy.

"I felt like I was right there with him and I took a lot of confidence from the match."

Jubb says he is hoping to get more experience on the professional tour and will remain in London during the grass-court season - a convenient location if Wimbledon comes calling.