Baseball players counter … Taiwan baseball trailblazing … Olympic committee on protests

NEW YORK (AP) — A pair of people familiar with the negotiations tell The Associated Press that baseball players moved toward teams but remained far apart on the economics of starting the pandemic-delayed season, adamant they receive full prorated salaries while offering to cut the regular season to 89 games. MLB did not appear to view the proposal as productive but made no comment. Players made their move one day after management cut its proposed schedule from 82 games to 76.

NEW TAIPEI CITY, Taiwan (AP) — The Taiwan baseball league is continuing as a trailblazer for sports resuming after the lockdown in the coronavirus pandemic. An easing of restrictions by the government last weekend allows more fans at the ballparks and allows them to sit closer together while they’re supporting their teams in the Taiwan-based CPBL. Spectators are only required to wear face masks when they’re not in their seats and ball parks can operate up to 50% capacity.

DENVER (AP) — The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee is creating an athlete group that will look into loosening restrictions on protests at the games. CEO Sarah Hirshland tweeted the plans for a new group, which is being formed in response to George Floyd’s death last month. The USOPC put out a statement last week signaling its solidarity with black athletes. But the federation received blowback from several athletes, most notably hammer thrower Gwen Berry. Berry is serving a 12-month probation for raising her fist on the medals stand at the Pan-Am Games last summer.

UNDATED (AP) — The Toronto Raptors have an NBA championship to defend, a very long stay at the Disney complex awaiting them and plenty of unanswered questions on how the restart of the season will work. As the NBA’s lone Canadian team, there’s an added complexity: The U.S. border. The Raptors are still deciding whether to have workouts before going to Disney, and where those workouts would take place.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper’s administration has ordered closed a small stock-car track that’s allowed large crowds to gather repeatedly for weekend races well above COVID-19 limits for mass gatherings. Cooper’s health secretary says Ace Speedway in Alamance County is an “imminent hazard” for the virus’ spread and can’t reopen unless it creates a safety plan to keep fans away. Media outlets have reported crowds at the speedway exceeding 2,000 people.

UNDATED (AP) — The familiar scene of Confederate flags waved by fans at NASCAR tracks could soon be a relic of racing’s good ol’ boy roots. Bubba Wallace — the lone black driver in the sport — this week declared it is time for the stock car series with deep ties to the South to ban the flag at its properties and formally distance itself from what for millions is a unwelcome symbol of slavery and racism. The signs are everywhere that NASCAR could do so. The series in 2015 asked fans to “refrain from displaying” the flag at its facilities and events.