Japan's crown prince hopes to continue father's legacy

Japanese Crown Prince Naruhito says he hopes to continue the close relationship his father built with the people when he succeeds him as emperor later this year.

Naruhito, who turns 59 on Saturday, will ascend the Chrysanthemum Throne on May 1 after Emperor Akihito abdicates.

"I feel very solemn when I think about the future," he said at an annual pre-birthday news conference Thursday. His remarks were embargoed from publication until Saturday.

In this Feb. 17, 2019, photo provided by the Imperial Household Agency of Japan, Japan's Crown Prince Naruhito poses for a photo at his residence Togu Palace in Tokyo. Naruhito celebrates his 59th birthday on Saturday, Feb. 23, 2019. (Imperial Household Agency of Japan via AP)

"While I continue to prepare for this role, I would like to maintain the past emperors' work. I would like to think about the people and pray for the people," he said.

His wife, Masako will also assume a new role as empress. The former diplomat has suffered from stress and has often skipped public events, and it's unclear how she will manage her new role as empress.

"Although Masako is steadily recovering, her condition still fluctuates. I would like Masako to continue to slowly widen her contribution in her role," Naruhito said, adding he hopes to support his wife just as she has supported him.

In this Feb. 17, 2019, photo provided by the Imperial Household Agency of Japan, Japan's Crown Prince Naruhito and Crown Princess Masako pose for a photo at their residence Togu Palace in Tokyo. Naruhito celebrates his 59th birthday on Saturday, Feb. 23, 2019. (Imperial Household Agency of Japan via AP)

Naruhito's younger brother, Prince Akishino, and his family are also expected to play a major role. The Japanese throne is only inherited by male heirs, and Naruhito's only child is a daughter. Prince Akishino and his young son Hisahito are next in the line of succession after Naruhito.

Akihito's desire to leave the throne revived a debate about the country's 2,000-year-old monarchy, one of the world's oldest, as well as discussion about improving the status of female members of the shrinking royal population.

"This problem will relate to the imperial family of the future. I would like to refrain from giving any opinions on the system," the crown prince said.

In this June 26, 2018, photo provided by the Imperial Household Agency of Japan, Japan's Crown Price Naruhito, right, guides Rio Paralympics women's T12 marathon silver medalist Misato Michishita as they run together at Akasaka Imperial Garden in Tokyo. Naruhito celebrates his 59th birthday on Saturday, Feb. 23, 2019. (Imperial Household Agency of Japan via AP)

Those who are concerned about the future of the royal family with shrinking membership want to allow women to ascend the throne and others to keep their royal status so they can keep performing public duties, but a government panel has avoided the divisive issue.

Even before the 1947 Imperial Law, reigning empresses were rare, usually serving as stand-ins for a few years until a suitable male can be installed. The last reigning empress was Gosakuramachi, who assumed the throne in 1763.

Debate over the succession law, however, is emotional. Some conservatives proposed a revival of concubines to produce imperial heirs, and others argued that allowing a woman on the throne would destroy a precious Japanese tradition.

In this June 26, 2018, photo provided by the Imperial Household Agency of Japan, Japan's Crown Price Naruhito guides Rio Paralympics women's T12 marathon silver medalist Misato Michishita as they run together at Akasaka Imperial Garden in Tokyo. Naruhito celebrates his 59th birthday on Saturday, Feb. 23, 2019. (Imperial Household Agency of Japan via AP)

In this Feb. 21, 2019, photo provided by the Imperial Household Agency of Japan, Japan's Crown Prince Naruhito speaks to journalists during his press conference at his residence Togu Palace in Tokyo. Naruhito celebrates his 59th birthday on Saturday, Feb. 23, 2019. (Imperial Household Agency of Japan via AP)

In this Feb. 21, 2019, photo provided by the Imperial Household Agency of Japan, Japan's Crown Prince Naruhito speaks to journalists during his press conference at his residence Togu Palace in Tokyo. Naruhito celebrates his 59th birthday on Saturday, Feb. 23, 2019. (Imperial Household Agency of Japan via AP)

In this Feb. 17, 2019, photo provided by the Imperial Household Agency of Japan, Japan's Crown Prince Naruhito and Crown Princess Masako pose at their residence Togu Palace in Tokyo. Naruhito celebrates his 59th birthday on Saturday, Feb. 23, 2019. (Imperial Household Agency of Japan via AP)

In this Feb. 17, 2019, photo provided by the Imperial Household Agency of Japan, Japan's Crown Prince Naruhito and Crown Princess Masako read the information on the national youth book report competition at their residence Togu Palace in Tokyo. Naruhito celebrates his 59th birthday on Saturday, Feb. 23, 2019. (Imperial Household Agency of Japan via AP)

In this Feb. 17, 2019 photo provided by the Imperial Household Agency of Japan, Japan's Crown Prince Naruhito and Crown Princess Masako read the information on the national youth book report competition at their residence Togu Palace in Tokyo. Naruhito celebrates his 59th birthday on Saturday, Feb. 23, 2019. (Imperial Household Agency of Japan via AP)

In this Feb. 17, 2019 photo provided by the Imperial Household Agency of Japan, Japan's Crown Prince Naruhito poses for a photo at his residence Togu Palace in Tokyo. Naruhito celebrates his 59th birthday on Saturday, Feb. 23, 2019. (Imperial Household Agency of Japan via AP)

In this June 26, 2018, photo provided by the Imperial Household Agency of Japan, Japan's Crown Price Naruhito, right, guides Rio Paralympics women's T12 marathon silver medalist Misato Michishita, left, as they run together at Akasaka Imperial Garden in Tokyo. Naruhito celebrates his 59th birthday on Saturday, Feb. 23, 2019. (Imperial Household Agency of Japan via AP)

NEW YORK (AP) — Baseball is changing at a dizzying speed in 2026 with the arrival of robot umpires, the return home of the Tampa Bay Rays and an alphabet soup of networks televising games in perhaps the last season before a labor shutdown.

Much has transpired in the 4 1/2 months since the Los Angeles Dodgers rallied in World Series Game 7 to beat Toronto in 11 innings and become the first repeat champion since the 1998-2000 New York Yankees.

There was the usual free agent musical chairs that saw Kyle Tucker wind up with the Dodgers, Bo Bichette with the New York Mets, Alex Bregman with the Chicago Cubs and Pete Alonso with the Baltimore Orioles.

Venezuela became a first-time champion of a World Baseball Classic with record attendance and television viewers.

But looming above the usual excitement for opening day on Wednesday is the possibility of no games in a year.

Tony Clark was forced to resign as players' association head and replaced by Bruce Meyer as talk intensified about a possible management salary cap proposal the players' association vows to fight. Major League Baseball is likely to lock out players on Dec. 2, leaving 2027 in limbo.

Cy Young Award winners Paul Skenes and Tarik Skubal are on the eight-man executive subcommittee that directs collective bargaining.

“We need people that are invested and kind of have status among players and within the game to go into the negotiations and be comfortable going toe to toe with the owners,” Skenes said. “It's not something that I sought out. Some guys nominated me for the position and that’s not something you say no to.”

Following testing that started in the minor leagues in 2019, MLB decided last September to use the Automated Ball-Strike System in the regular season.

While human umps call every pitch, each team has the ability to challenge two calls per game, retaining the challenge if successful, and has the possibility of at least one more in each extra inning.

“You want get the egregiously wrong calls fixed and you want make sure you get it right in a big spot,” three-time Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander said.

ABS won't be used for a two-game series between Arizona and San Diego in Mexico City on April 25-26, for the Philadelphia-Minnesota game at the Field of Dreams in Dyersville, Iowa, on Aug. 13 or the Atlanta-Milwaukee matchup in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, on Aug. 23.

Regular-season national broadcasts are split among Fox/FS1, TBS, ESPN, NBC/Peacock, AppleTV and Netflix. NBC's networks take over the Wild Card Series from ABC/ESPN.

In addition, MLB will produce and distribute the local telecasts of 14 teams following the financial problems of Main Street Sports Group, which operates the regional FanDuel Sports Network stations.

When the New York Yankees play the MLB season opener at the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday, the game will be exclusively on Netflix.

After becoming the first team to win consecutive championships since the 1998-2000 Yankees, the Dodgers try to become just the fifth group to win three in a row, joining those Yankees, five by the 1949-53 Yankees, four by the 1936-39 Yankees and three by the 1972-74 Oakland Athletics.

“When you're a Dodger, people want to take us down. They want to beat us,” manager Dave Roberts told players in his spring training speech. “It's a Game 7. So I think that we've got to look ahead and say that this is going to be harder than it's ever been and we got to work even harder. And so my ask as a team, as an organization is to push ourselves even more. We already got the talent. There isn't any more talent in a major league clubhouse than in this room.”

Coming off his fourth unanimous MVP award, Shohei Ohtani is expected to be a two-way player over a full season. He returned to the mound last June 16 following his second major elbow surgery on Sept. 19, 2023.

Tampa Bay returns to Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg after a season playing home games across the bay at Steinbrenner Field, the spring training home of the Yankees.

Damage to the Trop caused by Hurricane Milton in October 2024 has been repaired. The Rays were 41-40 at Steinbrenner last year, their lowest home winning percentage since 2016. They drew 786,750 for an average of 9,713, selling out 61 games.

“There is genuine, authentic excitement to get back to the Trop,” manager Kevin Cash said. “We've played well in the Trop. We’ve had a lot of success in the Trop. And I think we’re going back to something that’s probably going to be a little bit newer, a little better than maybe as we left it because they had to do so many repairs.”

Four players could reach 400 career home runs this year.

Manny Machado starts the season at 369, followed by Freddie Freeman at 368, Aaron Judge at 367 and Bryce Harper at 363.

Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Shohei Ohtani, of Japan, throws against the San Francisco Giants during the first inning of a spring training baseball game, Wednesday, March 18, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)