Löschen » that he does? DICKEY: Well, let me s

Baseball has one of the best fan experience in sports, and 20 years ago today that was taken away from the people that love it the most. Cheap Ravens Jerseys China . Strikes and lockouts have not been a rarity in the professional sports world, but there is one that many will not forget. The 1994 Major League Baseball Players strike, which led the sport to lose its entire postseason due to a labour dispute, the first time that happened in a North American sports league. One of the main disputes that caused the Players to walk off the job was that the Owners wanted to install a salary cap, while the players opposed the idea. That disagreement plus a few others, led to a 232-day strike, cancelling not only the remainder of the regular season but also the postseason. The Montreal Expos were arguably the team that suffered the most; they had the best record in baseball, 74-40, despite having the second lowest payroll. They were six games ahead of the Atlanta Braves in the National League East Division when the season came to a halt. Success in strike years was not something new for the Expos, the only time the team punched their ticket to the playoffs was in 1981, during the last significant players strike. Following the resumption of the sport, the Expos moved a lot of their star players, which lead to an even bigger erosion of the fan base. Montreal was not the only market hit hard by the stoppage, many fans around the league decided to opt out of games when the players returned to the field. Attendance was at an all-time low, dropping 20% from the previous season. In 1994, prior to the strike, the average attendance was 31,256 in 1,600 games, while in 2,016 regular season games of the 1995 season they drew an average of 25,008 fans. Interest in the game was slow to return until the 1998 season when Chicago Cubs outfielder Sammy Sosa and St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Mark McGwire started hitting home runs at record paces. The two sluggers may be the reason the love for baseball returned, their chase for the all-time single season home-run record grabbed the attention of former and current die-hard fans as well as casual viewers. The two players were looking to surpass New York Yankee Roger Maris record of 61 homers which he hit during the 1961 season. Both men had a competitive drive, but their personalities and newly formed friendship also helped them grab peoples attention. Maris single season record fell that year as Mark McGwire finished with 70 home runs and Sammy Sosa ended the season with 66 round trippers and though those marks have since been cast into doubt, there is no question about the lasting effect their work that season had on restoring fans of the game. Its been 20 years since the strike, how long did it take you to forgive baseball and come back? As always its Your! Call. Wholesale Ravens Jerseys . At least 90 players who had college eligibility remaining are expected to enter the draft, shattering last years record number of 73. "Its a humongous number, so the first reaction is it makes you step back a little bit," said NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah, a former scout with the Baltimore Ravens, Cleveland Browns and Philadelphia Eagles. Ravens Jerseys Womens . -- Matt Rupert scored once in regulation and again in the shootout as the London Knights extended their win streak to nine games by defeating the Owen Sound Attack 4-3 on Friday in Ontario Hockey League action. http://www.cheapravensjerseyselite.com/ . "It was awesome," he said. Coming off an ugly three-game sweep at the hands of the Yankees, Toronto found itself in a deep hole early after the Reds put an eight spot up on starter Liam Hendriks (six runs in 1 2/3 innings pitched) and Todd Redmond in the second.TORONTO a€“ The Blue Jays dropped the final game of their four-game set with the Mariners, 7-5, on Thursday afternoon. Prior to the game, TSN.ca continued its series of season-ending player interviews by sitting down with knuckleballer R.A. Dickey. Dickey, who turns 40 on October 29, discussed his pregame preparation and how it differs from conventional pitchers, his impression of Jose Bautistas play and he addresses how long he intends to continue playing. Below is the transcript of the chat: TSN.ca: R.A. one more start to go this season. When you look at your numbers, youve had a pretty good year and a pretty consistent year for this team. But I want to hear you describe it. How has your season gone? DICKEY: I certainly felt like its been an improvement from last year. I think one of the things that makes a competitor a competitor, and a lot of these guys are the same way, is that youre never really satisfied. You know, even in my Cy Young award year I feel like I could have done a few things better so youre always trying to push that envelope. At the same time there is a certain amount of satisfaction that I get when Im able to achieve some goals on a personal level. Now, collectively, its been a disappointment as Ive expressed before but even inside that disappointment youre hoping to grow as a pitcher in your craft and whatnot and like looking back I feel Ive been able to give our team a chance to win on more nights than not. TSN.ca: In what ways have you evolved as a pitcher? Im sitting here thinking your change of velocities and the ways that youve tried to adjust to pitching in what I think is a much harder home park to pitch in than Citi Field in New York. Is that one and maybe what are some of the others? DICKEY: I think youre accurate on both counts. Being able to change speeds has been something Ive felt like has been a very good weapon for me to keep the ball in the ballpark and Ive gotten better and better at that this year. Ive thrown more slow knuckleballs this year than any year previous. Ive been able to keep the ball in the ballpark for the most part throughout the year. I think Ive given up 25 home runs this year which, you know, still a little bit high. Id like to have it a little bit lower but all in all, playing in the AL East in these parks its not terrible. Im okay with that number. I wish that I could have started the year a little stronger. I think next year I think my focus is going to try to be how can I get out of the gates just a little bit better? A lot of that has to do with my control. Im still walking guys at a level that is unacceptable to me. If I can improve on that I think a lot of my numbers will take care of themselves but those walks need to trim down. TSN.ca: Your numbers over the last four or five years would suggest that you can but Im going to ask you, can you trust that pitch to the extent that youve got a really good idea, when it leaves your hand, that its going to end up in the place that you want it to? DICKEY: Yeah, I do. I think I know enough about my mechanic, I know enough about my release point, etcetera, etcetera to be able to get the ball in the strike zone more consistently than 71 walks in a year. I feel like I should be 60 to 65 walks at the most is kind of the ceiling that I hope to achieve. I have precedent. Ive done that before well over the previous three or four years. Now, youve got to be a little more careful with hitters in this league so you give yourself a little more grace for that but theres times when Ive walked guys with two outs or led off an inning with a walk that I could get much better at. TSN.ca: When you look at this division and where this team stacks up comparatively with Baltimore, with Boston, with New York and with Tampa Bay a€“ and I think some unpredictable things happened in the American League East this year a€“ how close are the Blue Jays to being to not just a playoff contender because that factors in the wild card but a legit division winner or contender for the division? DICKEY: Well, I dont think I can stand here in good conscience and say that we have everything that we need. Whether that comes in the form of guys performing better that are in here or the addition of other players and Im including myself in that equation but you cant sit here and say that youve got everything when you havent done it. You obviously need something. So I think thats the real challenge is trying to identify those things that we need that would be more consistent that would help us achieve our collective goals. Weve got some great players in this clubhouse; players I feel like you can really depend on consistently and if you just have some pieces around them that can complement them well I think youre right where you need to be. Now, how does that come? Well see. I think a lot of guys in here are going to have better years than they did last year because theyre going to be exposed to more and will have had more experience and so on and so forth. I think that you have a good chance at competing. Now, are you going to run away with it with the guys that we have in here? I dont think, regardless of who you had in here, youre going to run away with it. Its just too competitive of a division. TSN.ca: I want to get your thoughts on Jose Bautista, who I put up there with Robeerto Alomar and maybe a couple of other guys as maybe the top ever positional players to play on this team. Ravens Jerseys Pro Shop. Youve, I dont think, worked necessarily against him too, too much, especially when hes been in the five seasons of his prime but whats he like as a teammate and whats it like to watch him go to work each and everyday and perform the way that he does? DICKEY: Well, let me speak just to the player on the field first. Ive had the, Im not necessarily going to call it a privilege but I had the opportunity to play with Alex Rodriguez in the AL MVP year. Ive had the opportunity to play with David Wright and Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau in his prime and Ive got to tell you that this guy ranks right up there with those guys. The year that hes having this year in particular, he has the chance to score 100 runs, have 100 walks and 100 RBIs. I mean, for a guy to do that is phenomenal. Youre happy that youre on a team being able to witness such a thing happen. Thats what he has done consistently over the last few seasons when he has been healthy. As a player: what a guy, what a pro. Comes ready to play everyday, played hurt, been kind of the pillar on this team from a position player standpoint that weve needed, come up in big situations, clutch situations, when weve been in the playoff race time and time again and given us a chance to win so you cant say enough about him as a player. Off the field, hes in the community. Hes got things going on. Hes the face of what we do. Hes been a great teammate. Ive had nothing but great things to say about him. Hes been a fun guy to play with. I think last year he had some real challenges that he was dealing with, being physical or otherwise he had some real challenges and this year Ive gotten to see him firsthand kind of be who he authentically is and its been a real treat. TSN.ca: Getting back to you, you talked about your walk count and how youd like to bring that down. Whenever I approach you and we talk about your pitching youre very aware of your statistics because you analyze how your season is going as you progress. What are some of the numbers that concern you the most when youre trying to judge what kind of run youre on or what kind of season youre having? DICKEY: I just think its my personality. Im somewhat quantitative. Its the only way I can measure a job well done and for me I try to keep an eye on my innings because if youve thrown 200-plus innings youve usually been depended on to go deep in games, which means youve pitched well enough to get deep in those games. Hits per innings pitched are big for me, or WHIP, I try to pay attention to those numbers. How many guys are getting on base in every inning? I like to have that number below 1.3 as much as possible and so there are some things that I can keep an eye on. Thats just me. A lot of guys dont even look at the numbers but Im not going to stand before you and tell you I dont because thats the only way I really have to measure how Im doing. Of course, quality starts for me is always a€| I had Orel Hershiser tell me one time and it stayed with me ever since, he said if you can be depended on to give your team a chance to win youll always have a job and Ive never forgot it. So thats one of the things Ive always tried to do is put up a quality start as many times as I can. TSN.ca: When you pore over a scouting report of an opposing team and you go over their hitters, how is that different for you than it would be for a conventional pitcher in terms of, I mean because I think weve all got a pretty good idea of what pitch youre going to throw more often than not so how do you assess a way to attack a guy? DICKEY: Thats a great question. I think for me a hitters weaknesses arent necessarily something that a€| like, sinker in, he hits .008 on sliders away, like that doesnt help me a bit a€| but what does help me is how aggressive is this guy? Does he walk a lot? Does he strike out a lot? Is he prone to swing early in the count or is he not prone to swing early in the count? Can I get ahead with fastballs early in the count because he takes first pitches? What are his first-pitch take percentages? Things like that really help me more than anything, knowing the personality of the hitter more than knowing what conventional pitches beat him or dont beat him. TSN.ca: Youve got one guaranteed year left plus a club option. You throw a pitch that traditionally has allowed guys to work well into their 40s. I know its still early for this but when you look ahead could you see yourself in this game as an active pitcher, an active player, maybe half a decade from now? DICKEY: Well, that would mean Id be 45. Conditionally, like the way that my body feels, I certainly feel like I could perform at the level that Im performing. I think the real question is do I want to do that to my family? Theyll be a big part of my decisions going forward at the conclusion of this contract. I certainly feel like Im physically going to be able to keep going and well just have to take it one day at a time but I just try to live in the moment as much as possible. Ive got one start left against the Baltimore Orioles, on Sunday, and thats really my emphasis right now, to try and finish strong. TSN.ca: Thanks so much for this, R.A. Appreciate it. DICKEY: Youre welcome. Cheap Buffalo Sabres Gear Wholesale Calgary Flames Jerseys Cheap Adidas Colorado Avalanche Jerseys Montreal Canadiens Outlet Store Wholesale New Jersey Devils Jerseys Adidas Arizona Coyotes Jerseys Cheap Adidas Boston Bruins Jerseys Cheap Adidas Carolina Hurricanes Jerseys Chicago Blackhawks Shop Free Shipping Wholesale Columbus Blue Jackets Jerseys Dallas Stars Shop Free Shipping Cheap Adidas Detroit Red Wings Jerseys Anaheim Ducks Jerseys China Wholesale Edmonton Oilers Jerseys Florida Panthers Shop Free Shipping Wholesale Los Angeles Kings Jerseys Minnesota Wild Outlet Store Cheap Adidas Nashville Predators Jerseys Cheap Adidas New York Islanders Jerseys New York Rangers Winter Classic Jerseys Cheap Adidas Ottawa Senators Jerseys Cheap Adidas Philadelphia Flyers Jerseys Wholesale Pittsburgh Penguins Jerseys Cheap Adidas San Jose Sharks Jerseys St. Louis Blues Winter Classic Jerseys Wholesale Tampa Bay Lightning Jerseys Toronto Maple Leafs Outlet Store Vancouver Canucks Outlet Store Cheap Adidas Vegas Golden Knights Jerseys Cheap Adidas Washington Capitals Jerseys Cheap Adidas Winnipeg Jets Jerseys ' ' '