Narrenpost-Kasten » All-Star Game as long as hes invited. "Ma

MINNEAPOLIS – There are 750 active player jobs in Major League Baseball at any one time. Of those, 68, or nine-percent, were on the active rosters for the 85th edition of the All-Star Game on Tuesday night at Target Field. Blue Jays rightfielder Jose Bautista participated in his fifth Midsummer Classic and fifth in a row. While some players look for ways to excuse themselves from the festivities, choosing instead to take a four-day break from the daily grind of the six-month season, Bautista relishes the opportunity to be front and centre on one of the sports biggest stages. "Nothing gets old, everythings the same, you get to enjoy everything every single time," said Bautista. "Theres always different stuff going on and new and different, exciting players. Im excited to see those new names like Jose Abreu and Mike Trout. I know (Trouts) been here before but hes one of the younger guys that are part of this event so theres always great stuff to see and enjoy so I dont complain whatsoever. Always proud and humbled to be chosen." Bautista, for the second time, was the leading vote-getter, netting almost six million votes. He doesnt take the responsibility lightly. His itinerary in Minneapolis was jam-packed. If he was weary, he wasnt letting on but regardless, there would be hardly any rest. Bautista arrived via private jet on Sunday night, flying in from Tampa Bay, where his Blue Jays had just finished a series with the Rays. He went to his hotel, checked in, took enough time to drop off his belongings in his room and then, in a manner of speaking, went to work. First up was a Sunday night MLB.com party for which Bautista played host. He eventually made it to bed and estimated that he got five hours of sleep. There was more to do – much, much more to do – on Monday. Bautista had breakfast on Monday morning. Then, a charitable endeavour; he went to the Boys and Girls Club of the Twin Cities to meet some of the programs children and donate shoes. By one oclock in the afternoon central daylight time, Monday, Bautista had arrived at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Minneapolis. It was media time, including indulging reporters for 45 minutes during the American League players availability, followed by the Home Run Derby press conference. "Basically stressful, Im going to lose a couple of more hairs in this next 48 hours," Bautista told TSN.ca during the availability. "It goes by fast. It feels like right when you get here youre doing one thing after the other. You dont get enough sleep. You always have something to do but you cant help but enjoy it when youre out on the field and playing with stars. I cant complain about it but it is busy." Bautista participated in the Home Run Derby. He was the American Leagues captain. He hit 10 home runs in the first round, received a bye to the semifinals and hit four more. He was defeated by eventual winner, Oaklands Yoenis Cespedes. The Derby behind him, it was back out on the town for a party thrown by Marucci Sports, which has become one of baseballs premier suppliers of equipment like bats, batting gloves, gloves, you name it. Bautista sits on the companys board of directors. The party ended. Bautista estimated he got about six hours of sleep before waking up on Tuesday morning. It was right off to the All-Star parade through downtown Minneapolis and the red carpet which followed. Bautista was in rightfield for five innings, going hitless in two at-bats. He was to fly to Toronto, on a private jet, over the lunch hour on Wednesday. Blue Jays fans concerned Bautista kept too busy in advance of what will be the most important second half of his tenure in Toronto, neednt worry. "I still get two days on Wednesday and Thursday," said Bautista. "Id rather be here then at home relaxing. Its a good signal when you get picked and selected to come here and Im not going to keep complaining. Im going to keep trying to be a contributor to my team and hopefully play good enough to keep getting selected." After all, it wasnt obvious in his early years that Bautista would become the elite player you see today. Hell keep coming to the All-Star Game as long as hes invited. "Maybe if I was somebody like Mike Trout, whos been here since his first year and this would be my 17th year, maybe I wouldnt care about it so much but thats not the case," said Bautista. "I work very hard and somehow manage to be good enough to get selected. I dont think it means that much more but it means about as much as it probably means to every other guy thats here. We value it a lot and its always great to be recognized among the best so Im always humbled and honoured to be here." T.J. 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Notes on Bergeron, Marchand, Gorges, Vanek, Gaborik, Doughty, Hiller and more. BRUINS STORM BACK TO TAKE GAME TWO The Boston Bruins rallied from a 3-1 deficit, scoring four unanswered goals, to win Game Two, 5-3 over the Montreal Canadiens.BALTIMORE - Dan Duquettes job description includes making trades that will help improve the Baltimore Orioles.This off-season, Duquette was in the middle of a potential blockbuster deal.Duquette, the Orioles president of baseball operations, acknowledged Saturday there was substance to reports that the Toronto Blue Jays were in pursuit of him to be club president.A lot of times, players will be a trade rumour and sometimes managers get traded, Duquette said. Its even more rare that executives get traded, but occasionally it happens. Its a unique experience. I think when you have a good team and you do well, people take notice.Under Duquettes guidance, the Orioles won 96 games last season, captured the AL East for the first time since 1997 and advanced to the AL Championship Series.That piqued Torontos interest.As you get better as an organization, things that youre doing are trying to be either emulated or acquired, Orioles manager Buck Showalter noted. Its inevitable as an organization that, as you get better, people are going to be coveted more.Because Duquette is under contract with Baltimore through 2018, the Blue Jays had to offer Baltimore ample compensation to secure his services.No deal was made, so Duquette was talking about Orioles baseball on Saturday at FanFest, the teams annual winter convention.He insisted that Torontos advances did not distract him from seeking to put a better club on the field in 2015.Its important for the Orioles fans to know that my focus — and my singular focus — is on improving the team, he said. We do that day by day, trade by trade, addition by addition. We did that this year in the off-season like weve done it in the past.With the exception of Duquettes potential departure, its been a quiet off-season for Baltimore. The losses include free agent outfielders Nelson Cruz and Nick Markakis, along with reliever Andrew Miller.The most notable addition is outfielder Travis Snider, obtained in a trade with Pittsburgh.But thats typical of Duquette, who followed a quiet winter in 2014 by adding Cruz and Ubaldo Jimenez during spring training.While its important to improve your ballclub in off-season, were not really trying to win the off-season, Duquette said.dddddddddddd. Were trying to put together a team that can compete and get to the off-season and prevail. Thats different from making headlines in the winter time.Showalter had absolutely no complaint about the teams off-season activity.As we get into spring and there comes a need, well be able to do it, he said.The Orioles played much of the 2014 season without injured stars Manny Machado and Matt Wieters. Having them in the lineup will make more of a difference than any trade or free agent addition.The biggest and most powerful improvement we have to our ballclub this year is Machado coming back and Wieters coming back, Duquette said.In other news, suspended slugger Chris Davis said Saturday his use of Adderall last season was not as a performance enhancer but rather a way to cope with an oblique injury that landed him on the disabled list and played havoc with his swing.It was never a baseball issue, he said. Just an everyday life thing.Davis was suspended for 25 games. The punishment will expire after opening day.I was just kind of overwhelmed with everything that was going on last year with the injury, he said. There were a lot of things that were taking my focus away from baseball.Davis said he had previously been diagnosed with attention deficit disorder, which got him a green light from the independent administrator of Major League Baseballs drug program to use the drug in 2008.I had an exemption in the past. It was denied in 2013 and obviously, I shouldnt have been taking it last year, Davis said. It was a moment of weakness.After batting .286 with 53 homers and 138 RBIs in 2013, Davis numbers slipped dramatically in 2014 to .196 with 26 homers and 72 RBIs.This year, he expects things to be different.Being away from it a month longer than the rest of these guys was tough at first, but I used it to my advantage to get into my workouts a little bit earlier, Davis said. I definitely think last year got off to a slow start, so this year I wanted to get off on the right foot. Im doing some different workouts this year.He jokingly said that included bunting down the third-base line, a way to cope with the shift that limited his effectiveness. Blackhawks Jerseys Store Cheap Wild Jerseys Cheap Red Wings Jerseys Cheap Maple Leafs Jerseys Penguins Jerseys Store Capitals Jerseys For Sale Blues Jerseys Store Cheap Kings Jerseys Adidas Lightning Jerseys Stars Jerseys For Sale Cheap Predators Jerseys Ducks Store Sharks Jerseys For Sale Cheap Sabres Jerseys Rangers Jerseys For Sale ' ' '