When times are tough, these things matter. | Forum
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Apr 7 '19
CLEVELAND -- David Price wants to make his next postseason start unlike all his others. wholesale jerseys cheap .I want to go out there and win, he said. I want to be dominant. I want to have that really good postseason game, and I know that Im capable of doing that.That would be a first.Bostons left-hander is 0-7 in the postseason as a starter going into Game 2 of the AL Division Series, where he faces the Indians and right-hander Corey Kluber on Friday. The 30-year-old has pitched in the playoffs since 2010, when he was with Tampa Bay. He went 0-4 with the Rays, 0-1 with Detroit and 0-2 in two starts last year for Toronto after he was traded to the Blue Jays at the July 31 deadline.Price is 0-for-October, but theres nothing he can do about what has happened previously. He doesnt make excuses for his lack of postseason success, the only major blemish on an otherwise stellar career.Hes won a Cy Young Award, pitched in five All-Star Games and averaged 15 wins in his eight big league seasons. But there remains a big, fat zero on his payoff resume.Red Sox manager John Farrell doesnt think Prices postseason past haunts -- or drives -- him.Getting to know him over the course of this year I dont know that he puts a whole lot of stock in what has happened or the anticipation of what lies ahead, Farrell said. Hes really good at staying on task and whats needed today. Hes probably reminded by some things by other people. But in terms of just a sheer competitor, a good teammate, a great teammate, a guy that wants to be the guy in the moment, he is certainly prepared for that tomorrow.Boston signed him to a $217 million, seven-year contract as a free agent in December, an acquisition and investment the club hoped would get them back to the playoffs and Price on the games biggest stage.Price he got off to the start Red Sox Nation was expecting before posting a 1-4 record in June. But Price picked it up in the second half, going 8-2 in his last 13 starts.Any pitcher in the league would be thrilled with a 17-9 record and 3.99 ERA. Price, though, felt he should have done more.I didnt throw the baseball the way that I know I can throw it, said Price, who will be pitching Friday on normal rest. Over the course of 32, 33 starts I didnt do that. I got off to a very bad start after opening day. It took me a while to rebound from that. I threw the ball a lot better in the second half of the year. And I feel good. I feel good mentally, physically and Im excited to pitch tomorrow.Price said he doesnt feel any more pressure being Bostons big gun, the one expected to take the ball every five days and win.Hes got the gargantuan contract, which has brought more scrutiny, but it doesnt fuel his desire.I havent applied more pressure to myself this year as opposed to last year, he said. Last year to me I felt like was a better year, that was my free agent year. I felt I handled it extremely well. And this year, as well. I just didnt throw the baseball well. And thats all on me. Its not the added pressure or pitching in Boston, anything like that. Trying to pitch up to my contract, it wasnt any of those things. I just didnt throw the baseball well. And I moved forward from that and I dont think about that stuff. nfl jerseys cheap . The 19-year-old Olsen played 34 games with the Kelowna Rockets of the WHL this season. In that time, hes recorded 17 goals and 17 assists with 36 penalty minutes. cheap mlb jerseys . The Nashville Predators were glad their captain was still on their side. Weber had a goal and two assists, and Roman Josi scored the shootout winner to lift the Predators to a 4-3 win over the Flyers on Thursday night. http://www.chinajerseysnflcheapwholesale.com/ . Badenhop was 2-3 with a 3.47 ERA in 63 relief appearances for Milwaukee this season. He is 18-20 in his career with three saves and a 3. When the time comes to look back on James Andersons career - and that time might not be so far away - the options for highlights packages will be plentiful.There have been many magical spells and memorable matches. There was the dream debut, the impeccable performance in Kolkata (2012), the first ten-for (against Pakistan at Trent Bridge in 2010) and the unplayable spells against Sri Lanka earlier this year. And thats before any mention of the numerous Ashes-defining performances, such as the destruction of Edgbaston 2015, the determination of Nottingham 2013 and the relentlessness of Melbourne and Adelaide in 2010.But maybe it was a far less-heralded spell that typifies Anderson. A spell that left him with one of the great unwanted records in cricket.In December 2013, England reached Perth with their grip on the Ashes hanging by a thread. While Anderson - and his fellow seamers - had bowled admirably in the first innings of both the previous two Tests, Englands batsmen had been blown away by Mitchell Johnson and their fielders had failed to hold on to a succession of crucial chances. As a result, Anderson et al had been forced into the field again without the rest required for full recovery.By the time the Adelaide Test was at its halfway stage, it had become clear that the pillars of the best England side in living memory were crumbling. Broken in body or mind, they looked dispirited and disunited. Australia had something special in Johnson and England, their tools worn out, knew they were beaten.It was hot that week in Perth. Hell, its hot every week in Perth, but that week was ferociously, absurdly, breathlessly hot. In the press box - actually a tent that might have been designed as an effective method of torture (or an oven) - laptops had to be placed in the fridge as they overheated and at least one person fainted. If the Fremantle Doctor exists, he wasnt taking calls.Out in the middle, Anderson was trying to pick up the slack left by his colleagues. Through no fault of his own, Stuart Broad was off the field - and on crutches - having sustained a blow on the foot while batting. Graeme Swann had just been thrashed for 22 in an over - his last over in international cricket, as it transpired - and was coming to the conclusion that all his guile and experience could no longer conceal the fact that his exhausted elbow no longer allowed him to gain the dip and turn he once could. Tim Bresnan, for all his goodwill and efforts, was not the bowler he had been in 2010-11 - elbow operations do that to a bowler - and Ben Stokes was, at that stage, an unsophisticated batting allrounder. So Alastair Cook turned to his old friend Anderson. Anderson had opened the bowling for England that fourth morning. Just as he had bowled the final over on the third evening. After a couple of fruitless overs, Cook took him out of the firing line, knowing that he was too precious to use in such a hopeless cause. Australias lead was already around 450. The game had gone; the Ashes were going with it.But then Swann was thrashed for 22 in that over, Stokes was taken for 9 and the new ball became available. Where else could Cook turn? His strike bowler had become his stock bowler and was then required to be a strike bowler again. As ESPNcricinfo noted, Anderson was the sports car used to transport scaffolding. By the end of the series, he had bowled more overs than any other bowler.His reward? He was thrashed for 28 in an over by George Bailey. Thats the same George Bailey whom Anderson had famously clashed with in the Brisbane Test. George Bailey who, while at short-leg, had been having a few words with Anderson as he prepared to face Johnson, whereupon Anderson mentioned that a fellow in his fiirst Test might like to pipe down and earn the right to an opinion. jerseys nfl wholesale. Michael Clarke, supporting his team-mate, strode in and told Anderson to prepare for a broken f****** arm. There are no rights and wrongs in there; its just history and context. Being smashed around like this by Bailey was adding insult to injury. No bowler has conceded more from an over in Test history.Its not much of a reward for answering his captains call, is it? Its not much of a reward for his fitness, his commitment, his loyalty to his captain and team. He deserved better. But as Clint Eastwood put it, deserve has nothing to do with it.Some see it as Andersons most heroic performance; some his lowest ebb. Theres no reason it cant be both.Perhaps there are similarities with his early arrival in India? Thats not to say this is a mission destined to fail. Not at all. History has taught us better than that.The point is more that, as in Perth, this is an episode that demonstrates Andersons remarkable character. It is an episode that demonstrates his unstinting desire to represent his country, to help his old friend Cook, and his competitive streak.Some bowlers, looking at the India line-up and the pitches they can expect to find, would look at this tour, exhale and wonder if their injury might not have been rather well timed. They might not malinger, but they certainly wouldnt push the recovery process as far as Anderson has. They would make sure they are fully recovered and look to return on the early summer surfaces of England, on which Anderson is still peerless. They wouldnt send videos of themselves bowling to the coaches to prove their fitness. They wouldnt arrive on tour three Tests before the medics originally said they would. They wouldnt push themselves in the gym, at his age and with his reputation, to go on a tour where he seemingly has so much to lose and so little to gain.Anderson has nothing to prove in India. He was magnificent in 2012. Series-defining good.But he was 30 then and hes 34 now. The window between injuries seems to be closing. The pace seems to be diminishing. The spirit is willing, but the body? The sword outwears its sheath; the soul outwears the breast. He found little swing in 2012 but hit the pitch hard enough to gain just enough seam movement to trouble the batsmen. Can he still do that?There is context here, too. India are spoiling to take Anderson down. The incident with Ravi Jadeja at Trent Bridge in 2014 was never satisfactorily resolved from an India point of view - the BCCI admitted at the time they saw their attempt to have Anderson banned as a service to world cricket - and they are passionately motivated to repay the trouble he has given them on the pitch and the abuse they allege he has given them both on and off it.But Anderson doesnt fear that. Instead, he seems to relish the battle. He is desperate to throw himself into a series where the ball wont swing, there wont be any pace and when his own powers would appear to be on the wane. He is as hungry to represent England as he was as a teenager; determined to go the extra mile and risk his personal reputation for the good of the team.You can see why Cook wants him. He knows that, whatever the match situation, he will have someone prepared to stand shoulder to shoulder with him. He knows that, however bad things are, he can rely on Anderson. When times are tough, these things matter.Whatever happens in the next few weeks - and it seems as if Anderson is going to have to wait until the third Test, at least, before he wins a recall - its hard not to admire Jimmy Anderson. ' ' '
