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 Geplaatst: 30-10-2019 02:43:12 Onderwerp: his hands full with the aforementioned Raonic |
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| TORONTO - Blue Jays manager John Gibbons sat down with TSN. Joe Girardi Cubs Jersey .ca before Saturdays game against the Kansas City Royals to discuss his status, the degree to which leadership matters in baseball, and whether hell make significant adjustments to next Februarys spring training schedule. Listen to the interview here or read the transcript below. TSN.ca: Some heat around here, John, the hot seat is a little warm. Look, its been a tough year. Im giving you an opportunity to say your piece. Youre on the hot seat. Is it fair? Is it unfair? Does fairness matter? GIBBONS: Scott, fairness doesnt matter. Thats the business were in. Its the entertainment business but its serious sports. I dont get caught up in all of that to be honest with you. Yeah, it hurts, nobody likes to be ripped and things like that but on the flip side of that, Im responsible for what happens with this team on the field and it hasnt been a good year. You just grind it out. Ive said before, I show up every day and its a new day. You go out there, I love competing. You go out there and try to win that game and do the best job you can. At the end of the day, you know, all the decisions you make, do they all work? Of course not. Some of the best decisions you make backfire on you. Some of the worst ones you make, you come out smelling like a rose. Thats just the way the game is but you deal with it, you learn to deal with it, you expect it and if you cant handle it, youre in trouble. TSN.ca: You look at this team heading into the offseason, and Alex has said youre going to be back next year so you have that security, the support of your general manager, which we knew that you had. Can this team, as currently constituted, come back in spring training and head into next April and be a winning group? GIBBONS: Scott, we like the core group of this team. Theres no question, we liked it going into this year with all the big moves made and we still like it. But we have to make some additions to upgrade some areas, thats no secret. In saying that, thats not always easy. Alex, weve talked about it, I think everybody understands its pretty obvious what we need to do and hell attempt to do that. Its not easy because you go around to most teams in the game, theyre basically in a lot of ways. One thing about Alex, hes tireless, hes not afraid to make some things happen and hell put his best foot forward. Its still a good group out there but theres no question to be a better team we need to make a few changes. TSN.ca: When you assess this season, John, that 11-game win streak stands out obviously as the high point and there have been some down points both before that and after that. So lets talk about that 11-game win streak. Does that tell you that theres something in there that we just havent seen enough of or was that an outlier? Because a lot of teams dont win 11 in a row, not even the best. GIBBONS: No question about that. What really happened there is it all came together for that period of time. We pitched well during that stretch, you know we played good, solid defence and the bats, we were swinging the bats. It was one of those stretches when everything was clicking. You dont always get that over the season. Some stretches you pitch well and youre not hitting and the defence, the defence needs to be the constant. Youre going to have some bad games but thats one thing you can control a little bit of. That needs to be there every day. Pitching and offence can be hit or miss but for that stretch, it all came together for a length of time there. Everybody goes through those ups and downs but you know what those good teams do, they may not have the 11-game streak but theres more consistency throughout the year. The best teams in baseball go through their down stretches where theyll lose five, six, sometimes seven games in a row, something like that. Thats because maybe theyre not pitching good, their bats went silent or whatever it is. Over 162 games, thats the norm but the better teams, they do it better and they generally, their pitching day in and day out gives you a shot. When we talk about good pitching, it doesnt mean you have to go out and throw shutouts every night but its really, they keep you in the game and give you a shot and let your offence maybe take over. In fairness to our pitching also this year, we havent played good enough defence at times and theyve suffered for that. Im not just talking about errors and things like that. I mean, there are some balls we havent gotten to that you really need to at this level. Some double plays you need to turn at the big league level to bail you out of a tough inning that we havent always done. Lets face it, at the big league level, you have to take away hits, too. You need the routine play made but you know what, you still need to take away hits because thats what the better teams do. TSN.ca: In hockey, theres a player on each team that wears a C and that denotes leadership. What value do you place on leadership in such an individual sport like baseball? GIBBONS: Thats a good question that will always be debated. First off, youre not going to win anything without talent, in any sport, thats just a given. But still there needs to be a couple of guys, they have to be guys with credentials, those are the guys they look to, and youve got to be able to snap somebody back in place, snap a team back in and say, Listen, were not doing this well, lets go guys, lets pick it up and things like that. If its always got to be the manager or the coach, I mean its not going to work. Sooner or later, if you talk too much, they tune you out. Its just like your own children or your teacher at school, whatever it might be, talk is cheap and if you have to do it too often, apparently somebodys not listening. It always helps to have a couple of guys on a team, they take that role whether they like it or not and its not always talking, its how they carry themselves and their actions. That can be very valuable. That point will probably always be debated because Ive been on some teams where you have a bunch of renegades, you know talented teams but it can be a mess but yet they play as a team, they show up to win and that usually overrides the day. TSN.ca: The kids that have come up have injected, I guess, some refreshing air into the environment here. What have you seen, I guess you take your pick on who you want to talk about but what have you seen from Goins, Gose, Pillar and Sierra? GIBBONS: Ive been really, pleasantly surprised. Theyve all helped one way or the other and theyre doing a nice job. Like Ive said before, some guys never get opportunities in this game so when you get it, you know you may only get one so take advantage of it. Theyre all showing us something right now. Goins has been in the spotlight lately with some great defensive plays and some big hits. Hes really doing everything right now. You know, Gosey, (Friday) night had the big triple to set up an inning in a tight ball game to plate a big run for us and hes playing great defence and throwing his hits in along the way. Pillar, its been kind of hit or miss for him, he hasnt really settled in offensively but you look, hes been a good base runner, hes been good in the outfielder and things like that. Sierra, hes starting to heat up a little bit. When he keeps his swing under control, theres a lot in that bat. Hes a good, solid outfielder with a great arm. He can be a difference maker with that arm. Theyve all, one way or another, done some things to benefit us and you get excited about that and youre happy for them because, like I said, there are only so many opportunities you get in this business so it always helps to make that good impression and theyre all doing that. TSN.ca: Next year cant be this year with the record. The expectations were high coming in and you havent lived up to them this season. Do you change your approach at all heading into spring training next year? Do you make some adjustments next season based on what youve seen out of the group this year to give yourself a better chance to have a better record? GIBBONS: What you always do, game-to-game, you reflect on the game and from a managers standpoint, what might have I done different that might have affected the outcome, this and that. Youre constantly doing that and of course, at the end of the year and were getting there, you always reflect and think you know what, maybe we need to do this, more of this, less of that, what have you. Going into spring training, there will be some adjustments that will be made. Well look at the personnel and well deal with that. We were ready coming out of spring training, no doubt in my mind, we just didnt play well. We just didnt handle expectations well, whether we were a little bit tight, what have you, thats just the way it went. But you need to make some adjustments and do some things to change some things because theres no question that, you know, you need a better year next year. A lot was put into this team and we were really hyped up, as we should have been, everybody liked all the moves and there were a number of them. We like the group that we have, of course there needs to be some additions, but you know were always optimistic. Like Ive said before, the fans have turned out this year. Theyve done their part of it and this place will explode with a winning team out there and we dont think were that far off and this city and this country deserve that. Kris Bryant Jersey . -- Canadas Justin Shin shot an 8-under 64 on Thursday on PGA Wests Nicklaus Tournament Course to take the first-round lead in the Web. Duane Underwood Jr. Jersey .Hammel pitched inside more and it helped him get into the seventh inning as the Colorado Rockies beat the San Diego Padres 3-2 on Friday night. https://www.cheapcubs.com/760t-dave-kingman-jersey-cubs.html . With a win tonight, Buehrle will match Yankees ace Masahiro Tanaka for the most wins in the majors with 11. Buehrle is 10-4 with a 2.32 earned run average, but has lost his last three starts, including a 7-3 setback at Yankee Stadium last Wednesday.Melbourne, Australia (SportsNetwork.com) - Four-time champion Novak Djokovic and reigning titlist Stan Wawrinka were a pair of easy first-round winners Tuesday at the Australian Open. The world No. 1 Djokovic disposed of Slovenian Aljaz Bedene 6-3, 6-2, 6-4, while the fourth-seeded Wawrinka moved on in similar fashion, topping Turk Marsel Ilhan 6-1, 6-4, 6-2. Djokovic appeared to be tired and still recovering from illness after his match, saying hed had a rough two weeks health-wise but Im getting up there. His mood changed suddenly when a court-side interview turned to reflections of 2014, when he won Wimbledon for the second time, married his long-time girlfriend, Jelena, and the couple had a son, Stefan. Well those two events are the two most beautiful events I experienced in my life, he said. Stefan, hes a blessing we received ... now I have even more motivation. Djokovic titled here in 2008, then won three straight from 2011-13 before Wawrinka took the crown last year, stunning Rafael Nadal in the final. Its great, bringing me a lot of memories from last year, Wawrinka said of his return. It was great to come back here feeling happy, happy with my game. Up next for Djokovic will be Russian Andrey Kuznetsov, while Wawrinka will meet Romanian Marius Copil. Fifth-seeded U.S. Open runner-up Kei Nishikori made a confident start by beating Nicolas Almagro 6-4, 7-6 (7-1), 6-2, eighth-seeded Milos Raonic was a 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-3), 6-3 winner over Illya Marchenko and No. 9 David Ferrer overcame Thomaz Bellucci 6-7 (7-2), 6-2, 6-0, 6-3 at Melbourne Park. No. 12 Feliciano Lopez trailed two-sets-to-one before rallying past American Denis Kudla 3-6, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-5), while 13th-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut got past promising Austrian Dominic Thiem 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5). No. 16 Fabio Fognini was upset by Colombian Alejandro Gonzalez 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 66-4. Wholesale Cubs Jerseys. Meanwhile, 17th-seeded Gael Monfils overcame fellow Frenchman Lucas Pouille 6-7 (3-7), 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-4, 18th-seeded Frenchman Gilles Simon handled Dutchman Robin Haase 6-1, 6-3, 6-4 and 19th-seeded American John Isner dismissed Taiwans Jimmy Wang 7-6 (7-5), 6-4, 6-4. In other action involving seeds, Italian Paolo Lorenzi upended No. 21 Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-4, 6-3, 6-2; German Benjamin Becker bounced No. 25 Frenchman Julien Benneteau 7-5, 5-7, 6-2, 6-4; German Matthias Bachinger vanquished No. 27 Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay 7-6 (7-1), 6-3, 6-1; No. 30 Colombian Santiago Giraldo subdued Czech Jan Hernych 6-3, 6-2, 6-2; and No. 31 Spaniard Fernando Verdasco came back to best Brit James Ward 2-6, 6-0, 7-6 (8-6), 6-3. Aussie favorite and former Melbourne runner-up Lleyton Hewitt moved on by beating Chinese Ze Zhang 6-3, 1-6, 6-0, 6-4. Several other men reached the second round, including tall Pole Jerzy Janowicz, Finn Jarkko Nieminen, Americans Donald Young and Steve Johnson, and Canadian Vasek Pospisil, who outlasted American Sam Querrey in five sets, 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 2-6, 6-4, 6-4. Young should have his hands full with the aforementioned Raonic here on Thursday. Several stars will see second-round action on Wednesday, including four-time Aussie champion and former runner-up Roger Federer, the former titlist and two-time runner-up Nadal and three-time runner-up Andy Murray. The second- seeded former world No. 1 Federer will take on Italian Simone Bolelli, while the third-seeded former top-ranked great Nadal will meet American Tim Smyczek and the sixth-seeded Murray will tangle with Aussie Marinko Matosevic. Also on the Day 3 schedule are seventh-seeded former Wimbledon finalist Tomas Berdych and 10th-seeded Grigor Dimitrov. Berdych and his model girlfriend, Ester Satorova, announced their engagement on Tuesday. 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