KISSIMMEE, Fla. wholesale jerseys . - Major league teams will each have at least five games this spring where managers can challenge plays as part of the major expansion of instant replay which begins this season. Atlanta manager Fredi Gonzalez is looking forward to getting acquainted with it. "Those five games that we have the actual television, Im challenging everything just to get a feel for it," he said. "Im sure that the umpires will appreciate that." Gonzalez, Houston manager Bo Porter, Tigers manager Brad Ausmus and Nationals manager Matt Williams met with MLB executives Joe Torre and Tony La Russa for almost three hours Friday to go over the replay rules. The new rules allow each manager to challenge one call a game. If he wins the first one, hell earn another challenge. The crew chief can request a review after the seventh inning if the manager has used his challenges. Baseball has been reluctant to use replay and became the last major professional sport in North America to implement it late in the 2008 season. But it was very narrowly used — only close home runs could be reviewed. Now almost every call can be contested, with the exception of ball-and-strikes and checked swings. They also wont allow reviews of what is known as the "neighbourhood play" at second base on potential double plays. Gonzalez and Porter both acknowledged that the meeting was rather long, but they didnt mind. "Its historic for our sport," Gonzalez said. "Its never been done so we want to do it right." Porter agreed and said he left the meeting feeling very comfortable with the rules. "It was necessary," he said. "I thought that they did a tremendous job of putting the information together and giving us scenarios. It was long, but it was very much needed and very beneficial at the same time." The reviews during the regular season will be done by current MLB umpires at the replay centre in MLB.coms office in New York. Gonzalez said there will be eight umpires who will each be responsible for two games at a time. And as for people who worry that this will further slow a game that some people complain already takes too long, Gonzalez doesnt believe that will be the case. "As soon as they see something going on, they can go right to that play," he said. "They feel like theyll have an answer when the umpire comes to the headphones ... and theres no delay." Concerns about managers using replay challenges to buy time to warm-up a pitcher are probably unwarranted, Ausmus said. "It doesnt sound like theres going to be a lot of time," he said. The manager or other team officials in the dugout can talk with someone in the clubhouse watching a live feed of the game with replays available to help determine if the manager should challenge a call. Porter said he and his staff will work on how theyll decide whether to challenge plays all spring, not just in the games where instant replay is used. "Its more of getting into the practice and getting into the language you want to have transmitted during a close play and I think we can simulate it this spring," he said. Though hes certainly going to prepare to use instant replay, Gonzalez is not too sure how much hell actually use it in the season. "If you believe the numbers that they throw at you, we may go four or five games without even throwing a challenge," he said. "I believe, without having any kind of numbers behind it that this is going to show how good our major league umpires are." cheap nfl jerseys . Stairs, who holds the major-league record with 23 pinch-hit home runs, was a disappointment for the Nationals. The 43-year-old batted just .154 with two RBIs in 56 games. He was 6 for 39 as a pinch hitter. cheap jerseys . Showing more spark after not taking enough challenging shots on goal in their 1-0 loss Friday night, the Bruins had 18 shots in the first period after managing just 25 in the entire opener. Luke Glendening cut Bostons lead to 2-1 at 13:20 of the second period before Milan Lucic scored late in the second and Zdeno Chara added a power-play goal early in the third.TORONTO -- Brett Lawrie is out of the lineup again, leaving the Toronto Blue Jays to continue their quest for a playoff spot without their starting third baseman. After just coming back from a six-week absence with a broken finger, Lawrie will now be out until at least September, general manager Alex Anthopoulos said Thursday after placing him on the 15-day disabled list. This injury is on the same side but is not the same one that caused the 24-year-old to miss time last season, though that doesnt mean hell be back any time soon. "With obliques you cant really do anything," Anthopoulos said. "You have to completely shut down and just allow it to heal until you get started up again. Its going to be a while." Lawrie has only played in 70 of the Blue Jays 116 games through Thursday nights season finale against the Baltimore Orioles, and his return Tuesday was limited to three innings because he felt something wrong with his oblique during batting practice. With Anthopoulos conceding that he could be out up to six weeks, the Blue Jays go back to Plan B. For the time being, that means Danny Valencia, acquired late last month from the Kansas City Royals, will be at third base. Manager John Gibbons said Valencia will split time there with Juan Francisco once Adam Lind (fractured right foot) and Edwin Encarnacion (right quadriceps) return from their respective injuries. Anthopoulos said the Blue Jays will not only miss Lawries defence but his right-handed bat in the lineup. But he didnt express any regret about not shoring up the position a the trade deadline because of his confidence in the rest of the offence once Lind and Encarnacion are healthy. "I still think theres enough depth in this lineup, theres enough depth in the offence that we can sustain one guy being down," Anthopoulos said. "Hopefully theres no setbacks at all for Lind and Encarnacion. If we end up getting two of those three, I still think those are two big bats." The banged-up Blue Jays got a scare in the first inning Thursday night when designated hitter Melky Cabrera was plunked just above the right elbow by a Miguel Gonzalez fastball. Cabrera was removed from the game in the third for what the team called precautionary reasons. X-rays on Cabreras elbow were negative and hes considered day-to-day, the team announced. Lawrie, who has 12 home runs, 38 RBI and OPS of .722 this season, wasnt as fortunate. Staying healthy has been his biggest question during his time in Toronto. This is the Langley, B.C., natives sixth stint on the DL in three-plus major league seasons. wholesale nfl jerseys. In addition to the oblique and finger problems, Lawrie has been knocked out by left ankle and ribcage injuries. Anthopoulos said the broken right index finger, caused when Lawrie got hit by a pitch, and the ankle injury, which happened when he slid into a base, were "freak things." The oblique problems over the past few years, though, might stem from Lawries body type. "Hes wound tight, theres not a whole lot, if any, fat on him," Anthopoulos said, wondering if that made him more susceptible to muscle issues. "It might just be that hes prone to some of those things and we need to try to do some things to get him stretched out or avoid some of those pulls." Lawrie insisted in conversations with the team that he didnt feel any pain during his rehab from the finger injury, according to Anthopoulos, who also absolved the Rogers Centre turf of the blame in this situation. Anthopoulos said the 2013 injury from the World Baseball Classic happened when Lawrie dived for a ball after working entirely on grass. "The tough one on this one is we dont know what the cause was," Anthopoulos said. "We cant say that Bretts injury is a product of (at-bats) or reps because every time its happened the circumstances have been totally different." No matter the cause, the Blue Jays have no choice but to move on without Lawrie. In the long-term, that might mean having more insurance at third base given how much he has gotten hurt. "At some point you start having a large enough sample size and body of work, you have to try to build in that depth and try to protect yourself if you know that the likelihood is someones going to miss two weeks or three weeks," Anthopoulos said. "Well definitely take a look at it, but youre always going to try to build in for depth, especially if a guys continued to miss games." Right now, with sights set on the American League East title or at least a spot in the wild-card game, the Blue Jays hope to get a boost from the returns of Lind and Encarnacion. Lind could be back in the lineup as early as Monday at the Seattle Mariners and Encarnacion not long after that, assuming no setbacks, Anthopolous said. After Thursdays game, the Blue Jays activated infielder Steve Tolleson from the paternity list and optioned reliever Rob Rasmussen back to triple-A Buffalo. In another roster move, the club signed catcher George Kottaras to a minor-league contract. The Markham, Ont., native will report to Buffalo. cheap jerseys ' ' '
