OAKLAND – Edwin Encarnacion is lost to the Blue Jays until at least the All-Star Break with a Grade-2 strain of his right quadriceps, a tough blow for a team just swept by the mighty Athletics; a club thats lost 19 of its last 28 games to all but fritter away the gains it made with a torrid May. Still, Encarnacion felt a sense of relief. He felt a pop just before crumpling to the ground after running out a groundball in the first inning of Saturdays game. It could have been worse. “Its going to take maybe two weeks,” said Encarnacion. “It depends how Im going to be and how Im going to be day after day, feeling better or not. Well see.” Encarnacion is baseballs leader with 70 RBI through Sundays play. His 26 home runs place him second to the White Soxs Jose Abreu, who has 27. A Blue Jays offence limited to just three runs in a four-game sweep at the hands of pitching-strong Oakland faces as difficult a task heading south to Anaheim, where the Angels will send out Jered Weaver and left-handers Tyler Skaggs and C.J. Wilson against Toronto in a three-game series that starts on Monday. Expect Encarnacion to be placed on the disabled list, perhaps as soon as Monday, paving the way for waiver pickup Nolan Reimold (more on him below) to enter the fold. Jose Bautista, who started at first base on Sunday as waiver claim Cole Gillespie manned right field, was willing to play any position asked of him in the series with the Angels. While Bautista admitted lingering soreness in his ailing hamstring, he acknowledged the clubs dire straits. Brett Lawrie is injured. Encarnacion is injured. Adam Lind is playing hurt. “If its better suited for me to be at third or first for the time being given all the injuries and stuff thats going on, even if Im able to go to right field, Ill take it wherever I can,” said Bautista. “I just want to make sure that I do whatever I can to put the team in the best position to win.” BAUTISTA DECLINES FURTHER COMMENT ON REPLAY Jose Bautista had nothing more to say about Major League Baseballs replay system following Saturday nights rant. Following the Blue Jays 5-1 loss to the Athletics, Bautista referred to the procedure as a “joke” and called for a return to the days pre-replay. He questioned the integrity of those involved, wondering whether the umpires reviewing fellow umpires calls are prioritizing protecting their brethren over making the right call. On Sunday morning, Bautista told TSN.ca he wouldnt be commenting further. When it was mentioned that hed likely be asked, repeatedly, his views on replay at the upcoming All-Star festivities in Minneapolis, Bautista said he would direct reporters to refer to his previous comments. There has been a growing frustration in the Toronto clubhouse with baseballs challenge system. Bautista reached his breaking point following Saturdays eighth inning when, with the Jays down 3-1, he doubled and Melky Cabrera was called out at the plate trying to score from first base. Video evidence suggested Athletics catcher Derek Norris missed Cabrera with a swipe tag but the call was upheld by the war room in New York. A couple of thoughts: Bautista is one of the brighter players in the game and nothing he says is unplanned. He was expressing the aforementioned frustration. He also effectively created a diversion, changing the focus from his teams plight (the Jays had dropped 18 of 27 games through Saturday) to his views on a clearly flawed protocol. Who knows, perhaps Bautistas rant will spark internal discussion amongst the Players Association, which would then lean on Major League Baseball to make necessary changes. A good start would be to have independent parties, unaffiliated with umpires, reviewing challenged calls. REIMOLD CLAIMED The Blue Jays are hoping to catch lightning in a bottle with Orioles castoff Nolan Reimold, claimed off waivers on Sunday. Reimold, 30, is a once promising prospect whose career has been derailed by injuries, specifically two neck surgeries. Hes appeared in 17 games for Baltimores Double-A affiliate, Bowie, this season, hitting .315/.420/.481. In 286 big league games with the Orioles from 2009-2013, Reimold is a .252/.327/.439 hitter with 41 home runs. His platoon splits dont discriminate. He has a career .775 OPS against right-handers with 27 home runs in 603 at-bats. Against left-handers, Reimold has posted a .749 OPS with 14 home runs in 333 at-bats. 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Wholesale China Jerseys .C. -- When Michael Jordan speaks, people still listen.There are many pitfalls in youth soccer in our country. Over-invested parents; the pressure to win at too young an age; high-pressure coaches who focus on winning instead of on development; and increased dropout rates because of these and other factors are just some of story lines that we see repeated over and over. Much of this negativity comes because of our collective mindset that the only way for us to measure our childrens progress in soccer is through the scores of their games. How many points their team gets and how many goals our children score have, for too many years, been the metrics by which we gauge their progress. But what if there was a different way to develop soccer players in Canada? What if we could simply teach kids to play better? That is the goal of Willie Cromack, founder of Play Better, an innovative plan to improve sport culture in Canada. The program attempts to shift the mindset of players and parents alike, away from scoreboard success and towards empowering children to discover their potential - both as soccer players and as human beings. Play Better is a grassroots soccer program designed to provide clubs, coaches, parents and players with a clear and accountable pathway through soccer. This includes an LTPD-compliant curriculum, lesson plans complete with desired outcomes, video training sessions, as well as tools for gathering metrics beyond simply the number of goals scored. The reason behind the gathering of those metrics is where the genius lies. Play Better aims to marry a holistic charitable program with the training and development of young soccer players. The program does through by asking teams to do the following: • Choose a cause or charity. For example; the SPCA, the Canadian Cancer Society or your local childrens hospital. • Choose a baseline metric. For example; a recreational team can choose 100 completed passes per game. A more competitive team can choose a larger number, such as 200 completed passes. This is called the team goal or team win. • Have a pre-season meeting wiith parents to explain your objective; for every game in which your team achieves its team win, ask parents (or friends, family members or sponsors) to donate a pre-determined dollar amount to the team cause/charity.dddddddddddd The monetary amount is not important - it can be as little as a loonie per parent/family. • Create a team website, where the kids can tell their story. It gives them a chance to explain, in their own words, how achieving their objective every game will not only help them become better soccer players, but also make a difference in the world. It also allows them to track and promote how much money they have raised for their chosen cause/charity. Team Falcons is a U11 boys gold soccer team in North Vancouver. Click here to see how they have committed to Play Better. I am often asked how we can shift away from the win-at-all-costs mentality that has infected youth soccer in our country. As I have written many times before, it is one of the biggest hurdles we must overcome if we are to create an effective youth development system in Canada. It isnt the players that we need to convince; it is the parents. A program like Play Better might just be the bridge we need to achieve this. As the members of Team Falcons can attest, players participating in Play Better quickly realize that their sporting endeavours have a bigger meaning. It isnt just about winning and losing anymore - it is about helping others. This teaches players to work on their fundamental skills (to complete 100 or 200 passes per games, players have to focus on what they learn in training), but more importantly, it teaches them about helping others, about community investment and about personal growth. What parent doesnt want their child to learn those lessons? If these lessons can be tied into the technical development of young soccer players, then Canadian soccer could be onto something big. *If you or your team is interested in Play Better, you can read more about the program here, or contact Willie Cromack at willie@championsinsport.com ' ' '