NEU » e was a difference in quality between the two

Derek Jeter congratulated former teammate Alex Rodriguez, saying in a statement that the New York Yankees slugger lives and breathes baseball.Jeters comments were released along with statements from several other prominent former Yankees on Friday, hours before Rodriguez is set to play his final game in pinstripes at Yankee Stadium.What people dont realize is how much time, effort and work that Alex put in on a daily basis, Jeter said. He lives and breathes baseball. I know it will be difficult for him to not be on the field, but Im sure he will continue to give back to the game. Congrats, Alex.Rodriguez will be released by the Yankees after Fridays game against the Tampa Bay Rays and become an adviser and instructor for the organization. The three-time American League MVP was Jeters teammate with the Yankees for 11 years from 2004 to 2014 and helped New York win a championship in 2009.Ive spent 22 years playing against, playing with and watching Alex from afar, and there are two things that stand out to me the most: the conversations we had when we were young -- hoping for the opportunity to play at the Major League level and then somehow finding a way to stick around -- and the championship we won together in 2009, Jeter said. That was a season everyone on that team can cherish.Former Yankees manager Joe Torre said in a statement that Rodriguez should be proud of the way he carried himself these last two years, referring to Rodriguezs return to baseball after serving a 162-game suspension in 2014 for his involvement in the Biogenesis doping scandal.Former Yankees stars Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte, Robinson Cano and Jorge Posada also praised Rodriguez in statements Friday.I love him -- as a friend and as a teammate, Rivera said. He was all you could ask for in both. S Well Bouteille Paris . Numbers Game examines the deal that sees Michael Del Zotto and Kevin Klein switch places. The Predators Get: D Michael Del Zotto. swell Bouteille France . The injury bothered Bledsoe in the Suns victory over the Clippers on Monday and he sat out the teams home loss to Memphis on Thursday night. http://www.swellbouteille.fr/bouteille-s-well-marbre-france.html . Schenn scored the game-winning goal and added two assists to lead the Philadelphia Flyers to a 4-1 win over the Calgary Flames at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Tuesday. Bouteille swell La Baie . Team physician Dr. Steve Traina performed the surgery Friday. Robinson was injured in a spill underneath the Nuggets basket during the first quarter of Wednesday nights loss to the Charlotte Bobcats. Bouteille S well Bois . Rinne played two periods in his first game since left hip surgery in early May. Gabriel Bourque scored 3:07 into the second period and Austin Watson tallied 5:15 later for Nashville. After all the New Zealand talk that a one-off Test would be exciting, theyve actually decided they would have preferred a few more matches after they lost at SuperSport Park.Its a shame, really, to just play the one Test and for that to be the decider, New Zealand captain Kane Williamson said.Centurion became a shoot-out because of the Durban abandonment and, in a bid to strike the first blow, Williamson chose to bowl first. He saw grass on the Centurion pitch - more grass than we sometimes see at the height of the summer - and he had heard that it would be soft and spongy and would get easier for batting as the sun baked the surface. It turned out that Faf du Plessis would have done exactly the same thing, even though hindsight showed it would have been a mistake.It was a good toss to lose and unfortunately I won it, Williamson said, as he admitted he second-guessed himself by the end of the first session on the first day. Naturally when they are 130 without loss, it crosses your mind. But there was enough in the wicket to have restricted them to a below-par total. History shows wickets fall in clumps and we werent able to do that.New Zealands short-ball strategy was one of the reasons South Africa scored a quickly and Williamson conceded that was a strategic error. Youre right. That first session, we were a little short, he said.That, combined with a poor track record on DRS and umpiring errors, left New Zealand having to work much harder than they did in Durban, where they dismissed South Africa for 263. But that was oonly the half of it.dddddddddddd When South Africa unleashed their rejuvenated pace pack on New Zealand, it was clear there was a difference in quality between the two sides. New Zealands openers could not cope with the moving ball, their big guns did not fire and their long tail could not delay the inevitable.Williamson chose to look at the challenge as a lesson for New Zealand, particularly for their younger batsmen. Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander are two world-class bowlers and they have shown it. Then you throw Kagiso Rabada into the mix and on surfaces that are offering, they will find anything, Williamson said. Its a challenge the batters were excited to come up against. In terms of experience, there is no better to move your game forward.Henry Nicholls benefited the most from that experience with 76 in the second innings. Only Williamson himself, who scored 77 in the first, managed more runs but he is also still learning in terms of his new leadership role. It is very enjoyable, he said. Theyre a great bunch of guys and its nice to be a part of this unit and lead the side. Its better when you are winning.He would know. He now has a series loss and a series win to his name and was as gracious in defeat in South Africa as he was in victory in Zimbabwe, although, ultimately, he wanted a few more matches. The better team won but it would have been great to play another game or another two. ' ' '