ANAHEIM – Erik Kratz is back with the Blue Jays for a third time, recalled on Wednesday when the club placed outfielder Cole Gillespie on the disabled list with an abdominal strain. Pirates Corey Dickerson Jersey . Now 34 years old and with approximately a year-and-a-half of major league service time under his belt, Kratz is veteran enough to understand the ins and outs of baseballs business. "At different points in your career, you figure out how to deal with certain things and you figure out that baseball moves need to be made," said Kratz. "But Ill be honest. I was disappointed to be down there. I wasnt happy-go-lucky but I wasnt going to allow that to affect my play." Kratz worked with R.A. Dickey throughout spring training, catching each of his Grapefruit League appearances in an attempt to become comfortable receiving the knuckleball. He made sense as the second catcher behind Dioner Navarro, a right-handed bat with some pop. He lost out to Josh Thole, Dickeys personal catcher dating back to their days in New York. Kratz acknowledged his disappointment. "The first time I got sent down this year, I let it affect my play," said Kratz. Manager John Gibbons is a vocal supporter of Kratzs. The catchers most recent option to Buffalo, on June 23, wasnt a reflection of his performance. The Jays had just lost Brett Lawrie to a fractured finger and Jose Bautista to hamstring tightness. Carrying three catchers on the roster was no longer viable. He followed his teammates struggles from a distance, hitting .405 for the Bisons dating back to June 29, and wished he could help. "It was frustrating knowing I could be up here helping the team," said Kratz. "Everybody thinks they should be up here but when you get sent down, its all about how you respond mentally so that when they do call you back up, youre ready to play." Kratz describes a positive attitude in Buffalo. Like any Triple-A club, its mixed with young hopefuls whove tasted the big leagues, Anthony Gose and Kevin Pillar come to mind, and veterans like Dan Johnson, who are hoping for another opportunity. "If your attitude in Triple-A is I shouldnt be here, well, take a number," Thats something that can happen a lot in Triple A. That mentality can infect a clubhouse, that mentality of I should be up there. Oh, really? Should you really? How good did you do the last time up there? If you were 10-for-your-last-10, Im sure they wouldnt have sent you down." Offence Coming Around? Hitting coach Kevin Seitzer is seeing progress. After his charges were held to four runs in a four-game sweep at the hands of the Athletics, Seitzer is hopeful the Jays bats have turned a corner in Anaheim, reflected in a four-run, 14-hit performance on Tuesday evening. "I felt like our at-bats the first night here were better too and then (Tuesday) night they were really, really good," said Seitzer. "I mean we played a very solid, well-rounded game of baseball. Offence, defence, pitching, the whole deal came together (Tuesday) night." "The message that I really tried to drive home in our advanced meeting is weve got to focus on getting our singles," said Seitzer. "Thats what got us going in May was trying to single teams to death and stay in the middle of the field and take what the pitcher gives you and try and beat shifts and have team at-bats and really just focus on getting our base hits." Jays Miss Lawrie Anyone who doubted Brett Lawries importance to the Blue Jays lineup has been silenced by his absence. The club misses his gold-glove caliber third base and his ability to move to second base seamlessly, to say nothing of his bat behind the middle of the order. Lawries hit a career-high 12 home runs and was slugging .419 at the time of his injury. With Lawrie and Edwin Encarnacion both on the disabled list and no suitable replacements to be found, the established players who remain in the lineup are pressing and its part of the reason the offence is slumping. "I think thats been a big part of it right there," said hitting coach Kevin Seitzer. "With Brett Lawries intensity and passion and the energy that he brings not only to the lineup but to the dugout and the defence throughout the game, you know, we lost that. That was a big hit for us just from an energy standpoint. The guy plays with more heart or passion probably than anyone Ive ever been around." Lawrie suffered a fractured right index finger when he was hit by a Johnny Cueto pitch on June 22 in Cincinnati. His injury requires a healing period of three to six weeks. Pirates Willie Stargell Jersey . -- The NFL Players Association wants to determine if the Tampa Bay Buccaneers leaked information about quarterback Josh Freeman being in the NFLs substance abuse program. Pirates Adam Frazier Jersey . He was attracted by the punishing defence, the strong running game and a coaching staff he trusted. The 49ers announced Thursday that Manningham had signed a two-year deal to join the team he helped knock out in the NFC championship game two months ago in their latest offensive upgrade at wide receiver. http://www.cheappiratesjerseysauthentic.com/?tag=pirates-barry-bonds-jersey . He had even more fun Friday. Coming off a sensational rookie season, Spieth opened the new year by never coming close to bogey and making a 12-foot birdie putt on the last hole for a 7-under 66. RALEIGH, N.C. -- The Carolina Hurricanes hope they now have the leadership tandem in place to turn the franchise around. Bill Peters was introduced Friday as the Hurricanes new coach, the first big hire made by new Carolina general manager Ron Francis. Now its up to Peters to prove it was a shrewd move. Carolina has made three coaching changes since 2006 and has only one playoff appearance to show for it. "When I did my due diligence and went to look at rosters ... were not far off," Peters said. "I think theres lots of pieces here and its up to us and our coaching staff ... to max our group out." A few hours after Peters formal introduction, the Hurricanes made another addition to their management team, hiring 44-year-old Ricky Olczyk -- the younger brother of former NHL coach and current NBC Sports analyst Ed Olczyk -- as an assistant general manager. The younger Olczyk spent six years as Edmontons assistant GM and was the Oilers NHL liaison for all collective bargaining agreement matters. Peters replaces Kirk Muller, who was fired last month -- a week into Francis tenure as GM -- and went 80-80-27 in three seasons with no playoff berths. Instead of an established NHL head coach or a popular ex-player, Francis went with Peters -- a 48-year-old Detroit Red Wings assistant who has never been an NHL head coach but was in demand this off-season. Peters said he interviewed for two other jobs and Francis says he spoke to 10 candidates during "a pretty extensive search," narrowing that to a three-man short list before deciding on Peters and giving him a three-year contract. "You have to take the time to go through it and make sure you get the right guy," Francis said, "and thats what we did." What dazzled Francis was Peters attention to detail: He penned a booklet breaking down the team and brought it to his first interview with them, and his second one included a PowerPoint presentation, Francis said. "Hes extremely, extremely detailed," Francis said. "Hes going to communicate with our players. Our players are going to know where he stands, and theres no little detail that (will) be overloooked. Pittsburgh Pirates Jerseys Cheap. " From the outside, his challenge looks daunting: Making the Hurricanes a consistent playoff team. Muller couldnt do it in three years. Neither could Paul Maurice, at least during his second stint with the team. Even Peter Laviolette -- the only Carolina coach to hoist the Stanley Cup -- couldnt get the Hurricanes back to the post-season. Now Peters gets his chance to try to revive a club that has missed the playoffs in seven of the eight years since the Hurricanes won their only Stanley Cup in 2006. The lone post-season berth since that Cup run came in 2009, when the Hurricanes reached the Eastern Conference final in the first year of Maurices second term as coach. Peters plan is to address three glaring problems from last season: Starting games strong, producing more on the power play and winning more often at PNC Arena. Carolina was the leagues third-worst team with the man advantage and was just 18-17-6 at home. "Weve got to become a harder team to play against here in Raleigh," Peters said. His hiring caps about two months of turbulence in the Hurricanes organization. Francis, a Hall of Fame player who has been both an assistant coach and an assistant GM with Carolina, was moved up a rung on the organizations ladder and his mentor, Jim Rutherford, stepped aside after two decades -- and eventually wound up bolting to Pittsburgh to take over as the Penguins GM. Francis first big move came a week later when he fired Muller and put the players on notice that the responsibility for turning the team around is on them, too. After a 46-day search in which some recognizable names were floated, Francis plucked Peters from Mike Babcocks staff with the Red Wings. He spent the past three years working primarily with the Red Wings defencemen and penalty killers. Before joining the Red Wings staff, he coached Rockford of the AHL from 2008-11 and guiding that team to consecutive 40-win seasons. Eight of his Rockford players helped Chicago win the Cup in either 2010 or 2013, and he also coached Spokane (Washington) of the Western Hockey League for three seasons. "This is a guy that knows coaching," Francis said. cheap falcons jerseys cheap ravens jerseys cheap bills jerseys cheap bears jerseys cheap bengals jerseys cheap cowboys jerseys cheap lions jerseys cheap texans jerseys cheap colts jerseys cheap jaguars jerseys cheap chiefs jerseys cheap rams jerseys cheap dolphins jerseys cheap vikings jerseys cheap saints jerseys cheap giants jerseys cheap jets jerseys cheap eagles jerseys cheap steelers jerseys cheap 49ers jerseys ' ' '