Authentic Nikita Kucherov Jersey | general | Forum

Baseball players are open to extending the designated hitter to the National League and to expanding the winner-take-all wild-card playoff to a multi-game series. Management has little interest.
The American League has used the DH since 1972 Sean Monahan Jersey , and there has been more discussion among fans and media of expanding it to the NL.

”It’s gaining momentum, I’ll offer you that,” players’ union head Tony Clark told the Baseball Writers’ Association of America on Tuesday. ”Players are talking more about it now than they have in the past.”

DHs often are high-priced sluggers, a reason players are interested in having the rule cover both leagues.

”Fans like to see offense,” said Boston’s J.D. Martinez, who has DHed in 54 of his 92 games this year.

Not all players agree.

”I lightly lean toward no, just because I’m used to the National League style of play,” Cincinnati’s Joey Votto said. ”I find that the American League is a little more basic and the games are longer. That doesn’t excite me. On the other side, I guess I do like the idea of the occasional break and getting to DH.”

Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said change was unlikely.

”I could have made a deal with the MLBPA on extending the DH to the National League,” he said. ”I think the most likely outcome at this point remains the status quo.”

MLB began one-game wild-card playoffs in each league in 2012, when the postseason field was expanded from eight to 10. There has been renewed scrutiny of the format because of the AL East race. Boston is 68-30 and on pace for 112 wins, and the New York Yankees are at 62-33, which projects to 105 wins.

”Having series is always better … for a player in a lot of ways than a one-game playoff Womens Jaroslav Halak Jersey ,” Clark said. He said complications include a schedule that can stretch from late March until early November and division winners not wanting to have three or four off days before the playoffs.

Manfred said this year’s AL East race is proof of the current format’s success.

”Under the old system the Yankees and the Red Sox wouldn’t care who won the American League East,” he said. ”In contrast, under the new system we are all going to be treated to a pennant race that goes all the way through the end of September and they’re going to be trying to win every single game to avoid that one-game wild card.”

He maintained that if the same circumstances occurred in the NL Central, if it were ”the Brewers and the Reds that might be winning 100 games, that the uproar would probably be a little less.”

In an era when most calls are subject to video review, Clark said it was not yet clear whether computers could replace umpires in calling balls and strikes.

”Electronic strike zones have been bantered about quite a bit,” he said. ”The discussions that we’ve had so far suggest that as much as we want that consistency, we also respect and appreciate the umpires and the human element of the game as well. I don’t know where we’re going to end up at this point. We have a lot more conversations to have with players.”

—

AP freelance writer Ben Standig contributed to this report.

—

During the mandatory rookie camp back in June, the New York Giants required players to take a yoga class. Running back Robert Martin walked in, looked around at his new teammates and thought, man, this is crazy.

"We usually don't do yoga," he said. "We stretch http://www.broncosauthorizedsh…..dom-jersey , but we don't do yoga."

Even as a first-timer, though, Martin immediately knew how the two were different .

"It definitely felt weirder than regular stretching," he said. "It was a lot harder because you have to sit in certain positions we've never been in before."

Players like New York Jets defensive lineman Leonard Williams and Giants quarterback Davis Webb prefer yoga because it requires a set amount of time dedicated to the practice. That is the activity . They can focus on their body without worries of what's next and feel an immediate difference afterward.

The poses in yoga are more beneficial than typical stretching because they incorporate all parts of the body into the movements, Los Angeles Chargers Director of Football/Medical Services James Collins said. Stretching is linear. Yoga is non-linear, helping multidirectional joints such as the elbow, wrist, ankle, hip and shoulder.

All of the major joints are encased in a capsule and contain fluid to help prevent friction between bones. Yoga helps maintain the capsules.

"I describe it to (a player) as really thick saran wrap that covers his joint so that the fluid stays in there," said Collins, also the Professional Football Athletic Trainers' Society president. "But at the same time, that saran wrap needs to have its flexibility 鈥?keep it stretched out 鈥?so the join can function properly."

Joint integrity comes down to maintaining mobility, he said. Because yoga is a multidirectional exercise Authentic Nikita Kucherov Jersey , it allows the joint to move in every direction it can.

Take the hip. Downward dog, pigeon pose or runner's lunge are just some of the yoga poses that benefit the hip. Downward dog alone has multiple variations to stretch the hip in different directions.

"But if we lay down on the floor at home and just pull our leg straight up over our head, that's linear," Collin said. "So that joint is only getting work in that direction."

The knee is not multidirectional, he said, which is why it's so vulnerable to getting hurt. It's not made to go certain ways.

National Athletic Trainers' Association president Tory Lindley, who's Director of Athletic Training Services at Northwestern University, believes yoga creates a more conducive environment for muscle lengthening. It doesn't just jump right into poses. It's a progression, working through the whole body rather than just parts.

Static stretching doesn't allow that.

"We've gone away from pre-practice stretching," Lindley said. "There's much better benefits from a pre-practice dynamic workout, which is what the vast majority of teams regardless of sport will do. And then post-practice, when flexibility training is beneficial, in most cases that environment is much more about let's get off the field as quickly as we can versus let's take time to dedicate to the stretching or flexibility piece."

The debate isn't if yoga should be done before or after practice http://www.ravensauthorizedsho…..rst-jersey , it's when is there time to aside for yoga and yoga alone.

Gwen Lawrence, the founder of Power Yoga for Sport who worked with Giants for 18 seasons, said NFL players should do yoga twice a week with sessions lasting an hour. That's best case scenario and more realistic for the offseason. Right now, Kaleen Lugo gets 45 minutes once or twice a week with the Chargers, depending on their preseason schedule. During the regular season, players should at least do it on their recovery day, whether the team offers it or they do it independently.

It should become a routine so players can develop and advance their personal practice.

"Just a straight sun salutation," Giants linebacker Jordan Williams said of doing progression of yoga moves. "When you start getting that flow through 鈥?warrior, warrior lunge, runner's lunge and then bring that through with downward dog and upward dog 鈥?I love that."