SUN CITY, South Africa -- The birdie celebrations were muted and the crowd a little quiet all though Friday. Dave Concepcion Jersey . Gary Player cried on the tee before an early-morning round under grey skies and Ernie Els remembered the photo he has of himself and Nelson Mandela on his desk back at home in Florida. "It is a very sad day," Els said. "A very sad day for South Africa and the world." A sombre mood hung over the Nedbank Golf Challenge, South Africas first major sporting event since former president and anti-apartheid leader Mandela died late Thursday aged 95. Jamie Donaldson, wearing a black ribbon like all the players, emerged from the emotional day to go to 11 under and hold a three-shot lead over Ryan Moore and Henrik Stenson. The 30-man field spent around nine hours out on the course to make up for lost time when the first round was halted for lightning a day earlier. Donaldson had seven birdies and a bogey in a second-round 66 to go with his opening 67, with the Welshman saying he played "aggressive but not daft." Moore had a round-leading 65 having finished up a 71 in the first round in the morning for a share of second at 8 under with Stenson. The Swede moved back into contention with a 67 at the end of the second day. Thomas Bjorn and defending champion Martin Kaymer were tied for fourth another shot back on 7 under. Sergio Garcia had led after the first round before slipping down to a share of ninth with a 73. Perhaps struggling with the emotions, Els and the rest of the South Africans failed to shine, with Charl Schwartzel the leading home player on 6 under, five off the lead. Els has gone 75, 71 in the first two rounds. In the early morning, the players had stood with their caddies, some with caps removed, for a moments silence for Mandela before the first round restarted. Flags drooped at half-mast around the Gary Player Country Club. A hooter sounded to start the brief moment of reflection on the life of the beloved anti-apartheid leader. One of South Africas first sporting heroes under Mandelas presidency, four-time major winner Els had walked out of the players lounge a little after 6:30 a.m. to talk to reporters and share some of his precious memories of the time he spent with Mandela. Els said that since about 1996 and well into his old age, Mandela used to call the golfer every time he won a tournament. "They were special times and the little time we had together was very special. He was just the most amazing person I have ever met," Els said. Player, South Africas most successful golfer and whose career so often clashed with South Africas dark years of apartheid, said he and three friends had prayed and then cried together over Mandelas passing before playing a casual round first thing in the morning before the field went out. "We all had a tear in our eyes, but its also a day of celebration because hed want us to celebrate," Player said. "And weve got to celebrate for what he actually gave this country." Johnny Bench Jersey . As deep as their roster is, they need their superstar. Rose scored 23 points in his return from a five-game absence due to back pain, and Chicago hung on to beat the struggling Atlanta Hawks 90-79 on Monday. Drew Storen Jersey .Then came December.Three straight losses, including a crushing 27-24 defeat to Washington (4-11) on Saturday, has the Eagles (9-6) on the brink of playoff elimination. http://www.redsapparelsshop.com/homer-bailey-jersey-c-17/ . The whole deflation of New England Patriots footballs is like a murder mystery without the violence or significance. On one side, this is a ridiculous issue.TORONTO – Before Sundays series finale against the Rays, TSN.ca sat down with Blue Jays pitching coach Pete Walker to discuss the state of the starting rotation, which has logged an extraordinary number of innings over the past three weeks. Walker touches on each of the five starters, focusing on adjustments and improvements each has made to his game and how the bullpen stands to benefit, long-term, from a reduced workload. Theres also discussion about Aaron Sanchez and the role hell be best suited to play in the ballclubs plans for 2015. Heres the transcript of the conversation: TSN.ca: Pete, weve talked about the quality start stat before and I know its not necessarily your favourite thing but your starting pitchers have gone at least six innings in 19-straight games, which ties a club record that dates back 16 years. Thats got to mean something, doesnt it? (NOTE: Mark Buehrle pitched six innings on Sunday afternoon, extending the rotations streak to 20-consecutive games throwing six innings or more, a new franchise record.) WALKER: Yeah, it does. Ultimately, you look at the big picture you want your starters going deep into games and giving your team a chance to win. I think theyve done that. Theyve all had their ups and downs throughout the course of the season but theyre certainly finishing the season strong and giving us an opportunity to win some ballgames here, especially over the last few weeks and looking into the next two weeks as well. But, you know, the quality start stat is one that Im not fond of. I know in the baseball world its a big stat, especially when it comes to arbitration and the monetary side for players and the front office but for me, I think I want to get it ingrained in their heads to go eight or nine. You know, finish the game. Finish what you start. I know the young guys feel that way and certainly R.A (Dickey) and Mark (Buehrle) want to get as deep as they can into these ballgames. Six innings, I think even Mark Buehrle said it, to go six innings he feels like he let the team down at times. He wants to pitch into that seventh or eighth inning. The numbers speak for themselves. I know the starters have done a real nice job as of late and obviously it takes a little bit of pressure off the bullpen, minimizing their innings and their appearances and keeping them fresh and I think weve seen what kind of impact that has as well. TSN.ca: I want to pick up on that and this is somewhat immeasurable so its more of an opinion response from you. Weve seen turnover in this bullpen this year with Steve Delabar and Esmil Rogers, and others whove had pretty good years and last year and maybe have struggled at times this year, Sergio (Santos), I dont know if thats related to workload from last year but when you look ahead to 2015, can some of what your starters are doing now benefit guys like Aaron Loup, whose walks are up this year, could those guys be feeling better heading into camp as a result of all this? WALKER: Yeah, absolutely. Its certainly indicative of the starters going deep, the way relievers respond. Last year they got a lot of work and I know being a relief pitcher, its a volatile business and you look over the course of the years and the great years some relievers have had and then theyve kind of disappeared the following year. Were aware of that. Were trying to minimize their innings as best we can to give them the best opportunity to be strong next year. That being said there are games to be won here at the end and Im sure well be seeing the Aaron Loups and the (Brett) Cecils and the (Casey) Janssens and even Sanchez there in those key moments. Certainly the starters doing what theyre doing helps the relievers maintain their strength, their velocity, their stuff and their health. Looking forward to next year, finishing up the way were finishing, starters going deep, is certainly going to help those relievers. TSN.ca: Going one by one through your starting rotation, would it be fair to say, specific to Marcus Stroman, that the development of this sinkerball may be one of the most important developments for this team all year? How has it changed him and how will it change him going forward? WALKER: Well, I think the Rogers Centre is a place where you want to keep the ball on the ground. The ball flies here so typically flyball pitchers can get into a little bit of trouble so the fact that hes putting the ball on the ground is huge for him. Throughout the course of his minor league career he was more of a strikeout, flyball pitcher. He got his groundballs occasionally but hes definitely pounding the strike zone with his two-seamer, hes using his four-seam less so hes also not getting the ball up on that flat action that sometimes can happen on his four-seam fastball. His sinkers been a big addition. I think hes using the curveball nicely right now and I think the changeup is another pitch that is slowly coming along thats going to help him as well. Hes got a number of pitches to use. Hes got a lot of weapons out there. Hitters have a tough time against him but I think the sinker puts him over the top. TSN.ca: Is that the sort of thing where he can attack the same hitter two or maybe three different ways in the same game because of the expanded repertoire? WALKER: Yeah, absolutely. (Dioner Navarro) does a great job with him. Navys creative back there. Hes got a good feel. Theyve developed a nice relationship. Obviously theres a game plan you go over but theyve carried it out tremendously. Navys done a great job making adjustment but the fact he can use so many pitches, from a hitters standpoint its not a very comfortable at-bat. TSN.ca: Drew Hutchison has had a very nice run of three or four starts, really since the second inning in Chicago about a month ago. Is it a second wind? I mean, hes finishing pretty strong here, you can probably look to next year and if he stays healthy youre looking at 180 to 200 innings out of this kid. WALKER: Sure, yeah, hes done a great job. Weve been keeping a close eye on him this year and if there were any signs that he was slowing down and struggling at this point wed be looking at some other possibilities to fill that spot. Hes been strong. Hes maintained his velocity; hes throwing as hard as he was in spring training right now. Hes showing us all signs that hes strong and hes able to finish off this season which is only going to help for next year. I think his fastball command left him for a little while there. There was a monthh and a half there where it was a little bit of a battle and it might have been that missing as much time as he has, hitting that wall a little bit, a little bit of dead arm, fighting through it and weve cut back on his workload and it seems to have helped. Barry Larkin Jersey. TSN.ca: With J.A. Happ has it been getting through to him on the establishment of his fastball and getting him to trust that that really is his best pitch? WALKER: Yeah, I think hes been the most pleasant surprise to be honest with you. I know spring training was rough and coming into the season not even in the rotation and with the back issues. Hes always had the history of teasing you a little bit, the five or six innings and 115 pitches type of thing. Our goal this year was to minimize his pitch count and make sure he gets deeper into the games and weve been able to do that. We used a two-seam fastball a lot more earlier in the season but hes getting back to using that four-seam fastball up in the zone. Hes locating down in the zone much better than he has in the past and I think hes implementing his curveball and his changeup nicely. Weve adjusted his changeup grip again, going with a split grip, which he seems to like. Hes doing some nice things, a lot of confidence and pounding the zone. When J.A. Happs pitching in the seventh inning consistently you should be pretty happy. TSN.ca: R.A., I think, has had a pretty nice year. I just wonder sometimes if he will always be put up against the players that he was acquired for and people are going to say, Wheres that Cy Young guy? The home run numbers, especially since the start of July, are down. Has he figured out how to pitch in this park? WALKER: I think, you know, hes grown a lot as a pitcher. I think hes a different pitcher now than he was when he was in New York. I think he had to make some adjustments, some changes. I think hes worked his tail off. Hes a true professional. I think the fact that hes mixing his speeds a lot better now, I mean anywhere from 64 to 80 mile-per-hour knuckleballs. Hes using his fastball nicely. I think hes made some changes in his game. Hes definitely, like I said, using his slow knuckleball and keeping hitters off-balance instead of just trying to overpower them with a hard knuckleball like he did early last year and even earlier this year a little bit. I think hes really found his game here and I think hes going to be a better pitcher because of it. TSN.ca: Mark Buehrle, its just weird because hes such an easy-going guy and seems to just exude that natural confidence, zero arrogance but confidence and alluding to, maybe a month ago, beginning to have self doubt and not wanting guys like you and John Gibbons to doubt him when he was going through that down time and that hes a little older now and sometimes tires a little more easily. Have you had to play a psychologists role a little more with him than maybe you would have anticipated to help him get through some of the bumps in the late part of this season? WALKER: I dont know about that but I understand what youre saying. I mean, hes had a crazy year. All-Star season, people were talking about him in the Cy Young category around the All-Star Break. The second half hasnt gone as well but hes certainly picked it up. I know Mark. Hes been through a lot in his career. He battles through any type of issues he might be having. He always takes the ball every fifth day, whether he feels great or not. Its just him. I think hes feeling really good from a health standpoint and its showing in his velocity. I think he definitely hit a little dead period where it was tough to get out there every five days but he does it. Hes a true competitor and warrior. I think hes finishing up the season strong. Hes in a good place health-wise. His stuff, I think hes another guy thats developed as a pitcher, even in his older age, using his curveball more this year. I think its helped quite a bit, using it for strikeouts here and there. I think he and Navy have struck up a nice relationship as well. He certainly could have more wins than he has right now. I know the first half went about as good as it could go and early in the second half it went about as bad as it could go from a luck standpoint. I think hes finishing up nicely. I think, again, hes in a good place where he is throwing the baseball here and hes made some adjustments to pitching in the Rogers Centre as well. TSN.ca: Two-hundred would be nice. Not just innings but hes got a bit to go to get 200 wins here. Itd be a nice way to finish for him. WALKER: Itd be great for him to get 200 innings and to get his 200th win before the end of the season going into next year. Hes the last one to be thinking about that. Hes reiterated that with us not to do anything special for him to get to 200 innings or certainly the 200 wins. Hes a team player. If he has to come out in the fifth inning hell come out in the fifth inning if its best for the team. Thats what we need. We need guys like that. We need to understand that mentality in order to be a successful franchise. TSN.ca: Quickly on Aaron Sanchez, would you at all consider starting him in a game down the stretch? Its been a while since hes started a game, more than a couple of months by that point but would you consider it if the day came up and it was appropriate and you needed a win? WALKER: I dont see how its possible. I dont think it would be fair to him. Obviously it hasnt even been discussed. Hes been doing so great in the role hes in to expect him to go out and throw five innings and 75 pitches I think would be putting him in jeopardy, in harms way. That hasnt been discussed. Right now hes in a great role. Hes in a great place for us. Were still protecting him and watching his innings and using him, at the most, two innings. I think the bullpens settled in nicely down there. The rotations doing fine so I dont anticipate that happening. TSN.ca: Hes been dominant out of the pen but the plan still is to bring him to camp next year as a starter? WALKER: Honestly, were so focused right now. Weve kind of casually had some discussions. I think everybody sees him as a starter, sees the potential there as a starter. Obviously hes been as dominant as you can be out of the bullpen so thats intriguing as well. Were right there with everybody else trying to figure out whats best for him and whats best for this team. Right now its in the bullpen but next year it certainly could be in the rotation. TSN.ca: Thanks, Pete. WALKER: All right, you got it. China Jerseys Wholesale Wholesale Jerseys 2018 Wholesale Jerseys 2018 Wholesale Nike NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys 2020 NFL Jerseys Wholesale Cheap NFL Jerseys China ' ' '