DUNEDIN, Florida – The Yankees roughed up R. Cheap Custom New Jersey Devils Jerseys .A. Dickey on Wednesday afternoon at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium, Dickeys final appearance before he throws his second consecutive Opening Day for the Blue Jays. Dickey met with the media to preview the season, discuss the clubs decision to keep Josh Thole over Erik Kratz and outline his plans for the next few days. He will not travel with the team to Montreal. Here is a transcript of the conversation: QUESTION: R.A., kind of one last chance to work a few things out as opposed to looking at it as a regular season game? DICKEY: Oh yeah. Today was not a day about results for me. I mean, ideally, it would be great to get out of there with some clean innings but what was paramount for me was to exercise my arm in a way where I felt good and I was able to use a large range of velocities and mix in pitches that I would never throw during the regular season maybe to put it in their head that thats another weapon that I might use on them later. So I did exactly what I wanted to do. I got my exercise. I came out of spring feeling good. It was a good spring for me. My velocity is there. Now its just a matter of going to work." QUESTION: Not to say anything bad about Kratz but with Thole now being named your guy, I mean he has more experience with you than pretty much any catcher. Is that a good feeling to know that Tholes going to be your guy this year? DICKEY: Yeah. Look, Kratz did a great job. He improved every time out. There is, obviously, no replacement for experience and I think thats probably the angle that the leadership was coming from in making the decision to stick with Thole. Its important for us to get off to a good start, I think, this year and whatevers going to help us do that, so to take that doubt, even if it was just a miniscule doubt, out of the equation completely is good for me. Its good for everybody. QUESTION: But they didnt ask you personally what you thought? DICKEY: No and I didnt want them to. I wanted them to evaluate it on their own. They have enough baseball people in place to be able to see with their own eyes and make the decision accordingly. Thats a tough position for a teammate to be put in and I didnt want any part of it. QUESTION: Are you comfortable throwing to (Kratz) if that happens later in the season? DICKEY: Absolutely. I thought he did a very good job of improving every time out. QUESTION: Are you as ready as you think you can be for your Opening Day assignment? DICKEY: Yes. I feel prepared. I feel confident, which is great. Last year, I didnt feel very confident simply because I didnt feel as prepared. Im really looking forward to getting started and being able to adjust my schedule this year in a way that really maximizes my preparedness has been great. To have the two games where I pitched eight innings and then to have this taper down outing is great. QUESTION: R.A., what are your plans for the two or three days the team is in Montreal? DICKEY: Well, Im going to be hanging back and staying with Josh. Josh is going to stay back. Well throw a bullpen on Friday and then well probably head over together on Saturday, meet the team and it will become regimen after that. The season will begin and Ill just be working out at the minor league complex until its time to go. QUESTION: At the beginning of camp, you were talking about how hopefully somebody steps up and becomes that surprise guy. Now youve got McGowan and Hutchison making the rotation. Has camp pretty much gone as you expected that, you know, you get some kids that come out and maybe a McGowan that no one expected? DICKEY: Yeah, I dont think it ever goes as you expect it to. Theres always a knuckleball thrown in there, you know, for lack of a better word. This year, you know, some guys have been called on to step up that maybe werent expected to. McGowan probably didnt come into spring training thinking he was going to be a starter. He may be our fourth guy in the rotation and great, hes got the stuff for it and I think he wants to do it. Like I said early on, its going to take one or two guys that you dont really count on when you come into camp stepping up and doing something special and weve got those guys in place right now. QUESTION: R.A., the routine you got back to this spring, was it very similar to what you would have done in New York or were their adjustments? DICKEY: No, its almost exactly like 2011, 2012 for me where I was able to pitch a lot early on and then get to a place where I felt comfortable with my stuff and could just go out there and get my exercise that last outing. Again, this outing in particular for me was not at all about results. It was much more just about conditioning. QUESTION: You had that upper back and neck issue, obviously, last year. Was that something that was even bothering you at the end of camp or was that something that didnt really pop up until later? DICKEY: No, I was having to kind of step on the gas. A lot of times you labour to get to where you want to get to and I was labouring last year. This year, I feel like its just coming pretty naturally for me so thats a big encouragement. QUESTION: Is there an overall different feeling with the team as you get set to break camp compared to last year? There was so much going on, expectations were different. Whats the difference in feeling this year? DICKEY: I think the heartbeat is a lot different this year. I think, one, were very comfortable. If I had a word to describe what this camp has been, its been comfortable. Guys really know that this is a big year for us collectively. Were kind of getting a mulligan this year. Last year, a lot of things went wrong. This year, were pretty much all healthy, were here, weve been here all spring, weve been able to do relationship with one another and now were in a much different place than we were last year and its a much more comfortable place. QUESTION: So does that mean it was uncomfortable a year ago? DICKEY: It was for me, sure. I mean, coming in and out of camp, WBC, people flying all over the place, people getting hurt, yeah it was uncomfortable. I dont think it was what anybody wanted last year but every team has to deal with adversity throughout the season. We just were forced to deal with it very early on. Hopefully, this year, we will not have to do that. QUESTION: Your thoughts on pitching Opening Dday. You got to do it last year but theres got to be something special about taking the mound in that first game? DICKEY: Yeah, Ive worked my whole career to try to be trustworthy. I think thats something Ive always longed to be for a team is a trustworthy component. When you get the ball on Opening Day, the manager is saying, We trust you. Thats a special thing and its not something I take lightly at all and so Im very excited and very honoured to have the honour. QUESTION: Getting back to the health issues, did you do anything differently in the offseason to change your conditioning regimen in response or in a way that might curb the possibility of a recurrence? DICKEY: Yeah, I started earlier. I started earlier in the sense that last year, at the World Baseball Classic, I had to be game-ready a lot earlier in the spring than I did this year because youre competing in, basically what it came down to, an Olympic event. You just had to really step on the gas and my body just wasnt ready for that. This year, I didnt have that. I could really take my time and I did take my time. I started a little bit earlier and I was able to pump the brakes a little bit when I needed to and get to a place where I felt very comfortable taking the next step and then the next step. Youre always trying to eliminate excuses. You dont want to have to say, well I dont feel great, or I have a WBC or we werent together. Now were starting to eliminate all those excuses out there that you could hold on to that could make you less than who you should be. So for me, being prepared and being healthy, those are not excuses for me. Cheap Los Angeles Kings Jerseys . Thats exactly what happened. And they enjoyed every moment. Durant remained sizzling with 33 points, Serge Ibaka added 22 and the Thunder roared back from an abysmal start -- they trailed 22-4 early -- to embarrass the Miami Heat 112-95 on Wednesday night, erasing that big deficit out of the gate by outscoring the two-time defending champions by 43 points over a 33-minute span. Cheap Custom St. Louis Blues Jerseys . -- At the beginning of training camp, Andrew Bogut set a goal to play all 82 regular-season games and regain his place among the NBAs best centres. http://www.nhldiscount.us.com/Authentic-arizona-coyotes-custom-jerseys/ . - Even with a new coach, the Denver Nuggets still love to push the basketball.Manchester Thunder retained their position at the top of the Vitality Superleague table with a dominant 67-43 win over Roses rivals Yorkshire Jets. Having established a three-point cushion at the weekend with a win at Surrey and Hertfordshires defeat to Bath, Dan Ryans team closed in on top spot in the regular season standings after a super display.They now hold a six-point lead over Mavericks who play Storm themselves at the weekend before Mavs and Thunder replay their abandoned game on April 25. Fresh from their first victory of the season at the weekend when they edged out the Celtic Dragons 45-44, it was the Jets who started at a fierce pace forging a 7-2 lead inside the opening half of the first quarter. Vote for your Player of the Season Weve got the five contenders, so place your vote Led by Helen Housby at goal attack, Thunder rallied to level the scores at 8-8 before finishing strongly to take a three-goal lead at the end of the first 15 minutes.Despite Stacey Francis impressing in defence for Jets, Thunder continued to press home their advantage throughout the second period and a dominant quarter saw Ryans team open up a 32-21 lead.With Player of the Match Ellie Cardwell lethal under the posts for Thunder the home side continued to pull away with Jets tiring after their exertions in Wales on Saturday and the 11-point half-time lead became 20 for the league leaders. Grand Final Tickets Get tickets for Superleague Grand Final with Sky Tickets Manchester took a 52-32 lead into the final quarter and with Ryan continuing to urge his team forward, the fourth quarter followed the same pattern with Thunder taking the chance to use their full squaad and lay down a marker for the Superleague semi-finals on April 30. Cheap Dallas Stars Jerseys. Thunder won in Round Seven by just five points but there was to be no close finish at the Thunderdome and they wrapped up a Roses double with a clinical final quarter to seal a 24-goal win.Maybe a few too many errors and turnovers particularly in the first quarter, we could have been up by a lot more with the opportunities that we had, Ryan told Sky Sports.But across the board we have to be happy - particularly to get 12 players out there considering a lot of the girls havent seen much court time over the past couple of weeks in the big games.To get everyone out on a big stage and on a big night is something we are really happy about.We were very particular in the first half of the year that we wanted to rotate the line-up, gave players opportunities. We feel players we need to win the competition have had the taste they need to and we are confident in our depth and we are confident we can call on anyone required for any role on any day. Thunder completed a season double over the Jets Jets head coach Anna Carter admitted that after last seasons top four finish Yorkshires rebuilding job has made for a tough campaign.[Thunder] are at the other end of the table to us and they are a well put together squad with lots of experience, Carter told Sky Sports.We are at a different point and are rebuilding, bringing together a young group so it was always going to be a challenge tonight.Some of the girls have really improved. We got a win on Saturday against Celtic and showed characteristics weve not shown this season but it is about putting it out consistently. 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