Grüße und Vorstellung » We didnt play to our identity,

TAMPA, Fla. Joe Panik Jersey . -- Brian Roberts remembered back a decade ago, when he was standing on second base and Derek Jeter approached. "He just said, "You can hit .300 in this league," Roberts recalled Monday. "To hear it from somebody like that, it kind of opened your eyes." Not that he took Jeters analysis too literally. "I dont think its just me. I think he does it to everybody," Roberts said. "But for some reason when he tells it to you, you think youre the most important person in the world." Now theyre teammates, and Roberts has a locker next to Jeters in the New York Yankees spring training clubhouse. With a void at second base following the departure of Robinson Cano, the Yankees have given the position to Roberts, a two-time All-Star who made five trips to the disabled list totalling 481 days over the past four seasons. His many maladies included a strained abdominal muscle, pneumonia, two concussions (one self-inflicted), a groin strain, hip tear and hamstring strain. "I know he hasnt played a full season in the last few years and hes obviously a guy that has some age on him, too, but my plan is to run him out there almost every day," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. Now 36, Roberts had hoped to be a Baltimore Orioles lifer, just like Brooks Robinson, Jim Palmer and Cal Ripken Jr. "Ive come to love the city, the fans," he said in February 2009 when the Orioles gave him a contract guaranteeing $48 million over five years. "This was the only place I wanted to be the rest of my career." It didnt work out that way. After hitting .283 in 2009 with 16 homers, 79 RBIs and a big league-high 56 doubles, he missed most of the following spring training with a herniated disk in his back. His first concussion was sustained on Sept. 27, 2010, when he knocked himself on the batting helmet with his bat after striking out in the ninth inning at Tampa Bay. His total of 77 games last season was his highest since the injuries began, and the switch-hitter batted .249 with eight homers and 39 RBIs. Baltimore made no effort to keep him after he hit .246 with 15 homers and 78 RBIs over the past four years. The offensive performance would have been decent but not spectacular had he compiled it over a single season. "I dont know that you can necessarily put great words on how frustrating it is to have to sit on the sidelines and watch," Roberts said. "Ive had numerous times over the last three or four years where I wondered if, for one, Id be able to play again, and I think certainly going into last season I had no idea what the next year would hold, whether I would have a job in 2014, whether I wouldnt, whether Id want a job." New York signed him for the bargain price of $2 million, plus the chance to make $2.6 million in bonuses based on plate appearances. Hell be counted on for offence, given that the Yankees had 114 RBIs from second base last year, tops in the majors, according to STATS. "Theres going to be people that will want to look out there and say, Well, hes not Robby. And Im not going to be Robby. Im not going to try to be," Roberts said. "Im going to be Brian Roberts and, hopefully, thats good enough most days." New Yorks infield is more Take A Chance than Tinker-to-Evers-to-Chance. First baseman Mark Teixeira played just 15 games last year because of a hand injury, and Jeters broken ankle limited him to 17. With Alex Rodriguez serving a season-long drug suspension, Kelly Johnson figures to platoon at third with Brendan Ryan, Eduardo Nunez and possibly Scott Sizemore. "Its not the infield that we had in 2009," Girardi said. "But we believe that theres a lot of capable players in here to put up offensive and defensive numbers, and when you look at those numbers as a whole, theyre going to be pretty good." Roberts remains in touch with his former Orioles teammates. "A lot of my closest friends in the world are there. So sure. Ive talked to them all in the last couple days. Is it weird? Is it different? Do I miss them? Yeah," he said before recounting his friendships with Jacoby Ellsbury, Jeter and Brian McCann. After Roberts spent 13 seasons in Baltimores black and orange, the Yankees pinstripes will take getting used to. Like McCann, he heard many people tell him "anybody but the Yankees" when he was a free agent. "You either love them or you hate them, right? And thats OK," he said. "Now I love them." Custom San Francisco Giants Jerseys .Y. -- First, Ryan Miller. Gregor Blanco Jersey .ca look back at each of the Top 10 stories of 2013. Today, we look back at LeBron James and the Miami Heat winning their second straight NBA championship. http://www.sfgiantsrookiestore.com/Giants-Derek-Holland-Kids-Jersey/ . But Paul Osbaldiston, Hamiltons assistant special teams and kicking coach, said the team still relished the championship game workout.PITTSBURGH -- Pittsburgh spent four games last June futilely flailing away at Tuukka Rask as the Boston goalie shoved the Penguins out of the Eastern Conference finals one remarkable save at a time. Any real chance at payback wont come until the playoff. Still, Pittsburgh knows its taut 3-2 win over the Bruins on Wednesday night is a pretty good place to start laying the groundwork. "They are a very good defensive team," Penguins forward Brandon Sutter said. "To get chances and capitalize on them is huge. Thats a big building block for us." Sutter and Jussi Jokinen scored 6:58 apart in the third period and the Penguins held on. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 21 shots for Pittsburgh, including a sliding save on David Krejci just before the final horn. Chris Kunitz picked up his sixth goal of the season for the Penguins while Sidney Crosbys assist pushed his points total to an NHL-high 21. "We played the right way and we were the better team tonight," Jokinen said. "It kind of felt like a playoff game, a little bit those same matchups like last spring. Lots of hitting, lots of battles." Battles the Penguins won. Then again, thats what happens this time of year. Pittsburgh is 9-1 in its last 10 regular-season games against Boston. Patrice Bergeron and Jarome Iginla scored for the Bruins. Rask finished with 28 saves, but couldnt stop Boston from dropping a road game for the first time this season. "We didnt play to our identity," Bruins coach Claude Julien said. "We didnt play a heavy game for two periods tonight. We had to play three periods like we did in the third and that wasnt the case." The meeting between the teams was the first since Bostons emphatic four-game sweep in the Eastern Conference finals, when the Bruins suffocated the NHLs highest scoring team into submission. The Penguins scored only twice in nearly 14 periods of hockey and never led at any point, undone by Bostons defence and a near flawless performance by Rask, who stopped 134 of 136 shots in the series. Nearly five months later, little has changed. "I think the intensity and the atmosphere, not quite sure it was April and May and June, but it waas certainly a good night for a Wednesday night rivalry game in October," Pittsburgh coach Dan Bylsma said. Juan Marichal Jersey. Kunitz gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead in the second period when he collected a shot from teammate Kris Letang with his chest then backhanded by Rask with his back to the net. The power-play goal was the fifth given up by the Bruins in their last seven penalty kills. Bergeron tied it 1:05 into the third period with a tricky deflection between his legs over Fleurys shoulder. The fun was just starting. Sutter took a pass from Pascal Dupuis and raced in on Rask, wristing a shot over the goalies shoulder for his first regular-season goal since April. "He leaned on it and I went down and then he shot it," Rask said. "I told him good shot." Jokinen followed with 3:02 remaining when he forced a turnover high in Bostons zone and broke in on Rask, using a screen to whisk the puck past Rasks stick for his sixth goal. The Penguins ended up needing the cushion. Iginlas slap shot from the point zipped by Fleury with 1:43 left and Boston spent the final 90 seconds buzzing the Pittsburgh net but couldnt tie it up. "We didnt give too many chances but we couldnt stop them," Rask said. "Thats just about it. Weve got to stop giving up these third-period goals." The injury riddled Penguins have tweaked their formula a bit since June, trying to play a bit more responsibly on their end of the ice while still relying on Crosby and Evgeni Malkin to carry the offence. Bostons roster underwent a slightly more aggressive overhaul, including the signing of Iginla. He spent two months with the Penguins last spring in search of his first Stanley Cup title after more than 15 years in Calgary. He had five goals and six assists in 13 regular-season games with Pittsburgh and had four more goals in the playoffs but disappeared against the Bruins, though he was hardly alone. Iginlas return barely caused a stir. There was no video tribute or hand from the crowd. Only when he was knocked to the ice by Malkin and Kris Letang to end the first period -- and again dropped by Malkin in the second -- did a faint level of disapproval arise. 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