, a back-to-back in Atlanta and New Orleans, though his status is uncertain. ' ' '

FORT MYERS, Fla. Adidas Ultra Boost Norge . -- The Red Sox had a big lead in last years opener at Yankee Stadium. Still, Dustin Pedroia slid headfirst trying to beat out his grounder. Bad decision, especially with Boston ahead 8-2 in the ninth inning. The win-at-all-costs second baseman tore a ligament in his left thumb, then missed just two games the rest of the season. "It was the most impressive thing I watched all year. The thumb was totally black," third-base and infield coach Brian Butterfield said Monday. "He didnt want anybody to know about it." So its not surprising that Pedroia downplayed how much it bothered him. "A little bit, but its fine now," he said. "Its fixed up, man. Its good. Its good to go." Pedroia had surgery to repair his torn ulnar collateral ligament 14 days after the Red Sox won the World Series in Game 6 against St. Louis. He wore a cast for about a month. Then he worked on regaining his strength. And on Monday he took batting practice three days before the first official full-squad workout. His attitude, typically, is upbeat. "The rehab was great," Pedroia said. "I feel healthy and theres no setbacks, no restrictions or anything." The Red Sox won their second title in four years in 2007 and Pedroia was named AL rookie of the year. In 2008, he was the leagues MVP, but the Red Sox lost the AL championship series despite leading 1-0 in Game 7 through three innings against Tampa Bay. "That was a huge letdown," Pedroia said. "You dont want that feeling." He tried to keep that from happening last year when the Red Sox were in first place through the first 34 games. He was hitting .311 at that point and wasnt about to take time off because of his thumb with so much at stake. Pedroia did even better in the next 10 games. He went 18 for 40 to raise his average to .343. "The first month and a half he hit with one hand and he played with one hand," Butterfield said, "but he never even blinked. Hes so impressive in so many ways and he showed unbelievable toughness." His average never dropped below .291 for the season and he ended at .301 while leading the AL with 724 plate appearances. He tied for second in the AL in hits and was second in the league in fielding percentage among second basemen. The only games he took off were on June 16 and in the regular-season finale Sept. 29. The Red Sox lost both. Pedroias injury reduced his power and he hit just nine homers, the fewest since he had eight in his rookie season. But he compensated by taking shorter swings and hitting more to the opposite field. "We had half of him, but he fought through it and he still was a highly productive player," Butterfield said. "He just kept playing and kept grinding and didnt flinch once. He never complained and just tried to find every way he could to make his game the most comfortable because I know early on he was playing with a lot of pain." Not that Pedroia would admit it. "You just figure it out," he said. "You just try to get hits, man. Thats it." With the Red Sox not re-signing shortstop Stephen Drew, Pedroia has a new double-play partner in rookie Xander Bogaerts. Pedroia knows hell find a way to make that work, too. "We all take ground balls a lot," he said. "Bogeys going to be fine. (Butterfield) will make sure that everybodys on the same page in the infield and our defence. We know what were doing." Healthy or not, Pedroia showed that he certainly does. And Butterfield still raves about that. "I get chill bumps when I start talking about him," Butterfield said. "He does anything that he can to try to win a game. Hes as tough as they come." NOTES: Manager John Farrell said Grady Sizemore will be used in left and centre field during spring training. The former Cleveland Indian missed the past two seasons with knee and back problems. Jackie Bradley Jr. is getting the first shot at replacing Jacoby Ellsbury, now with the New York Yankees, in centre field. Daniel Nava and Jonny Gomes are back after sharing left field last year. ... LHP Jon Lester said it would be "great" if he could get a contract extension in spring training but hes focusing on preparing for the season. The club picked up his $13 million option for 2014. Adidas Tubular Shadow Norge . Every. Single. Game. Thats 1,230 in total to cover the regular season. The man is Corey Sznajder, a soft-spoken 23-year-old Salisbury University grad who lives in Annapolis, Maryland and has been charting zone entries and zone exits throughout the NHL. I love big projects, he said. No kidding. At the 2013 Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, I met Eric Tulsky, who presented research on the value of controlled zone entries (short answer: about twice as valuable to enter with control of the puck rather than dumping it in) and Sznajder had charted a couple hundred games that were included in that study. Tubular Shadow Sko . -- A deflected pass that landed in DeSean Jacksons hands. http://www.nmdnorgesalg.com/ . The underachieving franchise finished 17th in the 19-team league with a 6-17-11 record this season. "Our soccer team is absolutely in complete disarray," said Leiweke, drawing laughs during an Empire Club luncheon speech about the future of MLSE teams and plans to improve them.TORONTO - As Kyle Lowry was tended to, lying motionless on the floor after being kneed in the head, not once but twice, the Raptors fate hung in the balance alongside him. It turned out to be the longest minute of the season for a team that has come to rely so heavily on the resolve of its tough-as-nails point guard. Lowry, sixth in the NBA in win shares (an estimated number of wins a player produces for his team), has been the Raptors most indispensable player. What would they do without him? Luckily, thats a quandary they need not concern themselves with. Although Lowry was a spectator in practice Monday, less than 15 hours after getting inadvertently trampled by P.J. Tucker, scrambling for a loose ball late in Sundays loss to the Phoenix Suns, he was relieved to deliver promising news. "It was a really powerful blow, but Im okay," said Lowry, who was cleared by team doctors earlier that morning, showing no signs or symptoms of a concussion or serious head injury. "Luckily, we have great doctors and a great staff and they checked everything out and everything came back clear, so Im fine." Sitting out of practice with flu-like symptoms that had been bothering him before Sundays game, Lowry said he was still feeling ill, but the headaches he complained about the night prior had dissipated. The Raptors did their due diligence in clearing Lowry and carefully made that apparent to those that had questioned their process after the point guard remained in Sundays game. "Its a huge issue and it should be," Casey said, speaking on the severity of head injuries in professional sport. "Teams are very sensitive to that, when theyre questioned whether they are going by protocol because its a huge deal." Scott McCullough, head athletic trainer, first tested Lowry for signs of a concussion while he was lying on the floor and then again after he was helped up and over to the bench during the timeout. Had he showed symptoms - such as disorientation, lack of coordination or nausea - the Raptors would have been compelled to puull him from the game and take him to the "quiet room", per league concussion policy. Nmd Sko Salg. . "Our guys went through the protocol, they checked his eyes," Casey continued. "He was deemed okay to go back into the game." Down nine with 96 seconds to go, Lowry - a fierce, and in some cases hardheaded competitor - was determined to power through. "I put myself back into that game," he said. "They werent going to take me out of that game. [McCullough] did his protocol on the bench and he checked me out and I was good to go, so thats all that matters." Lowry was tested twice more by team doctor Howard Petroff following the game and then again Monday morning, given a clean bill of health. Averaging career-highs of 17.2 points and 7.9 assists per game, Lowry has not missed a game this season and intends on playing Tuesday in Atlanta. What would it take for Lowry to sit out? "Being dead," he joked. "Not being able to walk." "I mean, Im always going to try to go out there and fight for my teammates and try to win the game, no matter what the situation is. At that point I felt like we still had a chance to win. Me, Im never going to sit out because of a little bump to the head." Clinging to a half game lead over Chicago for the Easts third seed and a three-and-a-half game cushion on Brooklyn for top spot in the division with 17 contests to go, the Raptors need all hands on deck. Despite the improved play of backup point guard Greivis Vasquez, Lowrys all-around contributions would be the toughest the replace. "Im happy as heck that hes okay," Casey said. "Its huge because were already down an important piece in our second unit with Patrick (Patterson) and to lose Kyle would be tough." Patterson was absent from practice Monday afternoon, having his sprained right elbow re-evaluated at the time. He is expected to accompany the team on their upcoming two-game road trip, a back-to-back in Atlanta and New Orleans, though his status is uncertain. ' ' '