broncos executive vice president of football operations/gen

SAN FRANCISCO -- Jay Bruce insists he isnt sitting around and savoring his home run streak.Theres no time for that, he said. You do that in this game and its too late.Bruce homered in his career-high fifth straight game, connecting off Madison Bumgarner and leading Dan Straily and the Cincinnati Reds over the slumping San Francisco Giants 2-1 on Wednesday.Bruce hit his 25th homer of the season. His sixth home run during his five-game streak broke a 1-all tie in the seventh inning.One day hopefully a long, long time from now, I can sit back and reflect, but right now theres no time for that, everythings moving too fast, Bruce said. Its too demanding a game to kick back and think back about all youve done.The NL West-leading Giants got just four hits and lost for the ninth time in 11 games since the All-Star break. The last-place Reds are 8-4 over that stretch.Straily (6-6) gave up three hits in 7 2/3 innings. He struck out five in his longest outing of the season.Hes got great deception, Reds manager Bryan Price said.We all look up at the radar gun readings and hes 88 (mph) to 91, but he has a lot of swings and misses on that fastball. He had a lot of check swings, a lot of swings off the plate, and that to me thats what deception is all about, he said. Its about how early do hitters see the ball and recognize the spin and speed of the ball.Straily improved to 2-0 in his career against Bumgarner.Definitely, you take pride in battling against the best in baseball, Straily said. Its no different than any other game, but when it happens on a day like today it makes it a little more special.Tony Cingrani pitched a scoreless ninth for his 12th save.Bumgarner (10-6) allowed one earned run and five hits in eight innings, striking out nine.The Giants have lost six of his last eight starts. He hasnt had much run support of late, with the Giants scoring 10 runs in his last five games.Its disappointing when you have Bum throw the ball the way he did today, Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. He gave up five hits and couldnt get a win. We just couldnt figure out Straily. We couldnt generate much offensively and its disappointing when you have your starter throw like that.Conor Gillaspie hit a solo homer for the Giants in the second.San Francisco left fielder Angel Pagan dropped a flyball in the fifth, setting up Tucker Barnharts tying sacrifice fly.Joey Votto had two of the Reds six hits.Brandon Belt was 0 for 2 with a walk, snapping his 11-game hitting streak against the Reds. He went into the game as a career .398 hitter vs. Cincinnati, including a .522 mark since the beginning of last season.The Reds hit eight homers in winning the three-game series. Cincinnati has won four straight sets.When you look at the whole body of work, were driving in runs, pitchers are throwing strikes, the bullpen has been much more reliable and were playing better defense, Price said. That mix of things gives you the opportunity to stay in more games and win them.TRAINERS ROOMGiants: INF Ramiro Pena, who left Tuesday nights game early with a groin injury after taking a bad hop, was a late scratch from Wednesdays lineup.UP NEXTReds: Off Thursday, then LHP Brandon Finnegan (5-8, 4.93 ERA) starts at San Diego. He has an 11.05 ERA over his last four outings.Giants: RHP Johnny Cueto (13-2, 2.53) will pitch Thursday in the opener of a four-game series against NL East-leading Washington. He is 7-3 with a 3.55 ERA in 11 career starts against the Nationals with a 16-inning scoreless streak dating to 2014. Jed Lowrie Jersey . After dropping their final six games of December, the Wild opened the new calendar year with four consecutive wins. Following a loss to Colorado on Saturday, Minnesota rebounded the following night to blank Nashville 4-0, but then had the tables turned on them Tuesday. David Wright Jersey . The Hall of Fame defenceman told Landsberg that he believes fighting still has a place in todays game, but thinks staged fighting needs be outlawed. http://www.metssale.com/mets-jason-vargas-jersey/ . Colin Wilson had two goals and an assist, and Mike Fisher scored a goal and helped set up two others in the Predators 6-4 victory over the Red Wings on Monday night. Pedro Martinez Mets Jersey . "Thank you for the warm welcome," Beckham said on an 80-degree February morning. In this case, it was soccer weather. The sport moved a step closer to returning to South Florida on Wednesday, when Beckham confirmed he has exercised his option to purchase a Major League Soccer expansion franchise in Miami. Adeiny Hechavarria Jersey . Spiller left Week 3s 27-20 loss to the New York Jets with a thigh injury, but fully practiced with the team all week and expects to be ready to go on Sunday. The north Canterbury earthquake has impacted personally on several members of the Kiwis team as they prepare for the Four Nations decider.Utility Lewis Brown says Sundays final against Australia was far from the players minds when news arrived of the damaging quake which struck close to midday on Sunday (UKT).The quake hit just before Australia and England met in London, a match which determined whether the Kiwis would qualify for the final in Liverpool.The result went their way when Australia won but Brown revealed a lot of his team didnt watch the game, for various reasons.For some, it was because of the news unfolding at home, with concern over the continuing aftershocks.Obviously its a bit close to home for us, Brown said.The boys are a bit rattled. A few of them are from Wellington and some of them had families evacuated or friends who got evacuated.Brown was born and raised in Christchurch and was quickly on the phone to family members.Relief that nobody was harmed was followed by anguish that his home town is suffering again, nearly six years after the devastating 2011 Christchurch quake.dddddddddddd.The citys been through a lot, he said.I just want it to give them a break. Everyones wondering when its going to stop.Its not very pleasant seeing things like that happen in your own backyard.Brown is confident the KiLeft-arm spinner Rangana Herath is set to become the oldest player to lead a Test team for the first time since Somachandra de Silva in 1983, after he was named captain of Sri Lanka for the tour of Zimbabwe because Angelo Mathews is injured.Sri Lankas regular vice-captain, Dinesh Chandimal, was also unavailable for the two-Test series because of a thumb injury sustained during a domestic game, for which he had to have surgery. Herath, 38, will be only the second bowler to lead Sri Lanka in Tests, after de Silva.Mathews had torn his calf during the fourth ODI against Australia in August and had not recovered sufficiently, despite being named in the original squad for the tour of Zimbabwe on October 21. He is expected to be out of action for three weeks and is doubtful for the tri-series in Zimbabwe, also involving West Indies, that follows the Tests. No replacement was named yet for Mathews.Herath played 71 ODIs and 17 T20Is for Sri Lanka and did not captain in those formats either. He retired from limited-overs cricket in April this year to focus on Test cricket and played the defining role - 28 wickets - in Sri Lankas 3-0 whitewash of Australia in July and August. Seventeen years after having made his debut in 1999, Herath is set to make his captaincy debut, in his 74th Test. Brandon Kintzler Jersey . The parade and rally were held to celebrate the Saskatchewan Roughriders 45-23 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Sunday in the CFLs championship game. Carlos Zambrano Cubs Jersey . James, who turned 29 on Monday, injured his groin Friday during the Heats overtime loss at Sacramento. He sat out the following game, a 108-107 win Saturday in Portland, before coming back to help send the Nuggets to their seventh consecutive loss. http://www.cubsauthentic.com/cubs-kris-bryant-jersey/ . Woodson said during a radio interview Thursday that the Knicks Carmelo Anthony doesnt get the same calls as other superstars. Addison Russell Cubs Jersey . Kiriasis and brakeman Franziska Fritz finished two runs in one minute 55.41 seconds -- a mere 0.01 seconds ahead of Meyers and Lolo Jones, who likely bolstered her Olympic hopes by helping give USA-1 a huge push in the second heat. Joe Maddon Cubs Jersey . Breaking three of his own world records on his way to winning in Paris, Chan silenced the critics and left the audiences standing in appreciation and awe. Major League Baseball will play its annual All-Star Game on Tuesday night, and chances are that few -- if any -- NFL players could have made it. You have to love baseball to be great at it, as with most endeavors. And if you love baseball, why wouldnt you pursue its longer careers, fully guaranteed contracts and healthier futures?Joe Mauer, for one, chose wisely. In 2001, he turned down a scholarship to play quarterback at?Florida State?in favor of entering the MLB draft. By the end of the 2018 season, he will have earned $244 million from the Minnesota Twins.With that said, there are some pretty decent baseball players scattered throughout NFL rosters. In this moment of calm in the football year, lets consider nine of the best and rank them for the fun of it. (Get it? Nine players on a baseball diamond? With a bench, manager -- not coach -- and a general manager! Maybe I should have been a baseball writer ... )Skills are based in large part on the imperfect spectrum of whether they were drafted.Starting lineup1. Detroit Lions WR Golden TateTate was a speedy outfielder at Pope John Paul II (Tennessee) High School but had his senior season cut short by a thumb injury. Although he was one of the countrys top football prospects in 2007, the Arizona Diamondbacks used a 42nd-round draft pick on him just in case. Tate continued his baseball career while focusing on football at?Notre Dame, and in two seasons he hit .318 with 16 stolen bases over 73 games. School officials timed him in 6.4-6.5 seconds in the 60-meter run, a measure of how fast he could get down the first-base line. He was also drafted by the San Francisco Giants (50th round) in 2010, the same year the Seattle Seahawks drafted him in the second round.2. New England Patriots RB Tyler GaffneyGaffney shuttled between baseball and football during his career at Stanford and was serious enough about the former to leave school for a year to pursue success in the minor leagues. He played 38 games at the Pittsburgh Pirates Class A level in 2012, hitting . 297 with 11 stolen bases before returning to be Stanfords feature back for the 2013 football season. In two college seasons, Gaffney batted .301 with 132 runs scored over 161 games while also putting together a 24-game hitting streak.3. Seattle Seahawks QB Russell WilsonWilson was drafted twice by MLB teams, first in 2007 by the Baltimore Orioles (41st round) and then by the Colorado Rockies in 2010 (fourth round). After receiving a $200,000 bonus, he spent two summers playing at the Class A level in the Rockies farm system as a second baseman and hit .229 with five home runs and 26 RBIs in 93 games. The Texas Rangers acquired his rights in the 2013 AAA Rule 5 draft, and he spent time with them in spring training. Wilson has said that he loved baseball enough to make it a dual pursuit during his college years. But, he said, God made me 5-foot-11 for a reason. ... [H]e wanted me to go against the odds of everyone telling me no in football.4. New York Jets WR Eric DeckerDecker was drafted twice, by the Milwaukee Brewers in 2008 (39th round) and the Twins in 2009 (27th round). An outfielder who threw and batted lefty, Decker played two seasons of college baseball at the University of Minnesota. He hit .324 with an on-base percentage of .406 in 374 at-bats over 110 games. His performance and obvious athleticism excited baseball scouts who envisioned him as a ground-covering outfielder and multi-threat leadoff hitter, but Decker prioritized his football career.5. Chicago Bears OL Kyle LongLong might be the most intriguing baseball prospect on this list given his freakish athleticism. Already 6-foot-6 and nearly 300 pounds as a senior at St. Annes-Belfield (Virginia) School, Long hit .500 and recorded 95 strikeouts in 50 innings. He initially planned to focus on baseball in college, even after the Chicago White Sox made him a 23rd-round draft choice in 2008, and accepted a baseball scholarship from Florida State. Legal and academic issues led to his departure after one year, and from that point on he focused on football. We can only imagine what a pitcher of Longs athleticism and sizze could have done over time in baseball.dddddddddddd. New England Patriots QB Tom BradyA catcher and left-handed hitter, Brady was drafted by the Montreal Expos (18th round) in 1995 out of Junipero Serra (California) High School. Media reports have touted his strong arm behind the plate and power that once sent a ball over the fence and onto a bus, awakening a driver who thought he had parked a safe distance away. In 61 high school games, Brady batted .311 with eight home runs and 44 RBIs. The Expos pursued him following the draft but never offered a formal contract after he made clear he would pursue football at the University of Michigan. Pretty good decision there from both sides.7. Houston Texans QB Brandon WeedenWeeden pursued baseball as hard as any player in the NFL, playing five exclusive seasons in the minors after high school. A second-round pick of the New York Yankees in 2002, he never made it past Class A. After spending time with three organizations, he quit following the 2006 season. Weeden posted a 5.02 ERA in 374? innings over 108 games. At the age of 24, he enrolled at?Oklahoma State?to begin his college football career in 2007. The rest, is, well ... you know.8. Tampa Bay Buccaneers QB Jameis WinstonBaseball America considered Winston the second-best baseball prospect in the state of Alabama in 2012, and the Rangers made him a 15th-round pick in 2012 even after he made clear he planned to enroll in college. At Florida State, he played right field and pitched -- with his fastball reportedly hitting 94 mph -- and was also a switch-hitter. In two years of college baseball, he compiled a 1.94 ERA with nine saves while hitting .209 in 158 at-bats. Winstons contract with the Bucs contains a clause prohibiting him from playing baseball.9. San Francisco 49ers QB Colin KaepernickKaepernick was a ridiculous high school pitcher in Turlock, California, throwing two no-hitters and striking out 97 in 13 starts as a senior. He was the target of intense college baseball recruiting in 2006 and was considered a draftable prospect at the time, but he wanted to play college football. When his NFL prospects appeared bleak three years into his career at?Nevada, the Chicago Cubs grabbed him in the 43rd round of the 2009 draft and tried to convince him to spend the summer in their minor league system. Kaepernick declined and continued focusing on football.On deckTennessee Titans QB Matt CasselThe high point of Cassels baseball career came in 1994, when he played first base for the Northridge (California) team that reached the finals of the Little League World Series. He appeared briefly as a pitcher at USC during the spring of 2004, striking out 10 in 8? innings, and was drafted by the?Oakland As?(36th round) later that summer.Miami Dolphins QB Matt MooreWhile pursuing a college transfer for football, Moore dabbled in semi-pro baseball and was drafted by the Los Angeles Angels (22nd round) in 2004 as a third baseman. He decided to continue his football career at?Oregon State.Pittsburgh Steelers CB Senquez GolsonGolson hit .345 as a senior at Pascagoula (Mississippi) High School, and the Boston Red Sox made him an eighth-round draft choice in 2011. He went to Ole Miss instead to play both baseball and football, but he quit baseball after one season with a .204 batting average in 22 games.ManagerOakland Raiders coach Jack Del RioDrafted by the Toronto Blue Jays (22nd round) in 1981, Del Rio instead accepted a scholarship to play football at?USC. He played catcher for the Trojans as well, hitting .340.General managerDenver Broncos executive vice president of football operations/general manager John ElwayElway was drafted twice, in the 18th round in 1979 by the Kansas City Royals and in the second round in 1981 by the New York Yankees. He was named the Yankees top prospect in 1982 and hit .318 with four home runs and 25 RBIs in Class A that year. That performance provided credibility to his threat to play baseball if the Baltimore Colts drafted him in 1983. ' ' 'wis can put events at home to one side and focus on how to avoid a fourth loss this year to the unbeaten Kangaroos.The scratchy 18-18 draw with Scotland on Friday compared unfavourably with Australias impressive 36-18 dismantling of the English.Brown says the Kiwis have struggled for consistency at the tournament and the Scottish performance was a step backwards from the opening 17-16 win over England and 14-8 loss to Australia.Its a wake-up call to be honest, maybe a blessing in disguise, he said.We havent had a full 80 minutes of football. We have a lot of calibre in this side and we havent put it together yet.Luckily enough for us, we get another bite at the cherry. But it hasnt been ideal. ' ' '