for Japanese and Asian players to gain better prominence in

SAN DIEGO -- Being just one of the guys is one of the things that?Joey Bosa missed during the 31 days that he remained unsigned because of a contract impasse with the San Diego Chargers.One day after he signed a four-year deal on Monday, Bosa was on the field working with his teammates and posing with some of his fellow defensive linemen for the long row of cameras on hand to watch his first appearance on the field since June at Chargers Park. Veteran defensive tackle Brandon Mebane hatched the idea of the impromptu photo shoot to help loosen things up for Bosa.It means a lot that theyre all welcoming me back with open arms like that, Bosa said. They all understand the business of the NFL and why I wasnt here. So theres no bad blood between any one of us, and theyre just excited to have me out here, and Im excited to be out here.Bosa missed more than a month and three preseason games during a contentious contract stalemate that included haggling over the payment of Bosas $17 million signing bonus and whether the contract would include offset language. He signed Monday and said he could play in the opener Sept. 11 at the Kansas City Chiefs.Bosa and the rest of the Chargers worked out in just helmets, jerseys and shorts as the team prepared for San Diegos final preseason game against the San Francisco 49ers in two days.Were just happy to have him out here, defensive lineman Corey Liuget said. And I just look forward to working with the guy.Bosa likely will not play against San Francisco. Chargers head coach Mike McCoy said hell take a wait-and-see approach to determine if the Ohio State product will play in the regular-season opener on the road against the Chiefs. The Chargers have just one padded practice in the next two weeks to get Bosa ready for the season opener. But so far, McCoy has liked what he has seen from his rookie, first-round pick.He looked as we expected, McCoy said. He was in shape and ready to roll. He looked the way he did when he left.Bosa said hell spend some extra time with defensive line coach Giff Smith on Tuesday and throughout the week to get up to speed on the playbook in general and specifically San Diegos plans for him defensively.Its was nice, actually getting to run some plays, Bosa said. Its just going to take a little bit of time to get back into a rhythm of things and get all of the plays. I still havent put pads on, so Im sure thats going to be the hardest thing to get adjusted to. Cheap Nmds Uk . Roman Josi had a goal and an assist to lead the Predators to a 4-1 victory over the Dallas Stars on Monday night. Cheap Adidas Nmd Uk . The nimble-footed quarterback got his wish, dashing through the snow and a weary defence all the way into the NCAA record book. http://www.cheapnmduk.com/ . Pedro scored from a pass by Lionel Messi in the 33rd minute and added two more goals in the 47th and 72nd after Valdes saved his second penalty in four days following his stop in Wednesdays 4-0 over Ajax in the Champions League. Adidas Nmd Uk Sale .C. -- Rodney Hood connected from all over the court while freshman Jabari Parker was busy swatting shots and scoring in transition. Adidas Nmd Clearance Sale . Dallas hasnt ruled out the star quarterback for Sunday nights game against Philadelphia, but all signs point to Romos back injury pushing Kyle Orton into the starting role after two years of limited play as the backup. Surely Ortons name isnt the first that comes to mind for fans wanting a change after years of damaging interceptions, fumbles or, most infamously, the field goal flub when Romo dropped the snap on a kick that could have won his first playoff game in 2006.With a slap single off Blue Jays starter R.A. Dickey, Ichiro Suzuki joined one of baseballs most exclusive groups: the 4,000 hit club. Ichiro joined only Pete Rose (4,256) and Ty Cobb (4,189) as the only men in the history of professional baseball to reach the plateau, reaching the milestone in his 2,981st professional game. TSN.ca Baseball Editor Shane McNeil presents five reasons why Ichiros achievement deserves the recognition it has received. 1. Its the numbers that matter, not the details. While some might argue an asterisk for those Ichiro accrued in the Japanese Professional League, those arguments must also be tempered by a couple facts. Ichiro has registered more hits in Major League Baseball than any player in the first 13 years of his MLB career (2,722), eclipsing Paul Waners 2,648. The fact that he did not start his MLB career cannot and should not be held against him, since he was born and trained in Japan and naturally started his career. Ichiro has more hits from the age of 27 onward than the two men ahead of him which makes this achievement all the more astounding. Most players best years are prior to their 30th birthday. Ichiro did the majority of his work as a pro after that milestone. Moreover, Ichiro was actually registering fewer at-bats per season in Japan than he would have in North America. His highest single-season AB total with Orix was his 546 in 1994. His lowest single-season total with Seattle was 647 in 2002. While Ichiros Japanese averages were substantially higher than most of his MLB single-season totals (a .353 career mark vs. .320 in MLB), the greater number of at-bats means that had Ichiro been even a .300 hitter in the MLB he would have registered 200 hits per season, as opposed to the 180 or so he averaged in Japan. Call the Nippon Professional Baseball League inferior all you like, it only masks the reality that had Ichiro started in North America in 1995 – three years after his Japanese career began – he would still be at 4,000 today, health permitting. 2. Baseball needs something to be proud of. Whenever the “Steroid Era” is mentioned in connection to baseball, a few faces spring to mind. Perhaps its Barry Bonds or Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa. Perhaps its Jose Canseco or a younger Alex Rodriguez with the Texas Rangers. Maybe its Ryan Braun. The steroid problem in the Majors did not end with the Mitchell Report, nor is it likely to end with Biogenesis. However, what the Steroid Era has achieved is calling into question virtually every major landmark and achievement over the past 25 or so years, give or take a Cal Ripken. With Ichiros 4,000th hit – many of which never even left the infield – baseball has something to be proud of and its primarily based around one of the most elementary skills: Legging one out to first. 3. It allows MLB to celebrate one of its underappreciated greats. Ichiro has never been a spotlight hog, nor has he been a particularly flashy player. A wise man once wrote, “This... iis a simple game.dddddddddddd You throw the ball. You hit the ball. You catch the ball.” Ichiro did all three better than just about any player of his generation. While his 110 home runs wont win him any MVP votes, he managed a decade of achievement that is almost unparalleled in the most basic of baseball skills. Between 2001 and 2010, Ichiro never finished lower than seventh in the American League batting race, hitting .310 or better every single season. Over that same span he finished in the top 10 in stolen bases every season, winning 10 Gold Gloves over that span and was selected to 10 All-Star Games. Ichiro has played baseball in its purest sense better than the majority of his opposition as a Major Leaguer and – apart from his rookie season – drew surprisingly little attention to himself in the process. If he plays another two or three seasons in North America, there may well be a celebration for his passage of Rose and Cobb on the hit list. But he may not, so why not take the opportunity to celebrate the man and his achievement? 4. Its rare nowadays to see a true trailblazer at work. Ichiro was not the first Japanese player to hit North America, nor will he be the last. That said, he will undoubtedly be the first to be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame and will likely do so on the first ballot. Ichiro was not faced with the obstacles of being the first, like Jackie Robinson, but he is the first Japanese player and certainly the first Japanese hitter to have such a career. It is time to start thinking of Ichiro in the same vein as Roberto Clemente, his humanitarianism and martyrdom notwithstanding? Clemente was not the first Latin American ballplayer to hit MLB, but he was the first to become a true force in the game and has since carried the flag for the majority of the subsequent ballplayers to flood the Majors from the Caribbean. Will Ichiro open a similar floodgate for Japanese and Asian players to gain better prominence in MLB? Maybe not to the same extent as the close Caribbean cultures, but its not a stretch to think that Yu Darvish has Ichiro to thank at least in part for his current success and celebrity. 5. He may not be done yet. Ichiro may well be in his final act in the Majors, but there is no way to know for certain. A quiet man by nature, Ichiro has made no allusions toward retirement any time soon, nor has he hinted about a possible return to Japan. At 39, Ichiro is two years younger than Cobb was at the time of his retirement and a full six years younger than Rose in his final season as a player. Its not out of the realm of possibility to play two more seasons and should he do so he still has both men to pass, as well as the incredible milestone of possibly reaching 3,000 hits in the majors – an asterisk-less achievement if ever there was one. He is also still yet to play a World Series game, so a competitor of his stature could also be holding out to win a Championship before calling it a career. Either way, the man still has plenty to play for. ' ' '