game as the active scoring leader in Division with 1,927 points.

NEW YORK -- Barry Larkin doesnt have any delusions of baseball supplanting soccer as the king of sports in Brazil.But the Hall of Fame shortstop, who serves as manager for Brazil in baseballs version of the World Cup, is deeply ambitious about the potential to cultivate the game in Latin Americas most populous nation -- and he knows the best way to do it is to spark national pride by winning at the international level.Brazil is competing in this weeks World Baseball Classic qualifier at MCU Park in Brooklyn, New York, against Israel, Great Britain and Pakistan. The winner secures the final berth in the 16-team field for the 2017 WBC and advances to face South Korea, Chinese Taipei and the Netherlands in pool play in March in Seoul. Brazil won its WBC qualifier opener 10-0 over Pakistan on Thursday but lost 1-0 to Israel on Friday. Despite that defeat, the Brazilians can advance to the WBC main draw with two wins over the weekend.Larkin has assembled a roster that includes six players younger than?20 and four players at least 40. Nine played this year for minor league teams affiliated with Major League Baseball organizations, including two at the Triple-A level. Four are natives of Cuba who defected. Three were born in the United States but have parental ties to Brazil. Several players and coaches are Brazilians of Japanese heritage.How unusual is Team Brazil? In Thursdays game, 40-year-old outfielder Juan Carlos Muniz hit an inside-the-park home run, and 15-year-old pitcher Eric Pardinho took the mound the next inning.Somehow, all the puzzle pieces seem to fit together seamlessly -- even if clubhouse chatter is delivered in Portuguese, Japanese, English and Spanish. Larkin said he speaks Portunhol, a conversational blend of Portuguese and Spanish.What I speak is baseball, Larkin said. The ability to communicate is so important, but its reciprocal in the fact that guys from Brazil who want to play in the big leagues [know that] communication is in English. So there is a willingness on both sides to be willing to be able to communicate. That makes it much, much easier.Larkins team certainly is a baseball melting pot, and Triple-A pitcher Andre Rienzo, who has major league service time with the Miami Marlins and Chicago White Sox, said he cherishes the opportunity to represent his country with a diverse group of teammates.I always do my best to be [available] to try and help the team the most I can, Rienzo said. For me, that is the best baseball I play all year. I have fun. I play with friends, and we are family.In addition to Larkin, the coaching staff includes longtime major leaguers LaTroy Hawkins and Steve Finley. The trio has a combined 59 years of playing experience in the majors.Team Brazil celebrated its greatest triumph in September 2012, defeating a favored Panama team twice in Panamas home stadium to earn a spot in the 2013 WBC. Larkin was also the coach of that team, and he sees the achievement as a landmark moment for his program.That was fantastic, Larkin said. It was kind of a culmination of the years prior, putting together the program down in Brazil and seeing some of the challenges and overcoming some of the hurdles. ... I just cant stop smiling because to see some of those guys and see how theyre received and respected [at home in Brazil] is a very positive, positive thing.Brazil subsequently went winless in pool play at the 2013 WBC, which relegated the team back to the qualifying round. Still, the bar has been raised, and Team Brazil badly wants to get back to the WBC main draw in 2017.Were here to compete, and we always expect to win, said shortstop Leonardo Reginatto, who played at Triple-A in the Minnesota Twins organization this season. We want to go to Korea.Brazil is home to the worlds largest foreign population of Japanese people, so its no surprise that its baseball history has a heavy Japanese influence. It was Japanese immigrants who introduced the sport to Brazil in 1916.This year, we complete 100 years of baseball history in Brazil, bench coach Mitsuyoshi Sato said through an interpreter. There were highs and lows during those 100 years. It wasnt just a steady [growth]. In the beginning, it was a recreational activity for the immigrants from Japan. They came to Brazil, and in their free time, they played baseball.Sato joined the national program before the 1983 Pan-American games and never left. Now hes an institution in Brazilian baseball. Born in Japan, he immigrated to Brazil as a child. He has three sons involved with the team and all are Brazil natives. Estevao Sato is the vice president of Brazils baseball federation. Renan Sato is the first-base coach, and Reinaldo Sato is an infielder on the current team.The Bichette family is much newer to the Brazilian team. The American-born sons of former Colorado Rockies slugger Dante Bichette, Dante Jr. and Bo, qualify to play because their mother, Mariana, is a native of Porto Alegre, Brazil. Their maternal grandmother is a lifelong Brazilian, and their grandfather is a native of China who immigrated to Brazil. The whole family is in Brooklyn to attend the qualifier.It means more to my grandma and grandpa than anyone could imagine, Dante Bichette Jr. said.MLB is taking a keen interest in Brazil, hoping to expand its footprint deeper into South America. Larkin, Hawkins and Finley became affiliated with Brazil through MLBs international arm, and MLB has provided coaching to top prospects at the Yakult national training facility, which opened six years ago in Ibiuna.Yan Gomes became the first Brazilian-born MLB player when he broke in with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2012. Since then, two others have followed in his footsteps -- Rienzo debuted with the White Sox in 2013 and Paulo Orlando joined the Kansas City Royals in 2015.Ultimately MLB will measure success in Brazil by participation numbers, which can be boosted by the grass-roots message that soccer isnt the only sport that can provide a financial road out of the impoverished urban favelas.I think kids in Brazil see that this is a real option for them, and that has a lot to do with the success that these guys have had on the field, Larkin said.If Brazil wins the Brooklyn qualifier, it has the opportunity to add two more important pieces to its roster for WBC pool play -- major leaguers Gomes and Orlando. Theres no reason to believe they wont successfully step right in on a team that Rienzo said prides itself on unity.Every time I put on the jersey with the name Brazil on the front, that is the most important [team] in my life, Rienzo said. Ive played for the Marlins and the White Sox, but sorry, that is the most important team. Yeezy Boost 350 Pas Cher Ebay . -- There were so many positives from the Orlando Magics first victory of the season that it was hard for coach Jacque Vaughn to stop praising his players. Basket Adidas Nmd Blanche Femme . A forerunning sled crashed into the worker Thursday at the Sanki Sliding Center. The unidentified worker broke both legs and was airlifted to a nearby hospital. http://www.basketnmdpascher.fr/pas-cher-basket-yeezy-boost-350.html . -- Eastern Kentucky thrives off creating havoc for others. Basket Adidas Springblade Pas Cher . LOUIS -- Attorneys for the St. Adidas Human Race Shop . Datsyuk will miss Tuesdays game against New Jersey and could be sidelined longer, while Cleary will likely miss at least the next three games. Its been an injury-plagued season for Datsyuk, who has suited up for just 39 games. MINNEAPOLIS -- Akeem Springs came off the bench to score 19 points and Nate Mason added 18 for Minnesota, which came from behind in the second half and escaped with a 74-68 victory against NJIT on Tuesday night.Springs and Mason each hit four 3-pointers as Minnesota was 9 of 21 from beyond the arc. Freshman Amir Coffey added 13 points and eight rebounds for the Gophers (8-1), who have equaled their win total from last season.A back-and-forth affair saw 13 lead changes, but NJIT never led by more than three points before Minnesota used a 7-0 run to take a 65-61 lead.This is a scary time of year in the sense of, you know, you get a lot of home games, obviously the names are not as big as some of the other big ones, so youve got to get your guys to understand you can lose to anybody, Gophers coach Richard Pitino said. You see it every single night, and you try to tell your guys over and over again, and sometimes just feeling it is a nice wake up call.Rob Ukawuba led the Highlanders (5-5) with 18 points. NJIT committed just seven turnovers but shot 34.2 percent from the field and was 8 of 32 from 3.Were a program thats on the rise and were past moral victories, to be honest with you, Highlanders coach Brian Kennedy said. This is a game that hurts a lot to lose because we felt if we played the way we know were capable of playing, it was going to be a good game.BIG PICTURENJIT: The Highlanders continued to show they can hang with the Big Ten. Two years ago on the same day, NJIT went on the road and beat No. 17 Michigan. Earlier this season, the Highlanders went to Purdue and had the game within single digits in the final minutes before losing 79-68. NJIT averaged 61.1 per gaame and forced 16.dddddddddddd44 turnovers per game heading into Tuesday. Against Minnesota, the Highlanders shot 73 times and forced 14 turnovers.Minnesota: Pitino tried to beef up the nonconference portion of the schedule. After posting wins against St. Johns, Arkansas and on the road at Vanderbilt, the Gophers stumbled against the Highlanders, who entered the game 267th in the nation in the Ratings Percentage Index.KEY MATCHUPNJIT guard Damon Lynn entered the game as the active scoring leader in Division with 1,927 points. He had scored at least 20 in six of the teams first nine games.Mason took the brunt of the defensive responsibility and helped hold Lynn to 12 points on 5-of-24 shooting.Never really let him get an open look the whole night, Kennedy said of Mason. Damons had a great, great career for us. I wouldnt trade that kid for anybody in the country. He just had an off night shooting tonight.HE SAID ITI think tomorrows really going to help the team; seeing how we respond, seeing if were hungry, Springs said. We got hit in the mouth and its good for us. I think tomorrow is whats really going to see if we respond the way we should respond. If we come in hungry, and like coach says, if we work.UP NEXTNJIT: A road-heavy month continues for the Highlanders, who play at Kent State on Dec. 10. NJIT has just one home game in the month of December.Minnesota: Tuesdays game was the start of five straight nonconference games at home before the Gophers open the Big Ten at home against Michigan State. Minnesota hosts Georgia Southern on Dec. 9. ' ' '