TORONTO – The visitors clubhouse at Fenway Park is a difficult place to hide. Tim Beckham Jersey . Its cozy confines create an awkward dynamic in which players navigate their way around pillars, couches and assembled media. Its also difficult for coaches and their protégés to find a place to chat away from the watchful eyes of onlookers. Such was the case last Wednesday when young outfielder Kevin Pillar was spotted sitting with hitting coach Kevin Seitzer at the latters cramped locker stall. The discussion lasted at least 20 minutes. It was underway when the media horde went into John Gibbons office for the daily pregame briefing and hadnt finished by the time the manager had concluded his daily séance. At the time, Pillar was hitting .143 since his recall from Triple-A Buffalo. He was jumpy in the batters box and routinely going after bad pitches out of the strike zone. "I got in the cage with him, I wanted to talk to him," Pillar told TSN.ca. "I think I had two at-bats against (Felix) Doubront, someone I felt comfortable against, struck out, grounded out and those were my only two at-bats of the game and I was pretty upset that night. I knew I wanted to talk to him." Seitzer approached Pillar in the batting cage and asked him how things were going. Pillar answered truthfully and Seitzer told the 25-year-old to find him later that afternoon. Pillar went to his locker and jotted down a series of notes he wanted to pass on to his coach. "Mostly about how maybe my struggles last year carried over here a little bit," said Pillar. "When I got called up this time I felt super comfortable. I was hitting real well in Triple-A. It was that I was hitting well. I just felt comfortable; I was confident and I knew I was ready to come up here this time. I felt like I was starting that downward spiral again of being up here and feeling bad for myself and not understanding why Im not performing and why Im changing things I did down there just because Im in the big leagues." The discussion that ensued revolved around Pillars approach. He needed to get back to being aggressive early in the count. If he got the pitch he was looking for, give it a rip. Seitzer still holds the piece of paper Pillar gave him. "He told me at some point down the road were going to go back and look at it and well be able to tear it up," said Pillar. "Its been about a week since then. Hopefully its in the past." On the day after the sit down Pillar started as the Jays beat Red Sox ace Jon Lester by a score of 7-2. He went 3-for-4 with a run scored. Including that game, hes 7-for-13 (.538) with two doubles in five games. "When Im ready to hit from pitch one then I start getting my timing down, I start seeing the fastball, I start recognizing the breaking balls that are up in the zone, the good ones to hit," said Pillar. "When Im passive up there is when I start second-guessing, Im not really seeing the ball, Im swinging before I recognize what pitch it is." Pillar has been the right-handed half of an effective platoon with Anthony Gose. The two have provided offence and plus-defence in the absence of Colby Rasmus, whos been on the disabled list since May 13 with right hamstring tightness. NAVARRO PLAYING IN PAIN Dioner Navarro was back in the starting lineup less than 24 hours after suffering a bruised left index finger. He was hurt in the fifth inning of Tuesday nights win over the Rays when Jose Molinas bat smacked Navarros hand on a follow through. "I missed a few days with the quad thing and I cant be sitting here and watching the game," said Navarro. "I tested it this morning and I feel good enough and I let them know I was ready to play today." Navarro keeps a bat in his apartment and took some dry swings before coming to the ballpark. He wore a splint for the remainder of Tuesdays game, which forced him to swing the bat with the injured finger straightened out. "I just love to play, man," said Navarro. "I love to play. I kind of put myself in the situation where I want to be again, you know playing after being a back up the last three years and now Ive got this opportunity and its been such a wonderful experience being around these guys." SETBACK FOR SANTOS? Reliever Sergio Santos, on the disabled list since May 10 with a right forearm strain, wont throw from flat ground again until possibly Sunday after experiencing a problem during his Tuesday session. Santos and his skipper describe the issue differently. "It got a little tender," said manager John Gibbons. "So we backed him off a bit. Thats a little bit of a setback." "I wouldnt call it a big, big setback," said Santos. "When I got out to 110 (feet) just stepping on it a little bit, didnt hurt, wasnt painful, just backing off for a day, resting it and then throwing again." JANSSEN GETS NIGHT OFF Closer Casey Janssen has appeared in nine games in 17 days since his return from a strained oblique. He missed most of spring training with stiffness in the back of his pitching shoulder and then injured his oblique on March 28 in Montreal. With the Blue Jays winning almost everyday, hes been called upon more than expected and was feeling sore on Wednesday morning. He wasnt available for Wednesday nights game. "Just sore, general soreness," said Janssen. "Got back and ran the gauntlet a little bit here. Just going to try to steal a day here; hopefully they dont need it and anyway the guys down there can do my job anyway." This isnt the first time Janssen has been unavailable since his return. He appeared in back to back games on May 20-21 and wouldnt have pitched under any circumstance on May 22. He then appeared in the game on May 23 and wasnt available on May 24. Janssen is converted each of the eight save opportunities hes had this season. Anthony Santander Jersey ." One game is checked off, 15 remain and the next one to get crossed out could come Tuesday night when the defending champion Heat host the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference playoff series. Jonathan Schoop Jersey . Mitchell first announced on Twitter that he has signed with the Steelers and his agent Brian Hamilton confirmed the signing to The Associated Press. Financial terms were not released. The Steelers have not announced the addition of Mitchell. http://www.theoriolesteamshop.com/Orioles-Chance-Sisco-Kids-Jersey/ . “The shootout, theres nothing wrong with it, I think its an exciting part of the game but its just one small aspect,” said Chicago Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman. “Its a skill exhibition. If you can get it back closer to regular hockey and have it decided that way; that would be my preference.” “I dont think its a knock on the shootout, I think more of the managers would like to see it end in overtime,” added Washington Capitals GM George McPhee.The night sky was so bright it could have been during the day. Its sharpness matched my mind. This was no night to go to sleep. The first snowfall of winter came hard and while most of my neighbours would wake up to it I hadnt slept yet. It was 3am and the World Cup draw was today. The office Christmas party had wrapped up an hour earlier and my drive home needed to be done without tired eyes. Thankfully, I was too excited to be tired. Eight months earlier I had won the World Cup lottery. Well, a pair of tickets to three matches in Germany for the 2006 World Cup, to be precise. C1 vs C3, E2 vs E4, and G2 vs G4 were about to mean so much more. Letters would turn into teams and with it the evolution of a true World Cup would be born. I would advise every fan of this sport to be involved in a World Cup lottery once in their life. There is a true uniqueness to it, a special feeling of anticipation knowing you will be parachuted amongst yet to be determined cultures to watch their teams play on the greatest stage of all. That is what millions of people will be thinking this Thursday night ahead of the draw in Brazil on Friday. If you are not one of the lucky ones to have tickets to the event there are still reasons to be very excited ahead of the draw with many things to look out for. With that in mind here are five things for you to watch out for during Fridays draw in Brazil. Location, location, location “Im more concerned by the venues than by the teams we draw,” said England boss Roy Hodgson on Monday. “There are venues in Brazil that will be harder to play in than others.” This a World Cup for the country of Brazil and organizers have ensured the travelling circus goes all over the vast land. For the third straight World Cup, one country is hosting the event but it will feel like more. In 2006, the distance between the most northern host city to the furthest southern host city (Munich to Hamburg) was less than 800 km, or eight hours in a car. In 2010 that distance (Polokwane to Cape Town) was 1,700 km. In Brazil the distance between Manaus in the Amazon northern region of Brazil to the southern city of Porto Alegre is a staggering 4,700 km. It is the equivalent of taking a trip from northern England to southern Turkey. With that comes massive climate differences. Twelve different cities will host games and many teams on Friday will be desperate to be given games away from the tropical North East cities of Fortaleza, Natal, Recife and Salvador. Five of the eight seeded teams will play games in this region including G1 who will play all three matches in the very hot and humid territory where temperatures will be in the high 20s. The four seeded European teams – Spain, Germany, Switzerland and Belgium – will be desperate to avoid G1 and hope to get one of C1, F1, or H1 to stay away from the intense heat, where many games are expected to start in the afternoon. For the 24 teams not seeded, there are exactly one third of the slots available for them to hit that gives them favourable draws with the climate– B3, B4, E2, E4, F4, H2, H3, and H4. The true premium slots to hit, particularly for European teams, are in fact B4, E4 and H2. These are the three spots Hodgson will be dreaming about on Thursday night as they will become the three teams who get to play two out of their three group games in the two southern cities of Porto Alegre and Curitiba, where average temperature is a very comfortable 19 degrees. Remember, H stands for happy when it comes to teams desperate to avoid the hot climate. It is the only group that doesnt play a single game in one of the five northern cities. The slots teams will be desperate to avoid, which include at least two games in the sticky North, are A2, A3, A4, C2, C3, C4, D2, D4, G2, G3 and G4. A3, D4, and G4 are officially the three slots that would give Hodgson and his fellow managers nightmares as all three games are played in the North. A3 not only has to do this but also must play Brazil! Being drawn with a weaker seed If things do not go well climate-wise for Hodgson and England they will certainly be hoping to get Switzerland or Belgium. There has been a lot written as to why these countries are seeded over teams liike Italy and Netherlands. Darren ODay Jersey. This has nothing to do with FIFA bias. It is based around their world rankings and teams who missed out on being seeded this time should do better at arranging more competitive games next time in the build up to a World Cup draw. However, no one will tell you that Switzerland and Belgium are better than the Italians and, maybe, the Dutch. Currently they are teams everyone wants to be drawn against in Brazil. The last time a World Cup winner didnt win their group was 1982. With four teams from South America along with Germany and Spain seeded, the other two represent a real chance at giving other teams an opportunity to win the group. Since the World Cup went to 32 teams in 1998, 23 of the 32 seeded teams have won their group but in each of the last three World Cups at least two of the seeds havent. Two talented but young European sides playing in South America look the likeliest seeds this time around to not win their group. Avoiding Braaaaaa-Zill Brazils rapid rise from a team the nation was disgusted with to World Cup favourites has been remarkable. The pressure on Neymar and his mates will be incredible but will only intensify as the tournament goes on. In the group stages the team will play without fear, determined to show the world what they can do, and that is very dangerous for any opponent drawn in group A. Not only is group A a difficult one for climate reasons, it is also a group with a host nation that absolutely will qualify for the last 16, leaving the three drawn into it fighting for one spot. Group A is a group teams will want to avoid. The position of the seeded teams The 24 non-seeded teams are not the only ones who will look to stay away from the hosts. The assigning of groups for the seeds will be the first thing that takes place during the draw and it happens fast. It is also the part of the draw that most just ignore, wanting for the other teams to be drawn as quickly as possible. Dont make that mistake. The last non-seeded team to win the World Cup was Argentina in 1986. Most of these seeds demand your attention as true World Cup contenders and where they are placed in the tournament-style bracket after the groups is crucial. For example, group winners of B, D, F and H go on the opposite side of the draw to the winners of group A, likely Brazil. Teams like Uruguay, Argentina, Spain, and Germany will certainly be looking to get in one of those groups to stay away from Brazil until the final, and if they dont the stories of potential Uruguay or Argentina vs Brazil matchups will be written well before a ball is kicked. Seeded in F or H is ideal for a European powerhouse like Spain or Germany because they would avoid Brazil and the heat. Why Brazil would want to be given a stern test from a team like England or Portugal As much as no one will want to play them, Brazil will be better off if a good team is placed in their group. It may look great to be handed three easy games but past World Cups have shown this is not good for a team when it comes to the knock-out games. Spain was tested early in 2010 with a loss to Switzerland, while other teams like Argentina and Brazil cruised in their groups only to suffer later. Like Spain in 2006, Italy had a very competitive group while Brazils game against Turkey in 2002 helped them significantly later in the tournament. France in 1998 cruised in their group but were very poor in their last 16, taking 113 minutes to score against Paraguay. From the 24 teams not seeded, Brazil would likely get one team from Africa and one team from either CONCACAF or Asia that they wouldnt struggle with, with one preferably being given A2 to take the pressure off Brazil in the opening match. That leaves Europe as being the likely confederation that could give Brazil a team that would provide the host nation with a game that could test them, although Mexicos style of play against South American teams could do that if they get their acts together. Italy and perhaps the Dutch would be considered a little too strong for Brazil at that stage but a game against Portugal or England would be ideal for the host nation. And if they are given A3 and forced to play all of their games in the heat, even better. ' ' '