DUNEDIN, Florida – The Yankees roughed up R.A. Dickey on Wednesday afternoon at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium, Dickeys final appearance before he throws his second consecutive Opening Day for the Blue Jays. Dickey met with the media to preview the season, discuss the clubs decision to keep Josh Thole over Erik Kratz and outline his plans for the next few days. He will not travel with the team to Montreal. Here is a transcript of the conversation: QUESTION: R.A., kind of one last chance to work a few things out as opposed to looking at it as a regular season game? DICKEY: Oh yeah. Today was not a day about results for me. I mean, ideally, it would be great to get out of there with some clean innings but what was paramount for me was to exercise my arm in a way where I felt good and I was able to use a large range of velocities and mix in pitches that I would never throw during the regular season maybe to put it in their head that thats another weapon that I might use on them later. So I did exactly what I wanted to do. I got my exercise. I came out of spring feeling good. It was a good spring for me. My velocity is there. Now its just a matter of going to work." QUESTION: Not to say anything bad about Kratz but with Thole now being named your guy, I mean he has more experience with you than pretty much any catcher. Is that a good feeling to know that Tholes going to be your guy this year? DICKEY: Yeah. Look, Kratz did a great job. He improved every time out. There is, obviously, no replacement for experience and I think thats probably the angle that the leadership was coming from in making the decision to stick with Thole. Its important for us to get off to a good start, I think, this year and whatevers going to help us do that, so to take that doubt, even if it was just a miniscule doubt, out of the equation completely is good for me. Its good for everybody. QUESTION: But they didnt ask you personally what you thought? DICKEY: No and I didnt want them to. I wanted them to evaluate it on their own. They have enough baseball people in place to be able to see with their own eyes and make the decision accordingly. Thats a tough position for a teammate to be put in and I didnt want any part of it. QUESTION: Are you comfortable throwing to (Kratz) if that happens later in the season? DICKEY: Absolutely. I thought he did a very good job of improving every time out. QUESTION: Are you as ready as you think you can be for your Opening Day assignment? DICKEY: Yes. I feel prepared. I feel confident, which is great. Last year, I didnt feel very confident simply because I didnt feel as prepared. Im really looking forward to getting started and being able to adjust my schedule this year in a way that really maximizes my preparedness has been great. To have the two games where I pitched eight innings and then to have this taper down outing is great. QUESTION: R.A., what are your plans for the two or three days the team is in Montreal? DICKEY: Well, Im going to be hanging back and staying with Josh. Josh is going to stay back. Well throw a bullpen on Friday and then well probably head over together on Saturday, meet the team and it will become regimen after that. The season will begin and Ill just be working out at the minor league complex until its time to go. QUESTION: At the beginning of camp, you were talking about how hopefully somebody steps up and becomes that surprise guy. Now youve got McGowan and Hutchison making the rotation. Has camp pretty much gone as you expected that, you know, you get some kids that come out and maybe a McGowan that no one expected? DICKEY: Yeah, I dont think it ever goes as you expect it to. Theres always a knuckleball thrown in there, you know, for lack of a better word. This year, you know, some guys have been called on to step up that maybe werent expected to. McGowan probably didnt come into spring training thinking he was going to be a starter. He may be our fourth guy in the rotation and great, hes got the stuff for it and I think he wants to do it. Like I said early on, its going to take one or two guys that you dont really count on when you come into camp stepping up and doing something special and weve got those guys in place right now. QUESTION: R.A., the routine you got back to this spring, was it very similar to what you would have done in New York or were their adjustments? DICKEY: No, its almost exactly like 2011, 2012 for me where I was able to pitch a lot early on and then get to a place where I felt comfortable with my stuff and could just go out there and get my exercise that last outing. Again, this outing in particular for me was not at all about results. It was much more just about conditioning. QUESTION: You had that upper back and neck issue, obviously, last year. Was that something that was even bothering you at the end of camp or was that something that didnt really pop up until later? DICKEY: No, I was having to kind of step on the gas. A lot of times you labour to get to where you want to get to and I was labouring last year. This year, I feel like its just coming pretty naturally for me so thats a big encouragement. QUESTION: Is there an overall different feeling with the team as you get set to break camp compared to last year? There was so much going on, expectations were different. Whats the difference in feeling this year? DICKEY: I think the heartbeat is a lot different this year. I think, one, were very comfortable. If I had a word to describe what this camp has been, its been comfortable. Guys really know that this is a big year for us collectively. Were kind of getting a mulligan this year. Last year, a lot of things went wrong. This year, were pretty much all healthy, were here, weve been here all spring, weve been able to do relationship with one another and now were in a much different place than we were last year and its a much more comfortable place. QUESTION: So does that mean it was uncomfortable a year ago? DICKEY: It was for me, sure. I mean, coming in and out of camp, WBC, people flying all over the place, people getting hurt, yeah it was uncomfortable. I dont think it was what anybody wanted last year but every team has to deal with adversity throughout the season. We just were forced to deal with it very early on. Hopefully, this year, we will not have to do that. QUESTION: Your thoughts on pitching Opening Dday. You got to do it last year but theres got to be something special about taking the mound in that first game? DICKEY: Yeah, Ive worked my whole career to try to be trustworthy. I think thats something Ive always longed to be for a team is a trustworthy component. When you get the ball on Opening Day, the manager is saying, We trust you. Thats a special thing and its not something I take lightly at all and so Im very excited and very honoured to have the honour. QUESTION: Getting back to the health issues, did you do anything differently in the offseason to change your conditioning regimen in response or in a way that might curb the possibility of a recurrence? DICKEY: Yeah, I started earlier. I started earlier in the sense that last year, at the World Baseball Classic, I had to be game-ready a lot earlier in the spring than I did this year because youre competing in, basically what it came down to, an Olympic event. You just had to really step on the gas and my body just wasnt ready for that. This year, I didnt have that. I could really take my time and I did take my time. I started a little bit earlier and I was able to pump the brakes a little bit when I needed to and get to a place where I felt very comfortable taking the next step and then the next step. Youre always trying to eliminate excuses. You dont want to have to say, well I dont feel great, or I have a WBC or we werent together. Now were starting to eliminate all those excuses out there that you could hold on to that could make you less than who you should be. So for me, being prepared and being healthy, those are not excuses for me. L.J. Collier Jersey . The win puts Arsenal four points clear of Everton in fourth place with two games to play in the Premier League, a position which would qualify the club for Europes top competition for the 17th straight year. Seahawks Jerseys Authentic China . The 19-year-old Swiss centre back will initially have to impress in Uniteds reserve side to earn a spot in the first team. Veseli says "Manchester United has a long history of younger players coming through and hopefully I can follow and do the same. http://www.cheapseahawksjerseysauthentic...12th-fan-jersey. Edwin Encarnacion carried the torch for two days at Fenway Park this week; Melky Cabrera and Jose Bautista have had their moments; lately Anthony Gose has contributed. Cody Barton Jersey . Patrik Bartosak turned away 50-of-52 shots for the Rebels (28-26-4), who halted their losing streak at seven games. Trailing 2-1 after 40 minutes of play, Feser forced overtime with his second goal of the game at 5:35 of the third period. Patrick Kerney Jersey . "Rob brings a wealth of coaching experience, having worked both in Canada and overseas in player development," Canada Soccer technical director Tony Fonseca said in a release. AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- Rodney Stuckey pulled the Pistons out of trouble. Stuckey came off the bench to score 26 points and the Detroit reserves helped wipe out a 19-point deficit as the Pistons topped Boston 115-111. Stuckeys free throws with 57 seconds left broke a 111-all tie and gave Detroit the lead for good. "They got us back in with their energy," coach John Loyer said of his reserves, who helped the team end a two-game skid. The Pistons trailed by 19 points in third quarter and were down 95-85 at the start of the fourth before embarking on a 15-4 run that gave them their first lead since early in the game. The teams traded the lead several times before Stuckeys free throws. Bostons Jerryd Bayless tried for a go-ahead shot in the final seconds but his 3-point try rimmed out. Greg Monroe had 21 points and Brandon Jennings added 20 for Detroit, which also got 19 and 20 rebounds from Andre Drummond, who tied the game at 111 on a tip with 1:52 to play. Thirteen of his caroms were on the offensive glass, giving him 402 this season and making him the most prolific single-season offensive rebounder since 2000. "I pride myself on getting offensive rebounds," Drummond said. "Thats how I get my points." Jerryd Bayless had 25 points and Jeff Green added 22 for the Celtics, who lost their eighth straight and have dropped 12 in a row on the road. Bostons lead was 82-63 midway through the third before Detroit rallied produced a handful of runs to keep the lead from getting past 20. Pistons reserve Jonas Jerebko had consecutive 3-pointers midway through the final period to give the Piistons a lead.dddddddddddd Rookie Peyton Siva had all five of his career-best five assists in the fourth. "The reason we won the game was Peyton Siva," Drummond said. "His energy in the fourth quarter was tremendous. He ran the show. The Celtics looked sharp from the field in the first three quarters but had several droughts in the final period. They had just six field goals and 16 points in the fourth and did not score in the final three minutes. "I thought we let off the gas defensively a couple of times and all of a sudden, instead of a 19-point game, its a 13- or 12-point game," Boston coach Brad Stevens said. "We have seen that time and again in this league that those leads go quick." Bostons Jared Sullinger, one of the worst 3-point shooters (.253 per cent) in the league, made his first four tries from behind the arc. He scored 22 points and had 10 rebounds Saturday night in place of the injured Kris Humphries. Rookie Phil Pressey added a career-best 11 assists. Boston guard Rajon Rondo, who had a triple double in Fridays loss to Philadelphia, did not play Saturday. Hes missed the second game of back-to-back nights since he returned to the roster in January. NOTES: Drummonds offensive rebound total is the most since New Jerseys Jayson Williams (443) and Chicagos Dennis Rodman (421) during the 1997-98 season. . Detroits bench outscored Bostons 38-11. . Humphries missed the game after injuring his right patella tendon in the loss to Philadelphia. . The Celtics last road win was Feb. 10 at Milwaukee. . Detroit hadnt won consecutive home games since mid-February. 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