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2B Daily News – Friday, August 23, 2013 (Continued from page 1B) rebuilding as an excuse,'' defensive end Andre Carter said. ''This is just how it's going to be. Let's build off that and build something positive rather than just say it's a rebuilding year. Let's just wipe the slate clean and say this is the year we stop making excuses and let's be accountable, let's focus and study and try to execute the game plan and win.'' The priority under the first two years of McKenzie's stewardship has been to set up the franchise for sustained success instead of a win-atall-costs now philosophy. That led to cutting overpriced and underperforming players in order to build from a solid foundation in the future. That building process won't start in earnest until next offseason when the Raiders will have plenty of draft picks and lots of money to spend as they try to fill in the myriad of holes on the current roster. ''Obviously you have to have a long-term vision for the organization, but at the same you're trying to win, trying to do the best for this football team and give us the best chance this season,'' Allen said. ''It's a delicate balance, but I think everybody goes through that.'' The Raiders hadn't done that in the final years under late owner Al Davis, who pushed the salary cap issues into the future by restructuring contracts in hopes of building one more championship contender. ''I've never seen that high an amount,'' said Andrew Brandt, who managed the salary cap in Green Bay for 10 years when McKenzie was a AP file photo Oakland Raiders General Manager Reggie McKenzie answers questions. personnel executive with the Packers. ''When you have a lot of dead money, that means you have turned course on a lot of decisions, some of them very expensive decisions. It really signals a huge change in culture and philosophy and direction.'' McKenzie immediately wanted to change that process after being hired by Mark Davis in January 2012, looking to utilize the practice that was so successful in Green Bay of ''pay as you go.'' In part because the salary cap situation was more alarming than McKenzie first thought and because the Raiders felt they could contend last season after back-toback 8-8 campaigns, that process took two offseasons instead of one as the GM restructured deals for Palmer and Seymour that added to this year's cap woes. The Raiders will be in better shape next offseason when they are projected to have more than $60 million in cap room even after giving contract extensions to kicker Sebastian Janikowski and long snapper Jon Condo. ''What Reggie inherit- ed requires the patience of a two-year plan,'' Brandt said. ''They are halfway through it.'' There will be plenty of holes to fill as many of the team's top players are eligible to be unrestricted free agents after the season, including running backs Darren McFadden and Marcel Reece, left tackle Jared Veldheer, defensive end Lamarr Houston and safety Charles Woodson. While McKenzie has torn down the roster with only 14 players left from the active squad at the end of the 2011 season, his real test will be how well can he build it back up. He has stressed building through the draft, which was a major problem in Davis' final years as the team repeatedly missed on top 10 picks with just one first-rounder remaining from Davis' final 11 drafts. But building a championship roster is much more difficult than tearing down a mediocre one and McKenzie has not yet shown he has the magic touch in the draft. Because of previous moves, the Raiders did not pick until 95th overall in 2012. Despite that, the class has still underachieved with none of the six players projected to start this year. The jury is still out on this year's class. Firstround pick D.J. Hayden has been limited all summer following a near-fatal practice collision in college that scared some teams off. Second-round offensive tackle Menelik Watson has only briefly been on the practice field one day all camp as he nurses a calf injury. Fourth-round quarterback Tyler Wilson, expected to compete for the starting job, has fallen to fourth string. ''I want to see some improvement, see things moving in the right direction,'' McKenzie said. ''But I make no excuses for the new systems and all that. That's not an excuse. We can't do that. ... We didn't have real good football on a consistent basis. We had some good plays. But you know when you see a good football team. Ultimately wins and losses, no matter how you count it, that counts.'' Braun finally admits drug use in 2011 (AP) — A month after acknowledging only that he made "mistakes," Ryan Braun admitted taking performance-enhancing drugs during his NL MVP season of 2011. The suspended Milwaukee slugger said he took a cream and a lozenge containing banned substances while rehabilitating an injury. "It was a huge mistake for which I am deeply ashamed and I compounded the situation by not admitting my mistakes immediately," Braun said in a statement released by the Brewers. Braun tested positive for elevated testosterone in October 2011, but his 50-game suspension was overturned when an arbitrator ruled that the urine sample was mishandled. While Braun took full responsibility for his actions and apologized to the collector of the urine sample, teammates and Commissioner Bud Selig among others, the statement still leaves several key questions unanswered. Among them: Who gave Braun the PEDs and where did they come from? What was the exact substance in the products? Did he know the cream and lozenge were tainted at the time he took them? Last month Braun accepted a 65-game suspension resulting from Major League Baseball's investigation of the now-closed Biogenesis of America anti-aging clinic, which was accused of providing banned substances to players.. "By coming forward when I did and waiving my right to appeal any sanctions that were going to be imposed, I knew I was making the correct decision and taking the first step in the 49ERS (Continued from page 1B) has completed 6 of 13 passes for 76 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions while also getting sacked once. ''Definitely, it's a factor,'' Harbaugh said of transitioning to a new team. ''I don't Oakland Coliseum constantly ask him about the connection, and Doolittle (Continued from page 1B) had his own interest in things a little bit differ- the family history, too. ently and you really ''What's special is that appreciate the opportuni- people of his generation ties you have and some of are interested in history these things other people and their ancestry and all do for you getting little or the accomplishments that no recognition for it.'' their relatives made, The military life especially in times of indeed hits close to home stress,'' Fish said. ''We for the pitcher, a first- really have it really good round draft pick by the right now and it's real A's in 2007 who made a easy to forget about all rapid rise through the the people who sacrificed organization after trans- to get us here. It's just forming himself from really special. That's the injury-prone first base- reason I do this, is to help man to reliable reliever in pass those values on to less than a year. He is 4-5 the next generation. It with a 3.67 ERA this sea- really is neat that he son. cares, comes here and Doolittle's father, learns a little bit more.'' Rory, is retired Air Force Sean Doolittle tried and teaches high school ROTC in New Jersey. He going up from his family was deployed to the Mid- tree. He tried starting dle East shortly after with Jimmy Doolittle and Sept. 11. His stepmother, going down the tree. He April, is active duty Air used the ancestry sites National Guard stationed online to no avail. Evenat McGuire Air Force tually, the pitcher connected with a Doolittle Base in New Jersey. While the Hornet CV- genealogist who was able 8 was sunk at the Battle to ''connect the dots'' of the Santa Cruz Islands with the Alameda-born only six months after the Jimmy Doolittle. He Doolittle Raid on Tokyo, attended the University Sean Doolittle still got an of California in Berkeley. idea of how things went ''It's one of those on the first ship during things I always kind of his visit to USS Hornet wondered,'' Doolittle CV-12 on historic Alame- said. ''I had some down da Point along San Fran- time. It was mainly just cisco Bay. curiosity and I had a ''It all happened right bunch of people last year here,'' Bob Fish, on the around the Coliseum ask museum's Board of me if I was related to Trustees, explained to the him, how I was related to pitcher. ''Doolittle was him. They kind of conpossibly the best pilot of nected the dots with the his day. He changed the street and my last name. I whole industry.'' wanted to be able to tell ''That's crazy,'' Sean them really what the relaDoolittle said. ''This is tionship was, not, 'I think amazing.'' he's a distant uncle.' I The original Hornet wanted to be able to nail departed for its long jour- it down. Being here, it's ney through the Pacific really cool.'' from Naval Air Station Handwritten on Alameda, where a tribute to Doolittle was held last Doolittle's cleats and year to commemorate the under the brim of his cap 70th anniversary of the are his version of a tribdaring Doolittle Raid. On ute to Jimmy Doolittle Monday, Sean Doolittle and the raid that did so was presented a laminat- much to boost American ed poster from the event. morale during World War Fish and other sup- II. porters of the museum ''The motto on the are campaigning to get Doolittle Raiders patch the ''Doolittle Tokyo that they wore, it's Raiders'' awarded with a French, but it translates Congressional Gold into English as 'Forever Medal. Into Danger,''' Sean Sean Doolittle's Doolittle said. ''It's pretresearch project began in ty cool. Obviously, the earnest during spring type of danger I come training with a photo of into is a little bit different the Doolittle Raiders than they had to deal patch, a constant with. To have it be part of reminder to Sean Doolit- your family history and tle on his phone to finally then to be able to relate it figure out at last just how to what you're doing is he is related to Jimmy pretty sweet.'' Doolittle. People around the GEN YEAR 2 right direction. It was important to me to begin my suspension immediately to minimize the burden on everyone I had so negatively affected — my teammates, the entire Brewers organization, the fans and all of MLB." Braun was the first of 14 players disciplined this year as a result of the Biogenesis probe. Twelve accepted 50-game penalties, including a trio of All-Stars: Texas outfielder Nelson Cruz, Detroit shortstop Jhonny Peralta and San Diego shortstop Everth Cabrera. Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez is appealing his 211game penalty, assessed for violations of the drug program and labor contract. In his initial meeting with MLB investigators to discuss Biogenesis, Braun declined to answer questions. But in the statement, he said he initiated a second session with MLB where he admitted his guilt and began discussing a penalty. "After my interview with MLB in late June of this year, I came to the realization that it was time to come to grips with the truth," he said. "I was never presented with baseball's evidence against me, but I didn't need to be, because I knew what I had done." Braun's urine tested positive for elevated testosterone from a sample collected on Saturday, Oct. 1, 2011, after Milwaukee's NL division series opener against Arizona. The drug collector, Dino Laurenzi Jr., stored the samples from Braun and two other players at home and dropped them off at a Federal Express office on Monday, rather than send them immediately, as specified in baseball's drug collection rules. The players' association know if it's a percentage that you're looking for. Is it a percentage you're looking for or how much? It's definitely a factor, and the good improvement this week, he's working at it very hard, it means a lot to him and it does to us, too. We're coaching him up the best we can and we'll keep striving for improvement each day.'' argued that the specimen was handled improperly, and arbitrator Shyam Das overturned the discipline on Feb. 23 last year. During a news conference the following day on the field at Milwaukee's spring training stadium in Phoenix, Braun proclaimed he had been vindicated and afterward his lawyer criticized Laurenzi when he defended himself. "I have no one to blame but myself. I know that over the last year and a half I made some serious mistakes, both in the information I failed to share during my arbitration hearing and the comments I made to the press afterwards," Braun said. "I have disappointed the people closest to me — the ones who fought for me because they truly believed me all along. I kept the truth from everyone. For a long time, I was in denial and convinced myself that I had not done anything wrong." After he accepted his suspension on July 22 — 50 games for the drug infraction and 15 games for his conduct at the time of the grievance — Braun was heavily criticized by players around the major leagues. "I thought this whole thing has been despicable on his part," Detroit pitcher Max Scherzer said. "When he did get caught, he never came clean. He tried to question the ability of the collector when he was caught red-handed. So that's why the whole Braunsituation, there is so much player outrage toward him." But on Thursday, San Francisco Giants manager Bruce Bochy said it's time to get past this. "To me, it doesn't really matter what they say. Let's lay down the penalties and move on," he said. "I hope they continue to catch them." San Francisco waived wideout Ricardo Lockette, who worked out with Kaepernick in Atlanta for a stretch this offseason along with departed A.J. Jenkins. Also Thursday, when the players had a scheduled day off, San Francisco placed safety Darcel McBath on season-ending injured reserve and claimed line- backer Joe Holland off waivers from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Holland originally signed with San Francisco last season as an undrafted free agent before being cut Aug. 31 ahead of the season. McBath was a regular on special teams last season for the NFC champion Niners, appearing in all 16 games. MLB MLB National League West Division American League West Division Texas A's Seattle Angels Houston East Division W 74 71 59 55 41 L 53 55 67 71 85 Pct GB .583 — .563 2.5 .468 14.5 .437 18.5 .325 32.5 Dodgers Arizona Colorado Padres GIANTS East Division W 75 65 59 57 56 L 52 61 69 70 70 Pct .591 .516 .461 .449 .444 GB — 9.5 16.5 18 18.5 W L Pct GB Boston 75 54 .581 — Tampa Bay 72 53 .576 1 Baltimore 68 58 .540 5.5 New York 68 59 .535 6 Toronto 57 71 .445 17.5 Central Division W L Pct GB Detroit 74 53 .583 — Cleveland 69 58 .543 5 Kansas City 64 61 .512 9 Minnesota 56 70 .444 17.5 Chicago 51 74 .408 22 —————————————————— Thursday's results Minnesota 7, Detroit 6 N.Y. Yankees 5, Toronto 3 Chicago White Sox at Kansas City, late W L Pct GB Atlanta 77 49 .611 — Washington 63 64 .496 14.5 New York 58 67 .464 18.5 Philadelphia 56 70 .444 21 Miami 48 78 .381 29 Central Division W L Pct GB Pittsburgh 74 52 .587 — St. Louis 73 53 .579 1 Cincinnati 73 55 .570 2 Milwaukee 55 72 .433 19.5 Chicago 54 73 .425 20.5 —————————————————— Thursday's results Pittsburgh at San Francisco, late Cincinnati 2, Arizona 1 L.A. Dodgers 6, Miami 0 Washington 5, Chi. Cubs 4, 13 innings Atlanta at St. Louis, late Colorado at Philadelphia, late Today's games Oakland (Straily 6-7) at Baltimore (B.Norris 9-10), 4:05 p.m. Minnesota (Deduno 7-7) at Cleveland (U.Jimenez 9-7), 4:05 p.m. Detroit (Fister 10-6) at N.Y. Mets (Matsuzaka 0-0), 4:10 p.m. N.Y. Yankees (Kuroda 11-8) at Tampa Bay (Archer 6-5), 4:10 p.m. Texas (M.Perez 6-3) at Chi. White Sox (Sale 9-11), 5:10 p.m. Toronto (Redmond 1-1) at Houston (Lyles 5-6), 5:10 p.m. Washington (G.Gonzalez 7-6) at Kansas City (B.Chen 5-1), 5:10 p.m. Boston (Lackey 8-10) at L.A. Dodgers (Nolasco 9-9), 7:10 p.m. L.A. Angels (Richards 3-5) at Seattle (F.Hernandez 12-6), 7:10 p.m. Today's games Pittsburgh (Morton 4-3) at San Fran. (Bumgarner 11-7), 7:15 p.m. Arizona (Miley 9-8) at Philadelphia (Hamels 5-13), 4:05 p.m. Colorado (Chacin 11-7) at Miami (Koehler 3-8), 4:10 p.m. Detroit (Fister 10-6) at N.Y. Mets (Matsuzaka 0-0), 4:10 p.m. Milwaukee (Gallardo 9-9) at Cincinnati (H.Bailey 8-10), 4:10 p.m. Washington (G.Gonzalez 7-6) at Kansas City (B.Chen 5-1), 5:10 p.m. Atlanta (Medlen 10-11) at St. Louis (Wainwright 14-7), 5:15 p.m. Boston (Lackey 8-10) at L.A. Dodgers (Nolasco 9-9), 7:10 p.m. Chicago Cubs (E.Jackson 7-13) at San Diego (Volquez 9-10), 7:10 p.m. Saturday's games Oakland at Baltimore, 1:05 p.m. Boston at L.A. Dodgers, 1:05 p.m. Detroit at N.Y. Mets, 1:05 p.m. Minnesota at Cleveland, 4:05 p.m. N.Y. Yankees at Tampa Bay, 4:10 p.m. Texas at Chicago White Sox, 4:10 p.m. Toronto at Houston, 4:10 p.m. Washington at Kansas City, 4:10 p.m. L.A. Angels at Seattle, 6:10 p.m. Saturday's games Pittsburgh at San Francisco, 6:05 p.m. Boston at L.A. Dodgers, 1:05 p.m. Detroit at N.Y. Mets, 1:05 p.m. Arizona at Philadelphia, 4:05 p.m. Colorado at Miami, 4:10 p.m. Milwaukee at Cincinnati, 4:10 p.m. Washington at Kansas City, 4:10 p.m. Atlanta at St. Louis, 4:15 p.m. Chicago Cubs at San Diego, 5:40 p.m. Sunday's games Oakland at Baltimore, 10:35 a.m. Minnesota at Cleveland, 10:05 a.m. Detroit at N.Y. Mets, 10:10 a.m. N.Y. Yankees at Tampa Bay, 10:40 a.m. Texas at Chicago White Sox, 11:10 a.m. Toronto at Houston, 11:10 a.m. Washington at Kansas City, 11:10 a.m. L.A. Angels at Seattle, 1:10 p.m. Boston at L.A. Dodgers, 5:05 p.m. Sunday's games Pittsburgh at San Francisco, 1:05 p.m. Colorado at Miami, 10:10 a.m. Detroit at N.Y. Mets, 10:10 a.m. Milwaukee at Cincinnati, 10:10 a.m. Arizona at Philadelphia, 10:35 a.m. Washington at Kansas City, 11:10 a.m. Atlanta at St. Louis, 11:15 a.m. Chicago Cubs at San Diego, 1:10 p.m. Boston at L.A. Dodgers, 5:05 p.m.