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2B – Daily News – Thursday, April 22, 2010 Players see sights, GMs ponder Ellis goes on DL NEW YORK (AP) — Sam Brad- ford chucked footballs to Pop Warner players. Ndamukong Suh posed for dozens of cameras. Gerald McCoy surveyed the Central Park landscape. While the top prospects enjoyed New York on Wednesday, general managers and personnel directors throughout the NFL pondered the most unique draft in years. Not only is this year’s crop stocked with players such as Nebraska defen- sive tackle Suh, Oklahoma quarter- back Bradford and Sooners teammate Gerald McCoy, but the three-day setup is new. The draft kicks off Thursday night in prime-time for the first time. The second and third rounds are Friday night, with the final four rounds on Saturday. Bradford, Suh and McCoy figure to go 1-2-3 overall. No wonder they were all smiles during a variety of league-staged events. ‘‘It’s fun and it’s important,’’ Suh said as he watched dozens of youth players scramble around a makeshift artificial turf field. The real scramble begins at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, and the All-American considered the best defensive tackle coming out of college in more than a decade has no clue where he will land. ‘‘I have no idea what’s going to happen,’’ he said. ‘‘I haven’t had any- one tell me that they want to draft me. There could be a lot of trades. There could be someone a team really wants.’’ They pretty much all want Suh. And Bradford. And McCoy. ‘‘I hope so,’’ McCoy said. ‘‘If I walk into the room having no idea, my heart’s going to be going,’’ 2008 Heisman Trophy winner Brad- ford admitted. Bradford is projected to go No. 1 to St. Louis, which released incumbent Marc Bulger and comes off a 1-15 season in which it managed all of 175 points. ‘‘I hope Sam goes one,’’ McCoy said. ‘‘That’s a statement you can write down and pencil it in. I hope Sam goes one. Sam is my boy.’’ And then McCoy can sack him when they meet in the pros? ‘‘After he gets picked, then I’m (going to) kill him. That’s how it goes.’’ Oklahoma tackle Trent Williams, another likely high pick, also believes Bradford is the wise choice for the Rams. ‘‘Sam? You know, the question is what doesn’t he do well,’’ Williams said. ‘‘I’m his teammate and I’ve real- ly rarely seen a mistake out of Sam.’’ Making a mistake in the first round of a draft can damage a franchise for years. This time, though, the collec- tion of talent is so deep that many players ranked by some teams as opening-round quality could be on the (AP) — Back when the Thunder were 3-29 last sea- son, the notion of the play- offs coming to Oklahoma City any time soon was unimaginable. But it was that same mis- erable stretch that made gen- eral manager Sam Presti confident that coach Scott Brooks was the right man to lead his team into the future. While Oklahoma City struggled to the worst start in the NBA, Presti was impressed by the way Brooks stayed the course and never tried to force immediate changes in hopes of making the Thunder bet- ter. He has now taken the youngest roster in the league and turned the team into a 50-game winner and a play- off team just one season after the horrendous start. For that best-in-the NBA turnaround, Brooks was rec- ognized Wednesday as the NBA’s coach of the year. He received 71 of 123 first- place votes and 480 points to finish ahead of Milwau- kee’s Scott Skiles (26 first- place votes, 313 points) and Portland’s Nate McMillan (9, 107). ‘‘He’s someone that I think is incredibly consistent as a person. He is unaffected through adversities and also through successes, and I think that’s an important quality we want to have as we move forward,’’ Presti said. board Friday. And with as many as 18 hours to analyze them even more closely, the second round just might be wild. Suppose quarterbacks Colt McCoy and Tim Tebow, consummate winners in college, are around. Or Oklahoma State wide receiver Dez Bryant, whose off-field issues could scare away suitors on Thursday. Or a slew of running backs, from Jonathan Dwyer of Georgia Tech to Jahvid Best of Cal to Ryan Mathews of Fresno State to Toby Gerhart of Stanford. It all could lead to lots of trades — or paralysis by analysis. ‘‘Again, because this is a strong draft and there are some very good picks, we feel, in that 19 to 32 area as well as definitely into the second and third round, it’s definitely worthy of discussion,’’ Falcons GM Thomas Dimitroff said of moving up or down. ‘‘It’s a slow process,’’ new Bills GM Buddy Nix said of rebuilding through the draft. ‘‘We’ve got nine picks. We need to hit on all nine, and that’s hard to do sometimes. We’ve got holes to fill.’’ Filling holes this year could be eas- ier than in most in such a loaded draft. ‘‘Every team is going to improve by next weekend,’’ Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. ‘‘Whatever teams draft and whatever moves they make they will be a better team than they were right now. That’s obvious.’’ Thunder’s Brooks named NBAcoach of the year OKLAHOMA CITY Even as he was receiving a statue of Red Auerbach, Brooks faced another daunt- ing turnaround: an 0-2 deficit in the Thunder’s best- of-seven series against the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers, led by Kobe Bryant and coach Phil Jackson. Game 3 is Thursday night in Oklahoma City. ‘‘This is the first-time playoff experience for a lot of us, including myself, and you’re playing against one of the best coaches of all sports, one of the best play- ers ever and a team that has 1,000 (games of) playoff experience to ours,’’ Brooks said. ‘‘But you learn from playing against the best players and the best teams, and we’re going to keep fighting and figuring out ways to beat them.’’ While the Thunder didn’t immediately start winning after Brooks took over for the fired P.J. Carlesimo, there were signs of progress. His decision to move Kevin Durant from shooting guard to small forward increased his production, and the addi- tion of Thabo Sefolosha and Nenad Krstic plus defen- sive-minded assistant Ron Adams started to pay divi- dends, too. ‘‘We were improved once he took over as the coach. We still lost some games that were tough but we were learning and we were getting better each day in practice,’’ said Durant, who developed into the NBA’s youngest scoring champion this season. ‘‘I knew if we continued to do that and not come in and just say, ‘Our season’s done. Ain’t no need to prac- tice. Ain’t no need to work hard.’ We still came in and worked every day, and he made sure he brought it every day as a coach.’’ Brooks can sound like a broken record at times, harping on Oklahoma City’s need to constantly improve every day, but it’s exactly the tune that Presti wants to hear. It’s why he gave Brooks a multi-year contract at the end of last season even though the Thunder had only gone 22-47 under his leadership. Of the eight NBA interim coaches with losing records over the past three seasons, only Brooks and Toronto’s Jay Triano got a chance to come back for another try. That patience paid off with a 27-win turnaround that brought the franchise its first playoff appearance since 2004-05 in Seattle. Making the improve- ment even more unbeliev- able is that it came without a significant free agent sign- ing. Instead, it’s primarily the same group of players as last season plus rookies James Harden, Serge Ibaka and Eric Maynor. ‘‘They’re coachable. I’ve been around young, talent- ed, non-coachable players. I’ve been around veteran, talented, non-coachable players,’’ Brooks said. ‘‘No matter what you do, sooner or later — even if a coach comes in that’s able to con- nect with them — if that’s who they are, they’re going to go back to it.’’ Forward Nick Collison, who has been with the fran- chise longer than any cur- rent player, said Brooks’ strength is that he’s ‘‘not a guy that likes to just hear himself speak.’’ Brooks played 11 sea- sons in the NBA. Scoreboard MLB West Division A’s Angels Seattle Texas East Division WL Pct GB New York 10 3 .769 — Tampa Bay 11 4 .733 — Toronto 9 7 .563 2.5 Boston 6 9 .400 5 Baltimore 2 13 .133 9 Central Division Minnesota 11 4 .733 — Detroit WL Pct GB 7 7 .500 3.5 Cleveland 6 8 .429 4.5 Kansas City 6 9 .400 5 Chicago 5 10 .333 6 ——— Wednesday’s results New York at Oakland, late Boston 8, Texas 7, 12 innings Kansas City 4, Toronto 3, 10 innings Minnesota 6, Cleveland 0 Tampa Bay 12, Chicago 0 Baltimore at Seattle, late Detroit at Los Angeles, late Today’s games New York (Sabathia 2-0) at Oakland (Braden 2-0),12:35 p.m.,CSNCA Cleveland (Talbot 1-1) at Minnesota (S.Baker 2-1), 10:10 a.m. Texas (C.Wilson 0-1) at Boston (Buchholz 1-1), 4:10 p.m. Tampa Bay (J.Shields 1-0) at Chicago (Peavy 0-0), 5:10 p.m. Detroit (Verlander 0-1) at Los Angeles (Saunders 1-2), 7:05 p.m. Tuesday’s late results New York 7, Oakland 3 Los Angeles 6, Detroit 5 Seattle 3, Baltimore 1 West Division Padres National League WL Pct GB 9 6 .600 — GIANTS 87 .533 .5 Dodgers 7 7 .500 1.5 Colorado 7 8 .467 2 Arizona 6 8 .429 2.5 East Division Philadelphia 9 5 .643 — Atlanta Florida WL Pct GB 8 6 .571 1 8 7 .533 1.5 Washington 8 7 .533 1.5 New York 6 9 .400 3.5 Central Division WL Pct GB St. Louis 9 5 .643 — Milwaukee 7 7 .500 2 American League WL Pct GB 96 .600 — 8 7 .533 1 8 7 .533 1 5 9 .357 3.5 Pittsburgh 7 7 .500 2 Chicago 6 9 .400 3.5 Cincinnati 6 9 .400 3.5 Houston 5 9 .357 4 ——— Wednesday’s results San Diego 5, San Francisco 2 Chicago 9, New York 3 Houston 5, Florida 4 Los Angeles 14, Cincinnati 6 Milwaukee 8, Pittsburgh 0 Philadelphia 2, Atlanta 0 Washington 6, Colorado 4 St. Louis at Arizona, late Today’s games Milwaukee (Wolf 1-1) at Pittsburgh (D.McCutchen 0-1), 9:35 a.m. Colorado (Jimenez 3-0) at Washington (L.Hernandez 2-0), 1:35 p.m. Chicago (Gorzelanny 0-1) at New York (J.Santana 1-1), 4:10 p.m. Los Angeles (Padilla 1-1) at Cincinnati (Leake 0-0), 4:10 p.m. Philadelphia (Moyer 1-1) at Atlanta (D.Lowe 3-0), 4:10 p.m. Florida (A.Sanchez 0-1) at Houston (F.Paulino 0-1), 5:05 p.m. Tuesday’s late results San Diego 1, San Francisco 0 Arizona 9, St. Louis 7 NFL 2010 Draft First Round 4:30 p.m., ESPN 1. St. Louis 2. Detroit 3.Tampa Bay 4.Washington 5. Kansas City 6. Seattle 7. Cleveland 8. RAIDERS 9. Buffalo 10. Jacksonville 11.Denver (from Chicago) 12. Miami 13.49ERS 14. Seattle (from Denver) 15.New York Giants 16.Tennessee 17.49ERS (from Carolina) 18. Pittsburgh 19. Atlanta 20. Houston 21. Cincinnati 22.New England 23.Green Bay 24. Philadelphia 25. Baltimore 26. Arizona 27. Dallas 28. San Diego 29.New York Jets 30. Minnesota 31. Indianapolis 32.New Orleans NFLDraft No. 1 Selections 2009 — Matthew Stafford, Detroit, QB, Georgia. 2008 — Jake Long, Miami, OT, Michigan. 2007 — JaMarcus Russell, Oakland, QB, LSU. 2006 — Mario Williams, Houston, DE, North Carolina State. 2005 — Alex Smith, San Francisco, QB, Utah. 2004 — Eli Manning, San Diego, QB, Mississippi. 2003 — Carson Palmer, Cincinnati, QB, Southern California. 2002 — David Carr, Houston, QB, Fresno State. 2001 — Michael Vick, Atlanta, QB, Virginia Tech. 2000 — Courtney Brown, Cleveland, DE, Penn State. 1999 — Tim Couch, Cleveland, QB, Kentucky. 1998 — Peyton Manning, Indianapolis, QB, Tennessee. 1997 — Orlando Pace, St.Louis Rams, T, Ohio State. 1996 — Keyshawn Johnson, New York Jets, WR, Southern California. 1995 — Ki-Jana Carter, Cincinnati, RB, Penn State. 1994 — Dan Wilkinson, Cincinnati, DE, Ohio State. 1993 — Drew Bledsoe, New England, QB, Washington State. 1992 — Steve Emtman, Indianapolis, DE, Washington. 1991 — Russell Maryland, Dallas, DL, Miami. 1990 — Jeff George, Indianapolis, QB, Illinois. 1989 — Troy Aikman, Dallas, QB, UCLA. 1988 — Aundray Bruce, Atlanta, LB, Auburn. 1987 — Vinny Testaverde, Tampa Bay, QB, Miami. 1986 — Bo Jackson, Tampa Bay, RB, Auburn. 1985 — Bruce Smith, Buffalo, DT, Virginia Tech. 1984 — Irving Fryar, New England, WR, Nebraska. 1983 — John Elway, Baltimore, QB, Stanford. 1982 — Kenneth Sims, New England, DT, Texas. 1981 — George Rogers, New Orleans, RB, South Carolina. 1980 — Billy Sims, Detroit, RB, Oklahoma. 1979 — Tom Cousineau, Buffalo, LB, Ohio State. 1978 — Earl Campbell, Houston, RB, Texas. 1977 — Ricky Bell, Tampa Bay, RB, Southern California. 1976 — Lee Roy Selmon, Tampa Bay, DE, Oklahoma. 1975 — Steve Bartkowski, Atlanta, QB, California. 1974 — Ed Jones, Dallas, DE, Tennessee State. 1973 — John Matuszak, Houston, DE, Tampa. 1972 — Walt Patulski, Buffalo, DE, Notre Dame. 1971 — Jim Plunkett, New England, QB, Stanford. 1970 — Terry Bradshaw, Pittsburgh, QB, Louisiana Tech. 1969 — O.J.Simpson, Buffalo (AFL), RB, Southern California. 1968 — Ron Yary, Minnesota, T, Southern California. 1967 — Bubba Smith, Baltimore, DT, Michigan State. 1966 — Tommy Nobis, Atlanta, LB, Texas. 1966 — Jim Grabowski, Miami (AFL), RB, Illinois. 1965 — Tucker Frederickson, N.Y.Giants, RB, Auburn. 1965 — Lawrence Elkins, Houston (AFL), WR, Baylor. 1964 — Dave Parks, San Francisco, WR, Texas Tech. 1964 — Jack Concannon, Boston (AFL), QB, Boston College. 1963 — Terry Baker, Los Angeles, QB, Oregon State. 1963 — Buck Buchanan, Kansas City (AFL), DT, Grambling. 1962 — Ernie Davis, Washington, RB, Syracuse. 1962 — Roman Gabriel, Oakland (AFL), QB, North Carolina State. 1961 — Tommy Mason, Minnesota, RB, Tulane. 1961 — Ken Rice, Buffalo (AFL), G, Auburn. 1960 — Billy Cannon, Los Angeles, RB, LSU. 1959 — Randy Duncan, Green Bay, QB, Iowa. 1958 — King Hill, Chicago Cardinals, QB, Rice. 1957 — Paul Hornung, Green Bay, HB, Notre Dame. 1956 — Gary Glick, Pittsburgh, DB, Colorado A&M. 1955 — George Shaw, Baltimore, QB, Oregon. 1954 — Bobby Garrett, Cleveland, QB, Stanford. 1953 — Harry Babcock, San Francisco, WR, Georgia. 1952 — Bill Wade, Los Angeles, QB, Vanderbilt. 1951 — Kyle Rote, New York Giants, HB, SMU. 1950 — Leon Hart, Detroit, WR, Notre Dame. 1949 — Chuck Bednarik, Philadelphia, C, Pennsylvania. 1948 — Harry Gilmer, Washington, QB, Alabama. 1947 — Bob Fenimore, Chicago Bears, HB, Oklahoma A&M. 1946 — Frank Dancewicz, Boston, QB, Notre Dame. 1945 — Charley Trippi, Chicago Cardinals, HB, Georgia. 1944 — Angelo Bertelli, Boston, QB, Notre Dame. 1943 — Frank Sinkwich, Detroit, HB, Georgia. 1942 — Bill Dudley, Pittsburgh, HB, Virginia. 1941 — Tom Harmon, Chicago Bears, HB, Michigan. 1940 — George Cafego, Chicago Cardinals, HB, Tennessee. 1939 — Ki Aldrich, Chicago Cardinals, C, TCU. 1938 — Corbett Davis, Cleveland, FB, Indiana. 1937 — Sam Francis, Philadelphia, FB, Nebraska. 1936 — Jay Berwanger, Philadelphia, HB, Chicago. NBA First Round Best-of-7 Tuesday’s late results L.A. Lakers 95, Oklahoma City 92 Los Angeles leads series 2-0 Phoenix 119, Portland 90 Series tied 1-1 Wednesday’s results Orlando 92, Charlotte 77 Orlando leads series 2-0 San Antonio at Dallas, late Dallas leads series 1-0 Today’s games Cleveland at Chicago, 4 p.m., TNT Cleveland leads series 2-0 L.A.Lakers at Oklahoma City, 6:30 p.m., TNT L.A. Lakers lead series 2-0 Phoenix at Portland, 7 p.m., NBA Series tied 1-1 Other series Atlanta leads Milwaukee 2-0 Boston leads Miami 2-0 Denver and Utah tied 1-1 NHL First Round Best-of-7 Tuesday’s late results San Jose 2, Colorado 1,OT Series tied 2-2 Nashville 4, Chicago 1, Nashville leads series 2-1 Wednesday’s results Boston 3, Buffalo 2, 2OT Boston leads series 3-1 Washington 6, Montreal 3 Washington leads series 3-1 Vancouver at Los Angeles, late Los Angeles leads series 2-1 Today’s games Colorado at San Jose, 7:30 p.m.,CSNCA Series tied 2-2 Philadelphia at New Jersey, 4 p.m. Philadelphia leads series 3-1 Ottawa at Pittsburgh, 4 p.m., VERSUS Pittsburgh leads series 3-1 Chicago at Nashville, 5:30 p.m., VERSUS Nashville leads series 2-1 Other series Detroit and Phoenix tied 2-2 MLS WESTERN CONFERENCE WL T Pts GF GA Galaxy 4 0 0 12 7 1 Colorado 2 1 1 7 6 4 Houston 2 1 1 7 6 4 QUAKES 21 0 6 4 4 Seattle 2 1 1 7 5 3 Salt Lake 1 2 1 4 7 6 Chivas USA 1 3 0 3 2 6 FC Dallas 0 1 2 2 4 5 EASTERN CONFERENCE WL T Pts GF GA New York 3 1 0 9 4 3 Kansas City 2 1 0 6 5 1 New England 2 2 0 6 6 4 Columbus 1 0 1 4 4 2 Chicago 1 2 1 4 5 5 Toronto FC 1 3 0 3 4 10 Philadelphia 1 2 0 3 4 6 D.C. 0 4 0 0 2 11 NOTE: Three points for victory, one point for tie. ——— Today’s game Seattle FC at FC Dallas, 5 p.m., ESPN2 DEALS Major League Baseball American League OAKLAND—Placed 2B Mark Ellis on the 15- day DL. Recalled C Landon Powell from Sacramento (PCL). BALTIMORE—Claimed LHP Pedro Viola off waivers from Cincinnati and optioned him to Norfolk (IL). Transferred OF Felix Pie to the 60-day DL. LOS ANGELES—Activated LHP Brian Fuentes from the 15-day DL. Optioned RHP Francisco Rodriguez to Salt Lake (PCL). National League ARIZONA—Optioned LHP Jordan Norberto to Reno (PCL). Recalled OF Cole Gillespie from Reno. CINCINNATI—Named Joe Morgan special adviser for baseball operations. LOS ANGELES—Activated RHP Ronald Belisario from the restricted list. NEW YORK—Placed RHP Ryota Igarashi on the 15-day DL. Recalled RHP Manny Acosta from Buffalo (IL). PITTSBURGH—Recalled INF Argenis Diaz from Indianapolis (IL). Optioned LHP Brian Burres to Indianapolis. National Hockey League EDMONTON-Fired Kevin Prendergast assis- tant general manager and vice-president of hockey operations. MOTORSPORTS NASCAR—Fined crew chiefs Bootie Barker and Frank Kerr $75,000; crew chiefs Rodney Childers and Pat Tryson $25,000 and docked car owners Robert Germain and Tad Geschickter and drivers Max Papis Marcos Ambrose 50 points for failing inspection after qualifying at Texas Motor Speedway. Placed Barker, Kerr, Childers and Tryson on proba- tion through Dec. 31. National Football League NFL—Suspended Pittsburgh QB Ben Roeth- lisberger six games for violating the league’s personal conduct policy. OAKLAND—Traded an undisclosed draft pick ot the Jacksonville Jaguars for DE Quentin Groves. BUFFALO—Claimed TE Michael Matthews off waivers from Detroit. CHICAGO—Announced the retirement of chairman Michael McCaskey and named George McCaskey chairman, effective at the end of the 2010 season. MINNESOTA—Signed CB Lito Sheppard. NEW ENGLAND—Signed DL Amon Gor- don. College BIG EAST CONFERENCE—Named Paul Tagliabue special adviser. APPALACHIAN STATE—Named Jason Capel men’s basketball coach. ARIZONA STATE—Announced it is vacating 44 of its 49 victories from the 2007 baseball season and will be reducing scholarships as part of self-imposed sanctions for violating NCAA rules. DEPAUL—Named Ron Bradley men’s asso- ciate head basketball coach, Kevin Nickile- berry men’s assistant basketball coach, Josh Posotorino director of men’s basketball oper- ations, Andy Farrell men’s basketball video coordinator and Mac Calloway men’s basket- ball strength and conditioning coach. EAST CAROLINA—Named Tim Craft and Ken Potosnak men’s assistant basketball coaches and Kyle Robinson director of men’s basketball operations. MISSISSIPPI—Announced junior G Eniel Polynice will enter the NBA draft. WAKE FOREST—Named Mark Pope men’s assistant basketball coach. OAKLAND (AP) — Ath- letics second baseman Mark Ellis returned to the lineup Tuesday night only to realize his injured left hamstring still hasn’t fully healed. Oakland placed Ellis on the 15-day disabled list Wednesday, a day after he left early in the A’s 7-3 loss to the New York Yankees when his hamstring began bothering him again on his first at-bat. ‘‘It’s not any worse than it was before the game,’’ Ellis said. ‘‘I have to let it heal and do some treatment.’’ He had just come back after missing the previous seven games with the injury. An MRI exam revealed tendinitis in the hamstring area just above the back of the knee. It affects him both hitting and running. ‘‘I could have had seven days. I kind of wasted seven days,’’ Ellis said of the move not being retroactive to his last game before he played Tuesday. ‘‘I don’t think I would have known unless I tried playing. I guess I just wasn’t ready.’’ He will remain in Oakland for the remainder of the team’s homestand through this weekend, then return to his home in Arizona to rehabilitate while the A’s are on a six- game road trip at Tampa Bay and Toronto. A’s manager Bob Geren is confident Ellis will be ready to return as soon as he’s eligible to be activated from the DL. Ellis was off to an uncharacteristic strong start, batting .323 with three RBIs in eight games. Ellis is the sixth player on the disabled list for the A’s already, a trend for this injury- plagued team in recent years. ‘‘It doesn’t look real bad, I’m happy about that,’’ Geren said of Ellis. ‘‘After eight days off (seven games along with a team off day), he felt like he could play. I don’t know if he did anything last night that set him way back or put him at square one.’’ Catcher Landon Powell was recalled from Triple-A Sacramento to fill Ellis’ roster spot. Powell appeared in 46 games for the A’s last season, spending the entire year on the major league roster despite limited playing time as starting catcher Kurt Suzuki’s backup. Powell, among the final players cut out of spring training, was batting .217 with a home run and two RBIs in six games for Sacramento — three of those at catcher, two at designat- ed hitter and one at first base. Raiders trade for former 2nd-rounder JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — The Jacksonville Jaguars have traded defensive end Quentin Groves to the Oakland Raiders for an undis- closed draft pick. The teams agreed to the deal Wednesday, but it is con- tingent on Groves passing a physical. Groves announced the trade on Twitter by writing ‘‘Duval County....I LOVE U GUYS...thanks for all your support...New Starts(equals)New Beginnings...OAKLAND HERE I COME!!!!’’ The Jaguars confirmed it a short time later. The trade should give Groves a chance to start over. A second-round pick out of Auburn in 2008, Groves had 2 1/2 sacks as a rookie but none last year. He played every game in two seasons, recording 51 tackles and an interception. But he also dropped from starter to third-teamer. GIANTS (Continued from page 1B) The Giants continue to struggle offensively, having scored just four runs in their four straight losses. The first three defeats were all by one run. ‘‘It was a tough series for us, a tough road trip,’’ Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. ‘‘We have to get these bats going.’’