SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. DQwell Jackson Jersey . -- While much of the nation is buried in snow, glazed by ice or just plain shivering in the cold, its time to play ball in the desert. Spring training officially began Thursday when Arizona Diamondbacks pitchers and catchers reported, with their first workout set for Friday. On the other side of suburban Phoenix, in Glendale, Los Angeles Dodgers pitchers and catchers report on Saturday. Full-squad workouts for both teams begin next week. The Diamondbacks and Dodgers get an early start because they will open the MLB season with a two-game series in Australia on March 22-23. The rest of the teams begin workouts next week at their spring training haunts in Arizona and Florida. Arizonas reporting date signals the beginning of preparation for a season that wont end until the World Series eight months from now. The Diamondbacks are coming off consecutive 81-81 seasons and face the prospect, like the rest of the NL West, of trying to compete with the cash- and pitching-rich Dodgers. Arizona wanted to add a veteran starter in the off-season and still may. A person with knowledge of the situation said Thursday that the Diamondbacks were talking with representatives of Bronson Arroyo with the possibility of landing the 36-year-old right-hander. The person asked not to be identified because the talks had not been made public. The Dodgers and Baltimore Orioles also reportedly have interest in Arroyo. If no changes are made, the Diamondbacks rotation is expected to include left-handers Patrick Corbin and Wade Miley and right-handers Trevor Cahill and Brandon McCarthy. Young right-hander Randall Delgado and top minor league prospect Archie Bradley could vie for the other rotation spot. Diamondbacks players went through informal workouts in relatively chilly weather, at least by Arizona standards, on Thursday. Temperatures were in the low 60s but were expected to rise to the high 70s over the weekend. Kirk Gibson is entering his fourth season as manager and earlier this week got an extension of his contract, which had been set to expire this year. He said the early start to spring training will mean a larger gap between the start of full-squad workouts and the beginning of spring games. "Well come in on the 11th and our first games on the 26th," he said. "It gives us a challenge. We need to get our pitchers ready to be ready to go on March 22." After the long trip to Australia, the Diamondbacks and Dodgers will come back to Arizona to complete spring training before their stateside regular-season openers. "The seasons going to be a little longer, " Gibson said, "but if you look at the other people that have played abroad early, I think theres 10 teams that went and five of them have went to post-season play." Even though its an early start to spring training, McCarthy said players are more than ready to get back at it. "In the last month is when you start to hit that boredom point," he said. "Youre done with the off-season, youre sick of your loved ones, you want to get out of your house. Now it turns real and you kind of get back to work." The other significant addition to the Diamondbacks pitching staff is Addison Reed, The 25-year-old right-hander had 69 saves the last two seasons with the Chicago White Sox, 40 last year. Arizona acquired him from the White Sox for third baseman Matt Davidson. Reed hasnt been anointed the Arizona closer yet, though, facing competition from the likes of J.J. Putz, David Hernandez and Brad Zeigler. "Obviously everybody knows that I want to close. Its the only thing Ive ever wanted to do," Reed said, "but Im here and whatever they have me do is what Ill do and Ill be happy to. As long as Im out there throwing, Ill be a happy guy." McCarthy said that a core group of Arizona players plans to take a bigger leadership role in the coming year. "I think theres a group of guys here that know exactly what they want," he said. "Last year I think we were kind of getting there but we didnt have that true leadership that really came through. Its the one thing Ive seen just in talking to guys so far, that heres an idea of exactly what we want and I think we know how to implement that now. "Youre going to see a clubhouse of guys that go out of their way to get things the way they want it, to set an attitude the way they want it." T.Y. Hilton Jersey . For now, Joe Girardi and the rest of the New York Yankees are just thankful they have the Japanese right-hander pitching like one of the best in baseball. Blue Customized Limited Colts Mens Jersey . - Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob says the team is pushing back plans to build an arena on the San Francisco waterfront at least one year.MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Jerryd Bayless finally found his range, Memphis clamped down on defence and the Grizzlies used the combination for a victory. Bayless keyed a fourth-quarter rally, scoring all of his 15 points in the period, to lead Memphis to a 95-88 victory over the Boston Celtics on Monday night. Bayless was 6 of 7 in the quarter as Memphis erased a six-point Boston lead with just under 9 minutes to play. "Thats what Jerryd does. Hes a volume scorer," said Memphis guard Tony Allen, who had four steals. "He can fill it up. . That was big for us." Zach Randolph and Mike Conley also had 15 for Memphis, Conley handing out eight assists. Marc Gasol finished with 14 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Jeff Green led the Celtics with 22 points, while Jared Sullinger scored 16, going 2 of 3 from outside the arc. Avery Bradley scored 14, and Jordan Crawford finished with 12. The Celtics fell to 0-4 under rookie coach Brad Stevens, the first time Boston has lost its first four games since the 1969-70 season. "I think you just understand where we are and where we have to go," Stevens said. "You do your best to focus on whats next and not pay too much attention to anything else." The Celtics, who are the worst team in the league at committing turnovers, matched their average with 21, while Memphis wasnt much better with 19. "Our biggest thing right now is turning the ball over, theres no question about it," Stevens said. "If we dont do that, were going to have a better chance of winning." Memphis held the Celtics to 33 per cent shooting in the final quarter, while Memphis was 10 of 15, and it was all Bayless. Only two other Memphis players took more than one shot in the fourth - Allen and Jon Leuer with two each. "I kept looking at my staff saying: When should I put Mike Conley in," Memphis coach Dave Joerger said. "And then Jerryd Bayless kept making buckets, and I would be silly if I took Jerryd Bayless out of the game. Royal Blue T.Y. Hilton Limited Mens Jersey. " Stevens seemed to have a chance at his first NBA victory until Bayless got untracked in the fourth quarter, mostly from around the top of the key. "I (stunk) the first half honestly." Bayless said. "I was bad. Missing layups and doing things I normally dont do. . It was bad. But I stayed positive, knowing we had to change." In a matchup featuring teams with two of the highest turnover rates in the league, both reached double figures before the break, the Celtics with 12, Memphis with 10. Memphis, which trailed 50-46 at the break, opened the second half with a 12-4 burst. Gasol, who missed both his shots in the first half, had 10 early in the third to help the rally that contributed to a 66-57 Memphis lead. It didnt last as Memphis started misfiring, leading to 15 unanswered points for Boston, capped by Sullingers 3-pointer. That gave the Celtics a 72-66 lead heading into the fourth. Bayless, who was scoreless and had missed all four of his shots in the first three quarters, hit his first six shots in the frame. The comeback was complete when he hit a 3-pointer with 4:19 left. The Celtics never led again. "Im not really thinking about stats during the game," Bayless said. "Im just trying to worry about what we need to do to figure out this win. "Anybody can have a good night like tonight. Luckily, it was my night." NOTES: The best Grizzlies scoring performance against the Celtics is 41 by Bryant Reeves in 1998. .The game featured two of the youngest coaches in the league. Bostons Stevens is youngest at 37; Memphis Dave Joerger is third-youngest at 39. Jacque Vaughn of Orlando at 38 is between them. .The Celtics, who lost 87-77 at Detroit on Sunday night, were playing their first back-to-back of the season. Boston plays road games on consecutive nights 10 times this season. .The 88 points by the Celtics marked the first time this season Memphis has held an opponent under 100 points.wholesale jerseys ' ' '
