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WASHINGTON -- The NL Division Series between Dusty Bakers Washington Nationals and Dave Roberts Los Angeles Dodgers is the first postseason matchup in major league history involving two black managers.It gives us some pride, in being African-American, to show people that not only can we do the job, but we can do the job better than most. Especially this year, Baker said Thursday. Hopefully, it motivates other organizations to get some African-American managers, also to motivate other players that are playing now, and former players that have managerial aspirations. It probably brings a lot of pride across America -- and not only African-American people, but everybody.When Baker was hired last November, baseball avoided what could have been its first start to a season since 1988 with zero black managers. Roberts got his job later that month.In April, a study overseen by Richard Lapchick of The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida gave baseball teams a grade of C-plus for racial hiring practices for managers.Asked about the bit of history he and Baker will make when the NLDS opens Friday in Washington, Roberts said: Its important, and it doesnt go unnoticed or underappreciated, I think, speaking for Dusty, myself, what it means to the game of baseball, to society.Roberts recently spoke about Baker as a friend, a role model and said its a lot to try to follow what hes done.While this is Roberts postseason debut as a skipper, Baker is participating in the playoffs for the eighth time in 21 seasons with four clubs as a manager. Baker ranks 17th in major league history in managerial wins and said this week he aims to become the first black manager in the sports Hall of Fame.On Thursday, Baker recalled playing under manager Tommy Lasorda with the Los Angeles Dodgers more than 30 years ago -- and hearing Lasorda brag about how many Italian skippers there were in the majors at the time.He says, `Were taking over.I said, `What do you mean, youre taking over?According to Baker, Lasorda then began listing managers he said were Italian. When Lasorda mentioned Billy Martin, Baker responded that he wasnt Italian. But, Baker said, Lasorda retorted that Martins mother was Italian. Then, Baker continued, Lasorda mentioned Chuck Tanner, drawing another objection. And again, according to Baker, Lasorda said Tanners mother was Italian. And the discussion continued in that vein, Baker said.So we went on and on and on. There was some racial pride in him. And he always was talking about being Italian. He even told me to tell some of his friends I was Italian, Baker recounted with a wide smile. And he says, `If he asks you, you tell them youre from Abruzzo, an Italian province.---AP Sports Writer Janie McCauley in San Francisco contributed to this report.---Follow Howard Fendrich on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HowardFendrich<a href="http://www.redskinsfansproshop.com/Redskins+Case+Keenum+Rush+Jersey.html?cat=1368">Case Keenum Womens Jersey</a>. This should be celebrated because it will not always be this way. With the amount of money given to players by their clubs these days, it is a wonder that so many of those teams allow the sport to continue to take away many of their assets so they can play for a different team in the middle of their season. <a href="http://www.redskinsfansproshop.com/Redskins+Art+Monk+Rush+Jersey.html?cat=1303">Art Monk Youth Jersey</a>. This should be celebrated because it will not always be this way. With the amount of money given to players by their clubs these days, it is a wonder that so many of those teams allow the sport to continue to take away many of their assets so they can play for a different team in the middle of their season. <a href="http://www.redskinsfansproshop.com/Redskins+Dwayne+Haskins+Rush+Jersey.html?cat=1367">http://www.redskinsfansproshop.com/Redskins+Dwayne+Haskins+Rush+Jersey.html?cat=1367</a>. - Goaltender Philippe Desrosiers of the Rimouski Oceanic has broken a shutout record that was only three months old in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. <a href="http://www.redskinsfansproshop.com/Redskins+Russ+Grimm+Rush+Jersey.html?cat=1328">Russ Grimm Redskins Jersey</a>. The judges scored it 48-47, 48-47, 49-46 for Jones (19-1). It was the champions closest call. Despite the loss, it was a remarkable show by the confident Swedish challenger, who had the best of the early rounds and then hung on in the fourth and fifth. <a href="http://www.redskinsfansproshop.com/Redskins+Sammy+Baugh+Rush+Jersey.html?cat=1317">Sammy Baugh Youth Jersey</a>. The Nashville Predators were glad their captain was still on their side. Weber had a goal and two assists, and Roman Josi scored the shootout winner to lift the Predators to a 4-3 win over the Flyers on Thursday night.MILWAUKEE -- This is what Wily Peralta has been waiting for. The right-hander allowed two hits in seven innings and Jean Segura homered to lead the Milwaukee Brewers past the Atlanta Braves 2-0 Friday night for their second shutout of the season. Peralta (5-8) won for the second time in his last eight starts, giving up two singles to go with four strikeouts and four walks. It was the first time all season he gave up fewer than two runs in a game. Afterward, he was asked if it was his best game of the year. "Yeah, for sure," Peralta said. "I kept the ball down all day." Francisco Rodriguez pitched the eighth and Jim Henderson the ninth for his 10th save. Rodriguez picked up the previous five saves for Milwaukee to reach 299 in his career. Henderson was on the disabled list and then appeared in five games before returning to the closers role against the Braves. Segura finished with three hits, including his 11th homer, and Norichika Aoki added three singles after the birth of his son Thursday. "I was at the hospital all day yesterday," Aoki said. "I didnt get much sleep last night." Atlanta was shut out for the 10th time and lost for the fourth time in five games. "Its just part of the game," B.J. Upton said. "You play long enough you are going to get in stretches like this. Just got to find a way. We are a good enough ballclub. Well be fine." Julio Teheran (5-4) gave up two runs and eight hits in 6 1-3 innings. He struck out five and did not walk a batter. Seguras homer leading off the fifth gave Milwaukee a 2-0 lead. "I was just trying to get a base hit," Segura said. "I was just trying to put a good swing on it and I got it." In the first, Aoki and Segura singled before Carlos Gomez was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Aramis Ramirez gave Milwaukee a 1-0 lead on a sacrifice fly. Gomez was picked off first and Juan Francisco popped out to end the rally. The Braves struggled to score for the second night in a row. After stranding 11 runners in a 4-3 loss to the New York Mets on Thursday, Atlanta was at it again partly because of Teherans inability to execute sacrifice bunts. AAfter the first two batters in the third -- Dan Uggla and Chris Johnson -- walked, Teheran tried a bunt that turned into a force at third.dddddddddddd Andrelton Simmons flied out and Jason Heyward grounded out to end the inning. "I missed a little bit," Teheran said. In the fifth, Atlanta got its first hit when Upton led off with a single. He went to second when Uggla flied out to deep centre and advanced to third on an infield single by Johnson. This time, Teheran attempted a safety squeeze and bunted the ball to the right side of the plate. Peralta was able to field the ball in his glove and quickly tossed it to catcher Martin Maldonado, who tagged out the sliding Upton. "That was a nice play," Milwaukee manager Ron Roenicke said. "Youve got a fast runner on third base. That play is really hard to defence. And the bunt wasnt that bad. He got over there in a hurry and made a nice flip over. Maldy did a great job of blocking the plate." Simmons followed with a drive to right-centre that was caught by a diving Aoki. "We almost had it," Atlanta manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "We had the right guy on third base that could read it but (the bunt) could not get quite far enough down the first base line." Atlanta also had runners at first and second with two outs after Henderson walked Justin Upton and B.J. Upton in the ninth, but Uggla flied out to end the game. "A couple of times tonight we could have used that one hit," Uggla said. "We had a couple of opportunities here and there. We need to start taking advantage of those." NOTES: Milwaukee owns a seven-game home winning streak against the Braves. ... The Brewers improved to 3-28 when scoring three or fewer runs. ... Atlanta placed infielder Ramiro Pena on the 15-day disabled list (retroactive to June 17) due to a right shoulder strain and recalled infielder Paul Janish from Triple-A Gwinnett. ... With Aoki back from the paternity list, Milwaukee optioned Josh Prince back to Triple-A Nashville. ... Brewers RHP Donovan Hand will make his first major league start Saturday. He is 0-0 with a 3.38 ERA in nine relief appearances this year.<a href="http://www.chinawholesalejerseysnfl.com/">Wholesale Jerseys</a> ' ' '