In the beginning, man created defense. For more than 100 years, man was pretty happy with itself.More recently, there has been something of a revolution. Baseball teams have always understood that defense matters, but were well into what you might call the Defensive Enlightenment. The first stage would have simply been an improved appreciation of defensive skills. This was fueled in part by the development of advanced defensive statistics such as Ultimate Zone Rating (UZR) and Defensive Runs Saved (DRS). Numbers put value on what had been merely perception to that point.The second stage brought about the proliferation of shifts. There have long been some version of shifts, and shifts dont always work, but the idea makes perfect sense, in theory, and this stage isnt over. Hitters dont distribute their batted balls randomly. Teams that can anticipate can turn more of those batted balls into outs. For a while, shifts were doubling in frequency league-wide literally every year.Now, it appears that we could be entering the beginning of a third stage. Teams know defense matters. Every team these days is shifting at least some of the time. The third stage could be one of increased versatility. To see how well it can work, look no further than the best team in Major League Baseball.The Chicago Cubs mightve just had the best defensive season in history. Even if not historically, they were easily the best defensive team in 2016, and that was due to any number of factors. Among them, though, was the flexibility granted by the roster to manager Joe Maddon. The Cubs are extremely versatile, and this isnt some happy accident.China Shoes Online . The deal is pending a physical, assistant general manager Bobby Evans said. Traded from Seattle to Baltimore on Aug. 30, Morse also can play first base and right field to give manager Bruce Bochy some flexibility in writing his lineup. China Shoes To USA .Y. -- Bills receiver Stevie Johnson has a bone to pick with the NFL schedule maker. https://www.chinashoes.us/ .Y. -- Sabres defenceman Tyler Myers had no intention of changing his hard-hitting style before taking part in a disciplinary hearing for his illegal check to New Jersey forward Dainius Zubrus head. Jordan From China . If ever they start actually putting pictures beside words in the dictionary, the Blue Jays left-handers mug will appear beside “Consistency. China Shoes . Robredo, ranked No. 16, bounced back from an upset loss to Leonardo Mayer in the second round of the Royal Guard Open in Chile last week to down Carreno Busta in 1 hour, 25 minutes. On a day filled mostly with qualifying matches, fifth-seeded Marcel Granollers of Spain also entered the second with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 win over Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia, while Guido Pella of Argentina defeated Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 7-6 (6), 6-4 to advance.BELO HORIZONTE, Brazil -- Hope Solo is blaming the American media for spreading fear about the Zika virus and other problems ahead of the Rio Games.Hoping to lead the U.S. womens soccer team to its fourth straight gold medal, Solo had expressed her own concerns before the Olympics.We havent made it to Rio yet and I have no idea what to expect in Rio, but its been beautiful here, Solo said ahead of Wednesdays opener against New Zealand, to be played in the same city where the U.S. men upset England in the 1950 World Cup.Its a little bit unfortunate because I think the American media has been really tough on [the] people of Brazil, Solo said. I feel a little bit bad because when you come here you learn for yourself. I think that weve been very hard on the local people.The Americans are trying to win a title for the second straight year following last years triumph in the Womens World Cup. Solo, in her third Olympics, said it seemed problems in Brazil were being blown out of proportion by media in the U.S.You look back in 2004 in Greece, and the same thing there, bad publicity surrounding the Games, and China as well, said the 35-year-old from Richland, Washington. I dont know why, but we like to sensationalize everything and scare people and then ... when the Games go on, everything goes on as planned, ends up being a beautiful tournament. And I expect no less here.Solo said she expects everything to be fine by the time the team gets to Rio despite the widespread concerns related to the Games, including Zika, water pollution, security and shoddy construction.Solo said she came to Brazil well prepared, especially against Zika.I actually spooke to three different infectious disease doctors and specialists, she explained.dddddddddddd I spoke to them on the phone with my husband as well, and we got to a point where we asked enough questions. We prepared ourselves as best as possible and we got to a level of being as comfortable as we possibly can be.Im wearing mosquito repellent just in case -- I know the odds are very small, but you can never be too safe, she added. Im at a point in my life that I just want to be safe.Before traveling to Brazil, Solo posted on Twitter a few photos showing her concerns about Zika, including one of her wearing a hat with mosquito netting that covered her entire head and neck. The image prompted criticism against her in Brazil and caused her to apologize when she arrived in the country.I heard that there were some negative responses here in Brazil, she said. I never would want to offend the host country. In fact, Im cheering for Team USA, but besides Team USA, Im going to be cheering for the host country. Im very grateful for them for hosting the tournament. Honestly, everybody around here has been so just nice and genuine and it feels very warming to be here.Solo has been trying to avoid a trial on misdemeanor domestic violence charges after a 2014 incident at her sisters home, when the goalkeeper was accused of being intoxicated and assaulting her sister and 17-year-old nephew. Solo said she was a victim in the altercation. Two months ago, an appeals court in Washington state rejected Solos request to avoid trial. ' ' '