Twenty-two seasons after entering baseball as a teenage prodigy, Alex Rodriguez will leave the game as one of its most polarizing legends. The Yankees will release the 41-year-old following the clubs matchup Friday against Tampa Bay, signaling the end of the sluggers days playing as a Yankee, A-Rod and the team announced Sunday.Heres a sampling of how some current and former major league players reacted to the news. Kevin White Jersey . Down by seven with 90 seconds left in regulation, thats where they looked comfortable. Willie Young Jersey . -- Mike Smith never saw his first NHL goal go in. http://www.authenticfootballshopbears.com/c-54-bears-devin-hester-jersey.aspx . -- Derrick Rose shook off poor shooting early to hit clutch shots late and Carlos Boozer had 20 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Chicago Bulls to a 104-95 preseason victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night. Marcus Cooper Jersey . Jordan Lynch, the all-purpose Heisman Trophy finalist from Northern Illinois, failed to make it into that exclusive club. Hroniss Grasu Jersey .S. -- Nikolaj Ehlers registered a hat trick for the third straight game and Jonathan Drouin had a goal and five assists as the Halifax Mooseheads hammered the host Cape Breton Screaming Eagles 10-1 on Tuesday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. PORTLAND, Ore. -- A fiery halftime speech from coach Terry Stotts spurred the Trail Blazers over the Nuggets.Portland had fallen behind 57-50 at the break and the defense was struggling.He got after us, and pretty much told us what we were doing was not acceptable and we couldnt keep doing it -- putting ourselves in that position and not playing smart as were capable of and not playing as hard as we need to be to give ourselves a chance, Damian Lillard said.Lillard finished with 32 points and Portland handed Denver its fourth straight loss with a 112-105 victory on Sunday night.CJ McCollum added 21 points for the Blazers, who have won five of their last six games. Portland came alive in the second half after Stotts speech and outscored Denver 36-15 in the third quarter.He got on us, he yelled at us a little bit, and its up to us to go out and answer the call, Lillard said about the halftime talk. I thought we did a great job responding.Jamal Murray hit a 3-pointer to pull Denver within 110-105 in the final seconds, but the rally came up short. It was the Blazers seventh straight victory over the Nuggets at the Moda Center.Murray and Danilo Gallinari led the Nuggets with 19 points apiece and Kenneth Faried added 18. Fourteen of Murrays career-high points came in the fourth-quarter rally. He made five 3-pointers.Denvers Gary Harris, who has started in four games for the Nuggets this season, was out because of a right ankle sprain. Harris started and had 13 points in the Nuggets 106-95 loss at home to Detroit on Saturday night. While he injured his ankle during the game, he returned to play.Jameer Nelson started in his place on Sunday. Reserve forward Wilson Chandler, who has struggled with a left hamstring strain, also played and had 18 points.Once were aggressive and play as a team we can beat anybody, but we didnt do that in the third quarter, Chandler said. They came out and just flipped it on us. They were the aggressors in the third quarter and they just jumped on us.The Blazers were coming off a 122-120 overtime victory over the Sacramento Kings on Friday night. Afterward, Lillard said the Blazers needed to play well for longer stretches.Portland went up 13-7 early on Meyers Leonards alley-oop dunk but Denver wrestled away the lead and went up 28--20 at the end of the first quarter on Nelsons 3-pointer.ddddddddddddusuf Nurkics hook shot pushed Denvers lead to 48-31 midway through the second quarter. The Blazers played their way back, with Maurice Harkless layup pulling Portland within 52-46.Portland trailed 57-50 at the half, but closed to 58-55 on CJ McCollums layup. Portland took a 61-60 lead on Harkless 3-pointer and his fast-break layup stretched the advantage to 73-64.Harkless finished with 17 points.Asked about what he said at halftime, Stotts wouldnt reveal much.We talked about defense, he said.TIP-INS:Nuggets: Chandler has had six games this season with at least 10 points. He had 11 in the first half alone against Portland. ... The Nuggets rank last in the league for turnovers with an average of 18 per game. Against the Blazers they had 18.Trail Blazers: The Blazers beat the Nuggets 115-113 in overtime earlier this season in Denver. With six assists tonight, Damian Lillard surpassed Geoff Petrie for fourth place on Portlands all-time list for assists with 2,058.LILLARD-PROTESTS: There have been protests every night in Portland since Tuesdays election of Donald Trump. At times the demonstrations have turned violent with property damage, a non-fatal shooting and 71 arrests on Saturday.I think its very unfortunate that people have done some of the things they have done during the protest. A lot of harm and damage has been done, Lillard told ESPN. I do understand their frustration, and I commend people wanting to come together for some kind of change. Tearing apart your own city just isnt the place to begin, and also making your own city less of a safe place isnt the answer.There has been increased security at the Moda Center since the election.MURRAYS BIG NIGHT: I was getting worried missing them early, he said about his fourth-quarter surge. I was so wide open and I wasnt hitting them so I wanted to make up for that. In addition to his top game in terms of points and 3-pointers, the rookie out of Kentucky also had a season-best five rebounds.UP NEXT:Nuggets: Denver hosts the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday.Trail Blazers: Portland hosts the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday. Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys China Jerseys China Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys 2020 China Jerseys Wholesale China Jerseys Jerseys NFL China ' ' '