NEW YORK -- Barry Larkin doesnt have any delusions of baseball supplanting soccer as the king of sports in Brazil.But the Hall of Fame shortstop, who serves as manager for Brazil in baseballs version of the World Cup, is deeply ambitious about the potential to cultivate the game in Latin Americas most populous nation -- and he knows the best way to do it is to spark national pride by winning at the international level.Brazil is competing in this weeks World Baseball Classic qualifier at MCU Park in Brooklyn, New York, against Israel, Great Britain and Pakistan. The winner secures the final berth in the 16-team field for the 2017 WBC and advances to face South Korea, Chinese Taipei and the Netherlands in pool play in March in Seoul. Brazil won its WBC qualifier opener 10-0 over Pakistan on Thursday but lost 1-0 to Israel on Friday. Despite that defeat, the Brazilians can advance to the WBC main draw with two wins over the weekend.Larkin has assembled a roster that includes six players younger than?20 and four players at least 40. Nine played this year for minor league teams affiliated with Major League Baseball organizations, including two at the Triple-A level. Four are natives of Cuba who defected. Three were born in the United States but have parental ties to Brazil. Several players and coaches are Brazilians of Japanese heritage.How unusual is Team Brazil? In Thursdays game, 40-year-old outfielder Juan Carlos Muniz hit an inside-the-park home run, and 15-year-old pitcher Eric Pardinho took the mound the next inning.Somehow, all the puzzle pieces seem to fit together seamlessly -- even if clubhouse chatter is delivered in Portuguese, Japanese, English and Spanish. Larkin said he speaks Portunhol, a conversational blend of Portuguese and Spanish.What I speak is baseball, Larkin said. The ability to communicate is so important, but its reciprocal in the fact that guys from Brazil who want to play in the big leagues [know that] communication is in English. So there is a willingness on both sides to be willing to be able to communicate. That makes it much, much easier.Larkins team certainly is a baseball melting pot, and Triple-A pitcher Andre Rienzo, who has major league service time with the Miami Marlins and Chicago White Sox, said he cherishes the opportunity to represent his country with a diverse group of teammates.I always do my best to be [available] to try and help the team the most I can, Rienzo said. For me, that is the best baseball I play all year. I have fun. I play with friends, and we are family.In addition to Larkin, the coaching staff includes longtime major leaguers LaTroy Hawkins and Steve Finley. The trio has a combined 59 years of playing experience in the majors.Team Brazil celebrated its greatest triumph in September 2012, defeating a favored Panama team twice in Panamas home stadium to earn a spot in the 2013 WBC. Larkin was also the coach of that team, and he sees the achievement as a landmark moment for his program.That was fantastic, Larkin said. It was kind of a culmination of the years prior, putting together the program down in Brazil and seeing some of the challenges and overcoming some of the hurdles. ... I just cant stop smiling because to see some of those guys and see how theyre received and respected [at home in Brazil] is a very positive, positive thing.Brazil subsequently went winless in pool play at the 2013 WBC, which relegated the team back to the qualifying round. Still, the bar has been raised, and Team Brazil badly wants to get back to the WBC main draw in 2017.Were here to compete, and we always expect to win, said shortstop Leonardo Reginatto, who played at Triple-A in the Minnesota Twins organization this season. We want to go to Korea.Brazil is home to the worlds largest foreign population of Japanese people, so its no surprise that its baseball history has a heavy Japanese influence. It was Japanese immigrants who introduced the sport to Brazil in 1916.This year, we complete 100 years of baseball history in Brazil, bench coach Mitsuyoshi Sato said through an interpreter. There were highs and lows during those 100 years. It wasnt just a steady [growth]. In the beginning, it was a recreational activity for the immigrants from Japan. They came to Brazil, and in their free time, they played baseball.Sato joined the national program before the 1983 Pan-American games and never left. Now hes an institution in Brazilian baseball. Born in Japan, he immigrated to Brazil as a child. He has three sons involved with the team and all are Brazil natives. Estevao Sato is the vice president of Brazils baseball federation. Renan Sato is the first-base coach, and Reinaldo Sato is an infielder on the current team.The Bichette family is much newer to the Brazilian team. The American-born sons of former Colorado Rockies slugger Dante Bichette, Dante Jr. and Bo, qualify to play because their mother, Mariana, is a native of Porto Alegre, Brazil. Their maternal grandmother is a lifelong Brazilian, and their grandfather is a native of China who immigrated to Brazil. The whole family is in Brooklyn to attend the qualifier.It means more to my grandma and grandpa than anyone could imagine, Dante Bichette Jr. said.MLB is taking a keen interest in Brazil, hoping to expand its footprint deeper into South America. Larkin, Hawkins and Finley became affiliated with Brazil through MLBs international arm, and MLB has provided coaching to top prospects at the Yakult national training facility, which opened six years ago in Ibiuna.Yan Gomes became the first Brazilian-born MLB player when he broke in with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2012. Since then, two others have followed in his footsteps -- Rienzo debuted with the White Sox in 2013 and Paulo Orlando joined the Kansas City Royals in 2015.Ultimately MLB will measure success in Brazil by participation numbers, which can be boosted by the grass-roots message that soccer isnt the only sport that can provide a financial road out of the impoverished urban favelas.I think kids in Brazil see that this is a real option for them, and that has a lot to do with the success that these guys have had on the field, Larkin said.If Brazil wins the Brooklyn qualifier, it has the opportunity to add two more important pieces to its roster for WBC pool play -- major leaguers Gomes and Orlando. Theres no reason to believe they wont successfully step right in on a team that Rienzo said prides itself on unity.Every time I put on the jersey with the name Brazil on the front, that is the most important [team] in my life, Rienzo said. 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Lou Williams scored 25 points and the Hawks continued their offensive upswing as they rolled to an easy 118-85 victory over the Jazz on Friday night, winning their third straight and for the fourth time in five games. Basketball Shoes 2020 . Vancouver Whitecaps and Toronto FC failed to make the postseason while Montreal Impact fell at the first hurdle losing heavily to Houston Dynamo in the Eastern Conference Knockout Round. Fake Basketball Shoes . -- Hunter Smith scored the winner with just 12 seconds remaining in the third period as the Oshawa Generals edged the host Sarnia Sting 5-4 on Friday in Ontario Hockey League action. CHICAGO -- Maybe the Chicago White Sox will change their luck by changing the name of their stadium.No guarantees, though.The ballpark currently called U.S. Cellular Field will become known as Guaranteed Rate Field starting in November. The team and the mortgage company announced on Wednesday?a 13-year naming rights deal.We view this partnership as an opportunity to connect a successful Chicago business with a historic baseball franchise, and we look forward to growing this important relationship over the coming years as millions of fans enjoy White Sox baseball at Guaranteed Rate Field, White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf said.The White Sox are below .500 and are on the verge of missing the playoffs for the 10th time in 11 seasons since the 2005 team won the World Series.This is a very solid partner that is interested in helping us drive people to the ballpark and giving us the best opportunity to put the best possible product out on the field, White Sox senior vice president of sales and marketing Brooks Boyer said. The revenue generated for our club ... goes back out into the field. This is a nice step today toward continuing to fulfill the vision of putting the best possible club out on the field that can be out there for our fans.The agreement was approved by the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority, which owns the ballpark. The White Sox hold a one-year option that could extend the deal through 2030.Financial terms of thee deal were not disclosed, though ISFA chairman Manny Sanchez said the agreement will generate up to $6.dddddddddddd4 million for the authority. He also said the ISFA figures to save at least $15 million, and as much as $20 million to $25 million, in potential facilities improvements as part of a compromise with the team for approving the naming rights deal.This is something that is really, really a serendipitous godsend that we have, in my view, encountered on behalf of the taxpayers of the state of Illinois, Sanchez said.The ballpark has been named U.S. Cellular Field since 2003 after being called New Comiskey Park from 1991 to 2002. Team personnel and fans refer to it as The Cell and, on occasion, Comiskey.Boyer said a new nickname will grow organically and ultimately be determined by fans.We talked about it, Guaranteed Rate President and CEO Victor Ciardelli said. We feel the fans should decide.Another thing: Guaranteed Rates logo has an arrow pointing down. While customers might see that as a good direction for their rates, thats not the way teams want to go.That fact wasnt lost on Boyer, who said the White Sox and Guaranteed Rate are working on logos for the ballpark.Hopefully, well have the ERAs that follow that arrow, and well have the winning percentage that goes the other way, Boyer said. ' ' '