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SARASOTA, Fla. -- The noontime sun blazes relentlessly as players from the rookie-level Gulf Coast League affiliates of the Baltimore Orioles and Boston Red Sox engage in pregame stretching and throwing. Each player has the same career goal, but the one wearing the No. 21 jersey for the Orioles undoubtedly has the most intriguing background. Hes the only one wearing a microphone with a documentary crew following him. Hes the only one who answers to a cartoonish nickname. Hes the only one who received worldwide attention simply by signing his name on a contract.Hes the one trying to become the first Chinese player by birth and ancestry to play in the major leagues (two American players born in China have reached the majors).Twenty-year-old Xu Guiyuan (pronounced shoo GEE-win) seems somewhat embarrassed by the fuss. He graciously accommodates the media, even though he almost certainly would be more comfortable plying his trade without all the attention. Its valuable experience, however, just like batting, running, throwing and fielding. Because if he does get called up to the majors someday, its going to be a very big deal to millions of people.Playing first base, Xu makes an error on his first fielding chance of the game -- Thats no good for the TV, manager Orlando Gomez jokes in the dugout -- before settling down as the Orioles turn a double play to get out of the inning.Xu grew up in Shenzhen, a growing city near Hong Kong with an estimated population of more than 10 million. He didnt touch a baseball until he was 10 years old, but before long he joined his older brother in playing the sport at school. By age 14, Xu was recruited to the MLB development center in Wuxi, a city of about 6 million in the Jiangsu province. He jumped at the opportunity even though the academy, the first of its kind in that nation, is almost 1,000 miles from Shenzhen.It was there that he acquired his nickname: Itchy. One of the coaches asked players what they wanted to be called, and Xu invoked the name of Ichiro Suzuki.I liked Ichiro, and I wanted to be called Ichiro, Xu said. But my coach said, Too many people are called Ichiro. Then, he called me Itchy. In the beginning, I didnt know what Itchy means. Then when I learned English, then I know. But Im already used to it.Xu was first recruited by MLB International as a left-handed pitcher, but it wasnt long before he showed aptitude as a hitter. Former Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Jesse Litsch coached at the Wuxi academy while Xu was there. Litsch said Xu was clearly the top prospect, and he tried to give him an idea of how to handle the daily rigors and lifestyle of being a professional ballplayer.As far as ability, he definitely stood out, said Litsch, who now serves as pitching coach for the Bridgeport Bluefish of the independent Atlantic League. Hes the one who hit the balls over the fence. Hes the one that showed the most potential -- not only as a player, as a person too, with his [speaking] English and stuff like that. That plays a big factor in it also.By 2015, Xu had shown enough promise for the Orioles to make him the first player from an MLB academy in China to sign a pro contract.Baltimore general manager Dan Duquette has seen baseball grow internationally over the past three decades. He was scouting director of the Milwaukee Brewers in 1987 when they signed Dave Nilsson, who became the first player to reach the majors after being signed directly from Australia. Duquette fully realizes the significance of signing Xu.Its a milestone in that hes the first player from mainland China, Duquette said. We hope hes the first of many. This is the start of the process.Xu is 6-foot, 185 pounds and bats and throws left-handed. He was listed as a first baseman for much of the season but also has seen time at the corner outfield spots, perhaps a more logical fit for a player his size. He said he doesnt care what position hes playing as long as he gets to keep playing and practicing.Playing defense is a little bit of a challenge, Xu said. Its a struggle, but Im getting better.Against the Red Sox, Xu records the first out of the third inning by digging a throw from the third baseman out of the dirt. When he makes a similar play the following inning, a teammate shouts, Go Itchy. For the final out of the eighth, he scoops up a grounder and carefully flips the ball to his pitcher on the move. At the plate, Xu bats eighth and goes 1-for-3 with a solid single to center.Gomez sees the improvement, but he also has to juggle a 34-man roster. To get in the lineup consistently, a player must perform consistently. Xu started the season impressively, batting .500 (12-for-24) in his first nine games. Since then, hes hitting .143 (8-for-56). Through Tuesday, with two games remaining in the season, he was batting .250 with an OPS of .561 in 32 games overall.Hes making some progress, Gomez said. In the long run, I think hes going to be a better outfielder [than first baseman]. The knowledge of the game is getting better, and that helps a lot. Im happy with the way hes really coming around.Xu faces a steeper learning curve than most of his peers. Hes competing against pitchers with more velocity and movement than he ever saw in China.The speed of the game is something that he has improved on, said GCL Orioles hitting coach Milt May, who played 15 seasons in the major leagues. Its still a work in progress, but hes made great strides along those lines. ... He has since become a pretty good fastball hitter, and thats to his credit. Hes a very teachable guy. Hes all ears. He asks questions and tries to apply things that you might suggest to him.Before he came to America, Xu watched baseball on his phone. With certain players, he would rewind their swings over and over in order to study their mechanics. In addition to Ichiro, he lists Mike Trout and fellow lefties Robinson Cano and Chris Davis among the major league hitters he likes to analyze. Now he watches games with an eye on learning the proper responses to various game situations.Xu lives in a hotel along with many of his teammates, and hes acclimating to life in the United States. Like many Americans his age, he eats a lot of burgers and burritos -- especially double chicken and double steak from Chipotle.Being halfway around the world from his family is difficult, Xu said, but hes committed to the process it will take to climb the organizational ladder. When training in Wuxi, he was far from his family, but at least they were in the same time zone. Now, with a time difference of 12 hours, communicating is considerably more difficult. He stays in touch via FaceTime once or twice a week.Itchy said he enjoys life in America, and being immersed in the culture helps him learn English at a faster pace. Although his background is unique, he said teammates have helped him a lot and made him feel welcome.Guys will joke with him, and he will joke back, Gomez said. The Latin players will give him a little bit of a hard time, and he gives them a hard time back. Before the year is over, he might be speaking Spanish, too.Meantime, MLB is committed to making inroads in China. In addition to the development center in Wuxi, MLB has established academies in the Jiangsu province cities of Changzhou and Nanjing. MLB also reached a deal prior to this season to stream 125 games per year online in China through 2018. The baseball talent pool in China is growing, and more prospects will likely be headed to the American minor leagues in the next decade.Basketballs popularity notably surged in China following the emergence of Shanghai-native Yao Ming in the early 2000s. Although it might not be realistic to expect comparable growth in baseball, MLB must be excited to see how much the game could grow when the first native-born player of Chinese heritage reaches the major leagues.Xu dreams of being the one to break that barrier. Hes well aware of his status as a torchbearer but said he doesnt feel pressure to succeed because of it. Instead, he tries to stay in the moment, remain prepared and give his best effort every day.I want to work hard, Xu said. Keep your goal. Keep your focus. Stay confident.Its difficult to project the potential of any prospect at the rookie level, especially with Xu, who is absorbing so much so quickly. His development over the next year will be telling, Gomez said. At that point, the Orioles talent evaluators will have a much clearer idea of what they have.Ive always said, Anybody whos got a uniform has got a chance, Gomez said. I think with one more year, you can tell what hes going to be.Indeed, the Orioles will know a lot more about Xu by next summer, but it typically takes several years to project a player with some certainty. That said, even if Itchy doesnt ultimately play in the major leagues, Duquette said Xu has a future in baseball if he so chooses, because his experience can help lay the groundwork for a talent pipeline between MLB and China.Im glad we signed him, Duquette said. At the very least, he can go back to China and teach baseball and continue the process. Lebron Shoes For Sale .C. -- After a listless first half, the Washington Wizards used a big third quarter run to beat the Charlotte Bobcats Bradley Beal scored 21 points and the Wizards used a 17-0 run in the third quarter to take control of what had been a close game and beat the Bobcats 97-83 on Tuesday night. Lebron James Sneakers Wholesale . A knee to the thigh might have stung him the most, but his sixth straight double-double made up for the brief burst of pain. http://www.lebronjamessneakerswholesale.com/ . John Tavares, Thomas Vanek and Kyle Okposo were also being counted on to slow down sizzling Rangers forward Rick Nash. That plan didnt go so well early. Lebron 16 Shoes Cheap . Terms of the deal were not immediately available. The 26-year-old finished last season with Clevelands Triple-A affiliate in Columbus after signing with the Indians in August. Lebron Shoes Clearance .ca looks back at the stories and moments that made the year memorable.FORT WORTH, Texas -- Matt Kuchar was hoping he would be able to finish his second round Friday night at Colonial. He ended up with the lead -- and a very early wakeup call. Kuchar had only three holes to complete in what so far was a bogey-free round, with his ball already on the 16th green. He was at 10 under and described the conditions as "just perfect right now." But Kuchar was among 54 players still on the course when play was suspended at Hogans Alley because of an impending storm system. The 18 groups that didnt finish are scheduled to resume the second round at 7:15 a.m. Saturday, just more than 12 1/2 hours after coming off the course. "Thats a bit of a bummer," said Kuchar, who opened with a 5-under 65. "Its no fun to wake up at 4:30 to get out here and play three holes." At least Kuchar has the lead, by one stroke over Graham DeLaet. The Weyburn, Sask., who shot a 67 in a morning round completed before a two-hour, 10-minute delay just after noon because of lightning. DeLaet was at 9-under 131. David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., plummeted down the leaderboard to 2 over after hitting a 78. Kuchar, No. 13 in the world and the highest-ranked player in the field, took the lead with a 6-foot-birdie putt at 457-yard 14th hole, and recovered from a drive into a fairway bunker on the 15th for a par while clouds darkened and thunder could be heard in the distance. Soon after Kuchar, the WGC-Accenture Match Play winner in February, teed off at the par-3 16th, and his ball landed about 40 feet from the cup, the horn sounded ending play. It was raining heavily about 30 minutes later. First-round leader Ryan Palmer, the Colonial member who had an opening 62, was still at 8 under after an up-and-down 12 holes Friday that he managed to play at even par. Steve Flesch (64), 19-year-old Jordan Spieth (67) from Dallas and Josh Teater (67) finished at 8 under. Fleschs 64 matched the best completed round of the day and, more importantly, will end his string of 16 missed cuts on the PGA Tour since October 2011. The 2004 Colonial champion missed the cut in all 12 of his PGA Tour starts last year before right shoulder surgery in August, and is playing only his third tour event this year. The 45-year-old Flesch is playing on a non-exempt major medical extension and has to make $647,510 between this weekend and his next three events to prolong that medical extension. "Im very comfortable here and just glad to actually play on the weekend now," Flesch said. "I was actually cruising, then I got that rain delay and I kind of lost all of my rhythm. ... Its like starting your whole round over. My swing didnt feel very well on those last three (holes)." Flesch was on the course trying to complete his morning roound when play was stopped for the first time.dddddddddddd He had just made a 33-foot birdie putt at the difficult par-4 fifth hole, his 14th hole of the day. The lefty finished with four pars in a row. Palmer hit his opening drive way right at No. 1, a par 5 that is generally among Colonials easiest holes, and started with a par. The former Texas A&M golfer with three PGA Tour wins sank an 11-foot birdie putt at No. 3, but hit his drive at No. 5 out of bounds and had to drop in the rough, leading a double bogey. He followed with a bogey at No. 6 after driving into a fairway bunker. "When you shoot 8 under, its hard to come back sometimes. ... I was calm all day, confident," Palmer said. "Now I even par sitting on 13th tee, I have soft greens and pretty calm winds in the morning, so maybe I can get up there with Kuchar and we can have some fun tomorrow." In his last three holes before the suspension of play, Palmer made an 8-foot birdied at No. 10 and rolled in a 27-footer at No. 12. He never teed off at the par-3 13th. Kuchar matched DeLaet for the lead after four birdies his first seven holes. Kuchar had a 15-foot eagle chance at No. 1 that came up just short, then hit is approach at No. 2 that stopped inside 3 feet after ricocheting out of the cup. "The front nine, I really got it going," Kuchar said. "I jarred a shot on 2 that landed in the hole and came back out. ... I really got off to a great start. And then I kept playing some good golf." DeLaet was 10 under after his third consecutive birdie, a 6-footer at the 373-yard second hole that was his shortest putt in that stretch. Then he arrived at Colonials famed "horrible horseshoe" as the Nos. 3-5 holes are known because of their layout and the difficulty of the stretch -- a 239-yard par 3 sandwiched by the two longest par 4s on the course. "It definitely got me today," said DeLaet, who bogeyed all three holes. After DeLaets tee shot at the 470-yard third hole went into a fairway bunker, the Canadian badly missed the green at the par 3 before his approach shot at the 475-yard fifth hole came up short of the green. But DeLaet finished strong, with consecutive birdies to finish after he had come up just short of a 31-foot birdie at No. 7. "Always nice, and kind of got myself right back in it," said DeLaet, whose has never finished better than third on the PGA Tour in 69 events. "The main thing for me, I feel more comfortable now if I see my name on the leaderboard. ... A few years ago, if I was in 15th going into the weekend, I knew if I could just maintain that position that that would be a good check kind of thing. My mindset now is beyond that. I want to try to win golf tournaments." ' ' '