TORONTO - When a season doesnt go as planned, a team drastically underperforms on expectations, inevitably the time comes when a player-media spat makes its way into the public realm. If you had July 4 in your office pool, congratulations. Hours after going on a Toronto radio station Thursday morning to call into question the persistent criticism hes received from broadcast analysts and former major leaguers Gregg Zaun and Dirk Hayhurst, J.P. Arencibia stood by his comments before a large media horde at Rogers Centre. "I said what I felt," said Arencibia. "I said what I said this morning and I dont regret anything. I think that, again, I feel like me, myself and my teammates feel the same way. "Part of you guys is to be critical," he continued. "Youre not going to talk about every good thing. Youre not going to talk about this guy running the ball out hard. Youre not going to talk about the "sexy" things about the game. Obviously, controversy and negativity is sometimes part of the job. I think that was my point and I feel like I said what I needed to say." Zaun, a former catcher who played for the Blue Jays from 2004-2008, and Hayhurst, who pitched for Toronto in 2009, have regularly criticized Arencibias handling of the pitching staff, his defence and his offensive approach. Entering Thursdays series finale versus Detroit, Arencibias .216 batting average ranked 152nd out of 157 major league players with enough plate appearances to qualify. His .244 on base percentage ranked last among 158 qualified hitters. Arencibias 15 home runs leads all major league catchers but eight of them came in April, as did 16 of his 38 RBI. His WAR rating, which calculates a players value to his team above a minor league replacement, is 0.2. Defensively, Arencibia leads the majors in passed balls (10). Analysts in Toronto and elsewhere have opined on his pitch-framing abilities and his game-calling. Arencibia is a work in progress, hell admit as much, and says hes among the first to arrive and last to leave the ballpark. Whether its watching video or poring over scouting reports, Arencibia says hes constantly preparing. Behind the plate, Arencibia is a workhorse, having caught all but two games not started by R.A. Dickey. The knuckleballer has a personal catcher, first Henry Blanco and now Josh Thole, otherwise its likely Arencibia would have played in some of those games. "Im not going to sit here and say Im excited or should be patted in the toosh for what Ive done but I also think there are a lot of things that go unsaid," said Arencibia. "Its just unjust sometimes. I think, obviously, were not where we wanted to be. The season hasnt gone with the high expectations and that stuff but I think theres nothing specific. Its over a period of time I was making a point of what was being said." After suggesting that because Zaun and Hayhurst played professional baseball, they should have a better understanding of the daily rigours, Arencibia called on both to become more accessible to the players. "I was able to talk to Dirk today," said Arencibia. "I told him, you know hey, you can say what you want to say. Just be around the guys more. Come in. Why was it the first time that youve shown face, today, when something was said? Thats my point. They were both on the other side of the game, they both understand the way it works, I understand its part of their job. Again, why is it the first time that they come around? Why arent they around our team? Probably because theres a little bit more to that." "You never see either one of them, thats a fact," said manager John Gibbons, who identified Arencibia as the clubs "whipping boy". "Where that goes, people view that as gutless. If youre going to write things, you show up. Thats just the way it is, thats how these guys view that stuff. If youre going to take your digs, youve at least got to be around. Thats the way (the players) think." Arencibia is 27-years old but still hasnt hit the three-year anniversary of his major league debut. Highly touted, he made a splash in his debut on August 7, 2010. In that game, a 17-11 win over Tampa Bay, Arencibia went 4-5 with two home runs and three RBI. It seemed the great expectation was set from the get-go. Now, while he struggles for a prolonged period of time, his ceiling has come into question. Kind of like the Blue Jays, version 2013, isnt it?Jed Lowrie Jersey . Now that hes hitting streaking teammates with pin-point passes for easy layups, Love is asserting himself as one of the true superstars in the league. Michael Conforto Mets Jersey . If ever they start actually putting pictures beside words in the dictionary, the Blue Jays left-handers mug will appear beside “Consistency. http://www.metssale.com/mets-juan-lagares-jersey/ .ca. Kerry, Just watched the shootout in the Coyotes/Leafs game and I have to ask, why was the James van Riemsdyk goal allowed to count? All of the video replays we were shown on TV were inconclusive about whether the puck had entirely crossed the line or not. Lenny Dykstra Jersey . Any real chance at payback wont come until the playoff. Still, Pittsburgh knows its taut 3-2 win over the Bruins on Wednesday night is a pretty good place to start laying the groundwork. "They are a very good defensive team," Penguins forward Brandon Sutter said. Todd Frazier Mets Jersey . The 18th player to shoot 60 on the tour, Jamieson settled for par on the final hole when his 15-foot birdie chip grazed the edge of the hole and stayed out. After opening with rounds of 66 and 73 to make the cut by a stroke, he had 11 birdies in the bogey-free round.LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- Nine more athletes, including six medal winners, were retroactively disqualified from the 2008 Beijing Olympics on Wednesday after failing retests of their doping samples.The International Olympic Committee announced the decisions in the latest sanctions imposed on athletes whose stored samples came back positive after being retested with improved methods.Four athletes were stripped of silver medals and two of bronze medals in weightlifting, wrestling and womens steeplechase. All six athletes come from former Soviet countries -- Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan -- and all tested positive for steroids.The IOC stores doping samples for 10 years to allow them to be reanalyzed when enhanced techniques become available. The IOC recorded a total of 98 positive cases in recent resting of samples from Beijing and the 2012 London Olympics.Stripped of silver medals Wednesday were freestyle wrestlers Soslan Tigiev of Uzbekistan (66-74 kilogram division) and Taimuraz Tigiyev of Kazakhstan (84-96 kg) and weightlifters Olha Korobka of Ukraine (75 kg) and Andrei Rybakov of Belarus (85 kg).Its the second time Tigiev has been stripped of an Olympic medal for doping. He lost his bronze medal from the 74 kg event at the London Games after failing a drug test.The IOC stripped Beijing bronze medals on Wednesday from Russian steeplechaser Ekaterina Volkova and Belarusian weighhtlifter Anastasia Novikova (53 kg).ddddddddddddThe IOC asked the international weightlifting, wrestling and track and field federations to modify the Olympic results and consider any further sanctions against the athletes. Decisions on reallocating the medals have not been finalized.The IOC said all six medalists tested positive for the steroid turinabol. Rybakov and Novikova also tested positive for stanozolol. Both substances are traditional steroids with a history dating back decades. The new IOC tests used a technique that could detect the use of those drugs going back weeks and months, rather than just days.Also disqualified Wednesday were Cubas Wilfredo Martinez, who finished fifth in the mens long jump; Nigerian-born Spaniard Josephine Onyia, who was eliminated in the semifinals of the womens 100-meter hurdles; and weightlifter Sardar Hasanov of Azerbaijan, who competed but did not finish in the mens 62-kg division.The IOC said Hasanov tested positive for turinabol, Martinez for the diuretic and masking agent acetazolamide, and Onyia for the stimulant methylhexanamine.Last week, the IOC announced that Russian weightlifter Apti Aukhadov had been stripped of his silver medal from the London Olympics on Tuesday after testing positive for turinabol and drostanolone. ' ' '