Die Anpflanzler [DA] » Memphis trailed most of

Over the winter, we wrote about the Blue Jays coming to terms with a pair of pitchers who were trying to become knuckleballers. They were Josh Banks and Tomo Ohka. Banks had been a Blue Jays draft pick who had a brief stint with the club in 2007 before moving on to San Diego and then Houston, compiling a career record of 4-8. The other was Ohka, a journeyman from Japan who spent time with six organizations, including the Blue Jays in 2007, where he went 2-5. Ohka, who turns 38 next week, was already sent to the minor league camp last week. Now there is a third. Hes 30-year-old Frank Viola III. If the name is familiar, it should be. Hes the son of former big league star lefty, Frank Viola Jr. Frank Jr. had a very good career, predominantly with the Twins and the Mets. He was the MVP of the 1987 World Series - the Twins first win ever - and won the Cy Young Award in the American League the following season - his final full season with the Twins with a 24-7 season. Frank "Sweet Music" Viola, as he was affectionately known, is a member of the Twins Hall of Fame. Viola actually finished off his major league career in a short stop over with the Blue Jays in 1996. He went 1-3 for the Jays and ended his career on May 28 of that year. His son chased that major league dream as well and pitched in the White Sox organization thtough 2007 before injuries appeared to cut his career short. He dabbled in the media doing Florida State League games and even had his own fishing show, but Viola III never gave up his dream of pitching in the majors. The next step was trying to master the knuckleball. He worked with the likes of R,A Dickey, Tim Wakefield and Hall of Famer Phil Niekro and finally impressed the Blue Jays enough that they signed him last week. This doesnt necessarily mean the 30-year-old will make it to the big club. The Jays game plan is to have a knuckleballer or two in the minors to work with their catching prospects. That way, if they get called up to the Jays theyll be ready to work with Dickey without any major adjustment. Still, it would be great to see one of these knuckleballers eventually make it to the majors. Frank Viola Jr. incidentally is entering his second season as the pitching coach with the Mets Triple A farm club, the Las Vegas 51s. After writing about the passing of Dr. Frank Jobe, the man who pioneered Tommy John surgery last week, I discovered another interesting twist to the Tommy John story. Back in 1968, in a game at old Tiger Stadium, John was pitching against Detroit. In the first inning he hit Dick McAuliffe with a pitch. He later scored on an RBI single by Al Kaline. When McAuliffe came up again in the third, threw one pitch high and tight and then a 3-2 pitch behind McAuliffes head that sent him sprawling in the dirt. When he got up he dusted himself off and started to head to first glancing out towards John. McAuliffe claims that John taunted him by saying "What the F are you looking at?" That was the final straw for McAuliffe and he charged the mound. John got into a defensive position and the knee of the charging McAuliffe dug into Johns left shoulder. He suffered a separated shoulder and torn shoulder ligaments and missed the rest of the season. McAuliffe was suspended for five games and was fined $250.00. The interesting thing about John is that he resisted the advice to have surgery and let the shoulder heal with rest and rehab. The plan worked, though it took a while for John to get back to peak efficiency. 1974 was different. When Tommy John blew out his elbow, he said his arm simply felt dead. This time he agreed to surgery, which not only changed his career but revolutionized baseball in terms of treating this type of elbow injury. The Detroit Tigers have made history over the last three years, winning five of the six major awards handed out. They have won three straight MVP awards - the last two by Miguel Cabrerra and three straight Cy Young awards. The Tigers have made the postseason in each of the last three years. The only other time the organization did that was in the hay day of Ty Cobb in 1907, 1908 and 1909 when they dropped three straight World Series - two to the Cubs and one to the Pirates. This season under rookie manager Brad Ausmus, they will be trying to make the playoffs for the fourth straight time and for the first time in franchise history. Over the weekend, Tigers GM Dave Dumbrowski denied rumours he was listening to offers for starting pitcher Rick Porcello. In fact, he denied trying to trade any of his starters. But considering the Tigers have question marks at 3rd base and left field, you have to wonder a bit. 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Vonn had another scary moment at Saturdays World Cup downhill in Val dIsere, ending up clutching her knee in pain after losing her balance and missing a gate. But she gave a reassuring answer shortly afterward, saying no new damage had been done to the surgically repaired knee, and that her plans for the Sochi Olympics were still intact.OAKLAND, Calif. -- Zach Randolph made just enough shots to keep Memphis close. Mike Conley made the one that mattered most. The Grizzlies might have a new coach, but theyre beginning to look like a team that intends to make a return trip to the Western Conference finals. Conley shook off a rough shooting night to hit a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 1:36 left in overtime, and the Grizzlies held on to beat the Golden State Warriors 88-81 on Wednesday. "New coach, new offence ... we just have to get used to it," said Conley, who finished with 19 points, six rebounds and four assists. "Now weve been able to figure it out." Conley had missed 10 of his 18 shots before sinking a wide-open jumper from beyond the arc to give Memphis an 82-79 lead. After Tayshaun Prince followed with a 21-foot jumper, Golden State centre Andrew Bogut scored on an alley-oop from Andre Iguodala to cut the gap to 84-81. Prince made another jumper and Marc Gasol added two free throws for the Grizzlies, who outscored the Warriors 13-6 in the extra period. Princes two jumpers over the final 56 seconds helped seal Memphis 11th consecutive win against Golden State. Randolph scored 21 points on 9-of-22 shooting and added 12 rebounds, while Gasol had 18 points and 11 rebounds. The win completed a four-game West Coast sweep for Memphis after the Grizzlies had dropped two of three at home. "We had to battle through this whole road trip," first-year Grizzlies coach David Joerger said. "Last game of the road trip and we just made some stops, blocked some shots. It feels good to get rolling and take some momentum home with us." Andrew Bogut had 12 points and 14 rebounds for Golden State, which played without guard Stephen Curry. That forced coach Mark Jackson to shuffle his lineup. Iguodala ran the point in Currys absence, finishing with 14 assists, while Harrison Barnes made his second start of the season. "Obviously, (Curry) is a big-time player and not having him hurt us," Jackson said. "They outplayed us tonight..ddddddddddddWe battled, we defended, we executed and we fell short." Memphis trailed most of the first half and was down 70-66 in the fourth quarter before rallying to force overtime on Gasols two free throws with 2:02 left. Both teams missed chances to win in regulation before the Grizzlies pulled away over the final 2 minutes of overtime to hand the Warriors their first home loss of the season. Golden State, which had won four straight since losing to Memphis by 18 on Nov. 9, fell short in a bid to match its best start since 1991-92. Curry was held out after sustaining a mild concussion from hitting his head on the floor diving for a loose ball during Golden States win at Utah on Monday. The Warriors second-leading scorer, Curry sat on the bench but received a rousing ovation from the crowd when a video tribute of his record-setting 3-point season from a year ago played on the scoreboard. Even without their point guard, the Warriors got off to a quick start. Barnes had 10 points in the first quarter to help Golden State build a 26-16 lead. The Warriors also got a lift when Iguodala split a double-team by Gasol and Conley near the top of the key and dunked. A pair of jumpers from Klay Thompson pushed Golden States lead to 32-20 in the second. Memphis, which shot 35 per cent in the first half, couldnt get closer than seven and trailed by 10 at halftime. The Grizzlies trailed by seven early in the third when Randolph and Conley scored four points apiece as part of a 10-0 run that helped give Memphis a slim lead heading into the fourth. Randolph, who had 23 points and 11 rebounds in the first meeting between the teams, struggled with his shot most of the night but had eight points in the third quarter to keep the Grizzlies close. NOTES: Jackson was unsure whether Curry would play Friday against the Lakers. "Were fortunate, because looking at the video it could have been a lot worse," Jackson said. "Well continue to keep a close eye on him." ... Golden State backup centre Ognjen Kuzmic broke his right pinkie in the first half. China NFL Jerseys Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys NFL Jerseys Cheap Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap Basketball Jerseys Online Stitched Hockey Jerseys Wholesale Baseball Jerseys Football Jerseys Outlet College Jerseys For Sale Cheap MLB Jerseys Wholesale Soccer Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys For Sale Wholesale NFL Jerseys ' ' '