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Over the winter, we wrote about the Blue Jays coming to terms with a pair of pitchers who were trying to become knuckleballers. Nikola Vucevic Jersey . 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. Its still a bit too early to get too excited or too worried about this but Baltimore is 8-2 so far this spring and is scoring nearly eight runs-again, even without a rehabbing Manny Machado (knee) at full strength. Jason Williams Jersey . The world No. 1 had one of the most dominating performances in a final and was on his way to a possible shutout on Sunday until the third-seeded Berdych broke the super Serbs serve in the 12th game of the match. Elfrid Payton Jersey . A wide-eyed 18-year-old visiting North America for only the second time in his young life, Caboclo immediately noticed the "big tower" his new home is best known for. http://www.magicauthenticshop.com/Authentic-Bismack-Biyombo-Magic-Jersey/ . Jets head coach Paul Maurice made the announcement Saturday following the morning skate and confirmed Al Montoya will start in goal against the Dallas Stars on Sunday.OAKLAND, Calif. - More than worrying about the daunting task of trying to replace All-Star Josh Donaldson or dwelling on the shock of being traded from Toronto, Brett Lawrie is embracing the idea of staying healthy as he joins the Oakland Athletics.Bidding farewell to the Blue Jays unforgiving turf field could be a big benefit for his body moving forward, too.(It) treats my body kind of silly and throws it off, he said, noting now, Its grass and dirt. Im excited.Oaklands new third baseman was acquired in a trade from Toronto on Friday night that sent Donaldson to the Blue Jays. Also coming to the As in the deal were left-hander Sean Nolin, right-hander Kendall Graveman and minor league shortstop Franklin Barreto.Lawrie missed a call from Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos, then quickly called back to learn he had been traded.I was kind of at a loss for words to be honest with you. I didnt really know what to say, it happened so fast, Lawrie said. Its almost like I was dreaming.Lawrie wants nothing more than to stay on the field, and figures if that happens the rest will take care of itself. He acknowledges hes had his share of bad luck, and playing on turf didnt do him any favours as a player who is constantly moving and cutting.Give me 550 at-bats in a row. These are thinggs I havent had yet in the big leagues, he said. Penny Hardaway Jersey. He didnt play again after Aug. 5 following a left oblique strain he suffered in his return after being sidelined for more than a month with a broken right index finger.It marked the third oblique injury of Lawries four-year career. He strained his left oblique in a warmup game for the 2013 World Baseball Classic in March 2013, missing the first 14 games of the season. Lawrie also missed almost a month with a right oblique strain in late 2012.The 24-year-old Lawrie, who grew up in British Columbia, has already been on the disabled list six times.For myself its about staying healthy and getting a substantial amount of playing time. Its a new chapter, he said. This is a team that likes to win. I havent been on that side of the coin. I am a big piece of this puzzle, I feel like.Lawrie was a first-round pick by the Brewers at No. 16 overall in the 2008 draft. Traded to Toronto in December 2010, Lawrie made his major league debut Aug. 5, 2011. He played 125 games in 2012 and 107 in 13 before this past season was cut short.Now, he is gearing up to be at full strength for the start of spring training in 2 1/2 months at Oaklands new Arizona home in Mesa.All signs point toward 100 per cent, Lawrie said. I feel great. Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '