Gruß-Forum » geles Angels. Since Morales is out of options

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. 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. Vapormax Flyknit Pánská . General manager David Poile called signing Ribeiro a great opportunity to add a talented, experienced and creative centre Tuesday when he introduced the veteran at a news conference. Ribeiros contract is worth $1.05 million after being bought out of the final three years of a $22 million contract by the Coyotes recently. Vapormax Sleva . This week, topics cover the World Series champion Red Sox, John Farrell and what to look forward to this off-season. http://www.vapormaxlevne.cz/ ." Those traits were clear to the 24,071 at Olympic Stadium on Saturday as the Impact dominated the scoring chances but settled for a 2-2 draw with the New York Red Bulls in a battle of still-winless Major League Soccer teams. Vapormax Plus Cz . According to a report from ESPN, the veteran safety has signed another one-year deal with the team Raiders, the team that drafted him, and who he returned to last year after a long stint with the Green Bay Packers. Nike Vapormax Levne . Under the deal, the Vikings will donate an undisclosed sum of money to five gay rights-related charities over the next five years. Kluwe said he wont receive any money as part of the settlement. "This will help a lot of people that really do need that help," Kluwe said.MINNEAPOLIS -- After three consecutive years of 90-plus losses, Minnesota Twins general manager Terry Ryan is hoping a rare in-season, free-agent signing will keep his team in contention the rest of the summer. Minnesota signed first baseman/designated hitter Kendrys Morales to a one-year, prorated, $12 million contract on Sunday. The Cuban-born slugger, who hit .277 with 23 homers and 80 RBIs in 156 games with the Seattle Mariners last season, has been in Miami working out while waiting to sign. "Why not the Twins?" Ryan asked during a press conference announcing the signing. "I read there were probably a handful of clubs that were chasing Kendrys. We were ahead of many of those clubs in the standings." The Twins have lost 291 games the last three seasons, but are 29-31 this year, five games back in the AL Central and 2 1/2 back in the wild card standings. Morales, who turns 31 on June 20, had been unsigned because teams were hesitant to surrender a compensatory first-round pick to sign him. Since the Twins signed him after the MLB draft, they do not have to give up a coveted pick. The prorated portion of Morales contract will total slightly more than $7.4 million. "It just made sense," said Ryan, who is back in the GM chair after stepping away during spring training to battle skin cancer. For Morales, the deal gives him an opportunity to provide some power to an inconsistent Twins offence in desperate need of a full-time designated hitter. "It wasnt easy for a baseball player to watch baseball games when he knows he can pllay," Morales said through an interpreter.dddddddddddd "But you have to be mentally tough and be prepared so when this opportunity does come around, youre ready to do what you gotta do." In 620 career games, Morales has 102 home runs and 345 RBIs. He also missed 1 1/2 years after breaking his leg celebrating a game-ending home run on May 29, 2010, when he was with the Los Angeles Angels. Since Morales is out of options and not injured, the Twins cant send him to the minors to shake off the rust from missing the seasons first 60 games. Hell work out with the team and take the field when hes ready. "Its a day to day thing, Ill be working out and talking to (manager Ron Gardenhire) and the coaching staff," Morales said. "When Im ready, Ill be in there. We just want to do it the right way." Morales greeted his new teammates in the clubhouse before Sundays game against the Houston Astros and spent some time with Tony Oliva, Minnesotas most famous Cuban-born player. Since the Twins arent known for making splashy moves, especially during the season, players viewed the signing as a signal from management that theyre serious about contending. "Its a good signing. A lot of us are real excited right now," Joe Mauer said. "It tells you how close this division is and us adding is definitely a great thing." To make room on the 25-man roster, Minnesota released Jason Kubel, who appeared in 798 games over parts of eight seasons with the Twins. He was hitting .224 this year, but just .158 since April. ' ' '