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| On Boxing Day, the pursuit of Masahiro Tanaka finally begins. The 25-year-old Japanese star has officially been posted by his club team, the Rakuten Golden Eagles. So for the new capped fee of $20 million, any one of the 30 Major League teams can get in on the bidding and getting a deal done by 5pm on January 24. Tanaka was a spectacular 24-0 this season with a miniscule 1.27 ERA. He is the same age Yu Darvish was when he was posted two years ago and, like Darvish, wants the challenge of pitching in the Majors. The Blue Jays were in on the chase for Darvish, but to what extent we will never really know. There were rumblings at the time that the Blue Jays barely lost out to Texas and their winning bid of $51.7 million. But Alex Anthopoulos and the organization would never confirm or deny that and in the end, it was felt the Rangers were actually bidding against themselves just to be sure they got Darvish. Texas signed him to a six-year, $60 million deal but if certain conditions are met, the sixth year turns into a player option. So far its been a good investment by Texas. Darvish is 29-18 over two seasons with 401 innings, 498 strikeouts and 169 walks. He was added the American League All-Star roster his first year, and only missed last years mid-summer classic due to an injury. Most scouts believe Darvish to be a better pitcher than Tanaka, who projects by many to be a number 2 or 3 starter, rather than a staff ace. When Tanaka won the Sawamura Award as top pitcher in Japan in 2011, over Darvish, he conceded that although he had slightly better numbers than Darvish in a couple of categories, he said "as a pitcher, Im nowhere near his calibre". The Blue Jays self-imposed five-year limit on contracts is one thing working against them, although Anthopoulos conceded a couple of weeks ago that the Jays might go to six years for the right player. The biggest thing going against the Jays is the desperation of some of those big-name teams that figure to be in on the bidding and the marquee presence of others. The Yankees pitching staff needs an infussion of youth and talent. The Dodgers havent won a World Series since 1988 and Texas has never won one. Boston is in that year-by-year battle for bragging rights and now that theyve won three World Series titles this century to the Yankees two, they arent going to let up now. The Blue Jays may make an offer just to say they did, but Id bet on Texas or the Yankees to be Tanakas ultimate landing spot. A couple of trivia points on Darvish. The first Major League hit he surrendered was to his countryman Ichiro Suzuki and the first home run he surrendered was to Edwin Encarnacion of the Blue Jays on April 30, 2012. Darvish still won that game though, 4-1. Another Babe It was on December 26 of 1919 when the most infamous deal in Red Sox history went down. It was the day Babe Ruth was sold to the Yankees. This is the story of another player who went by the nickname "Babe". Werner Birrer was a reliever and occassional spot starter for parts of three seasons in the 1950s with the Tigers, Orioles and Dodgers. Hes better known for his years pitching in the International League, in Buffalo, the city where he was born. He ultimately made it into the Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame and was a valued member of the community as a teacher and a coach. Babe Birrer passed away back in November at age 85. He had one day in his career where it all came together and earned him the sobriquet "Babe". On July 19 of 1955, Birrer came on in relief in the sixth inning to try and protect a 5-4 Tigers lead over Baltimore. Not only did he pitch four shutout innings of relief to earn his second of four career saves, Birrer slugged a pair of three-run homers to propel the Tigers to a 12-4 victory over the 0s. What was so special about that? Well, those were the only two home runs and only six runs batted inn of Birrers entire career. As far as anyone knows, he is the only Major League player in history to cram all of his home runs and RBI production into just one game. For that one day, that one game, Werner Birrer was called "Babe" by his teammates for the rest of his career. Oddly enough, the two relievers who surrendered those home runs to Birrer, George Zuverink and Art Shallock, are both still alive and amongst the 100 oldest surviving Major Leaguers. Shallock is 89 and 245 days, Zuverink 89 and 128 days. Just a little known page in the book of Tigers history. Dwight King Jersey . -- Jakob Silfverberg is making himself right at home with the Anaheim Ducks, scoring four goals in his first four games. Jake Muzzin Jersey . Those lessons were more than enough to overwhelm the Utah Jazz. Lou Williams scored 25 points and the Hawks continued their offensive upswing as they rolled to an easy 118-85 victory over the Jazz on Friday night, winning their third straight and for the fourth time in five games. http://www.kingsnhljerseyofficial.com/wayne-gretzky-black-jersey.html . Booth picked up 65 caps after making her national team debut in 2002 at the age of 17. She most recently played for Sky Blue FC of the National Womens Soccer League. "It just felt like it was my time to move on," she said in a phone interview from her hometown of Burlington, Ont. Tiger Williams Kings Jersey . "Trying to breathe," he said with a grin. Bernier stopped 42 of 43 shots on Monday night, including all 22 in a hectic middle frame, his heroic performance propelling the Leafs toward an undue point in their final game before the Christmas break. Jeff Carter Kings Jersey .ca NBA Power Rankings, ahead of the Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs.While the Canadiens have got off a to very respectable 5-3 start on the season, the next few weeks might prove to be their biggest challenge. Due to the fact the Habs training staff has been the busiest members of the club to start the year, the injury ward is a full house, and now its time for the kids to play a bigger role. The Canadiens started the season without Alexei Emelin, lost Douglas Murray and Davis Drewiske for extended periods during training camp, George Parros saw just over four minutes opening night, Max Pacioretty missed the second game of the year, returned and then suffered the hamstring injury in Winnipeg, Daniel Briere left with a concussion and Brandon Prust hurt his shoulder against Nashville.? Many of the injuries have been under unusual circumstances as well, which makes it all the more frustrating. Yet, the Canadiens have managed to battle on, thanks to some stellar goaltending from Carey Price and the youth movement emerging into bigger roles. Price has been the backbone of the teams success early this year, and is making a very strong case to be Team Canadas starter in Sochi. He has stopped 139 of the last 145 shots he has faced over four games with a save percentage of .959% including a shutout against the Jets. He has tweaked his game working with Stephane Waite, and now finds himself playing a more compact style. Hes consistently square to the shooter, swallowing up rebounds, and has stood up on high shots, swatting them away with his arm. Its clear that Price is on the top of his game and seems to be getting stronger as the games wear on. P.K. Subban leads all NHL defenseman in points, and is continuing to build on his Norris Trophy season from last year, also making it tough for Team Canada to ignore his play. His ice time has been increasing on special teams as well, which is a work in progress for the coaching staff. He is the NHL leader in ppower play ice time, averaging over five minutes a game.dddddddddddd Lars Eller leads the Habs in goals and is scoring on 25% of the shots he takes.? He has shown great chemistry with Alex Galchenyuk and Brendan Gallagher on his wings, as that line has been the most dangerous every night. Now with all the injuries, they will be relied on even more to carry the load. All part of the youth movement needing to play a bigger role. One player that is slowly gaining the confidence of Michel Therrien and in turn is getting more responsibility is Michael Bournival. He scored his first NHL goal at home this week against Columbus.? So far, the 21 year old has averaged 8:39 in time on ice, but has been around the 10 minute mark the last 3 games and has fired 11 shots on goal. His speed has been an asset, and it looks as though hell be promoted against the Oilers on a line with Tomas Plekanec and Brian Gionta. Patrick Holland is also set to make his NHL debut as he was recalled from Hamilton along with Michael Blunden to help fill the vacant forward spots.? Holland was acquired along with Rene Bourque as part of the trade with Calgary involving Michael Cammalleri in January 2012. The veteran forward line of Rene Bourque, David Desharnais and Travis Moen will also be expected to elevate their offensive output. The three have combined for just two goals and six points total in the opening eight games, with Bourque covering both goals and half the points. It wont an easy week either, with the Oilers visiting Montreal on Tuesday, looking to avenge a 4-1 loss in Edmonton. On Thursday, Teemu Selanne and Saku Koivu make their only visit to the Bell Centre this year with the Ducks, followed by the Sharks on Saturday night. The next few weeks for the Canadiens might provide a big test to see how much the youth of the team is ready to carry the load on their own. cheap nfl jerseys cheap jerseys cheap jerseys cheap jerseys cheap nfl jerseys wholesale jerseys ' ' ' |
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posted on: 12/09/2015 05:37:45 AM
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