The Toronto Blue Jays have made it abundantly clear how much they are counting on Brandon Morrow for the coming season. Brandon Graham Jersey . Morrow made 30 starts in 2011 and appeared to have the "stuff" of which stars are made. He looked even better early in 2012, until a strained oblique muscle shut him down in early June. The injury woes continued in 2013 when an entrapped radial nerve in his pitching arm effectively shut him down from the end of May. So Morrow went from 30 starts in 2011 to 31 combined in 2012 and 2013. Morrow has really only been a starter for four seasons and last lost large chunks of the past two to injuries. So where does that leave us? Well, Morrow has a career record of 41-40 with a 4.22 ERA. He has never pitched more than 179.1 innings. In 102 career starts, he has four complete games, yet when he has been healthy, Morrow has had moments of sheer brilliance and could easily pass for a staff ace or at least a number two starter. He will make $8 million this season in the final year of a three-year pact, with the Jays holding an option year worth $10 million. There are those who will say that since Morrow is about to turn 30, if he doesnt make it it now, he never will. In some cases that is true, but you would be surprised at the number of pitchers whose careers didnt take off until they hit 30. Curt Schilling, who won a pair of World Series titles with the Arizona Diamondbacks and Boston Red Sox only won 52 games through the age of 29. From that point until he retired, he racked up 164 victories. Eventually, he could wind up in the Hall of Fame. Though not as extreme an example, lefty Mickey Lolich, who won three games for the Detroit Tigers in the 1968 World Series, won 101 of his 217 career victories after turning 30. Red Sox knuckleballer Tim Wakefield didnt come to pitching until his late 20s, having tried to make it first as an infielder in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization, but from 30 on, he put up 156 of his 200 career wins. The remarkable Jamie Moyer, the soft tosssing lefty control artist, pitched untill he was 49 and totalled 269 victories. Due to injury, Moyer didnt pitch in his 29th year, but from 30 on, he won the incredible total of 235. So, in other words, at age 29, Morrow has more victories than Moyer did. There are a couple of other lefties worth mentioning, as well. Jim Kaat, whos probably remembered as much now for his broadcasting work nationally as he is for his playing days, won 283 games over his career, He won 128 games through the age of 29 and 155 after that until he retired in his 40s. Tommy John, for whom the operation is named, won 288 games, the seventh-most all-time amongst southpaws. He won 95 games through the age of 29 and he won another 29 more before having elbow transplant surgery at age 31. He missed the entire 1975 season in recovery. John then returned to win 164 more games until he retired in 1989 at age 46. These last two examples put up the most amazing totals of all after turning 30. Hall of Fame knuckleballer Phil Niekro only had 31 victories through the age of 29. He finished with 318. Do the math. He won 287 games from the age of 30 on. Another man enshrined in Cooperstown, lefty Warren Spahn, was almost impressive and, in some ways, even more so. At the age of 21 after just part of one season in the Majors, Spahn left for three years to serve in the United States Army during World War II. When he resumed his career, Spahn racked up 86 wins through the age of 29. From that point on, he won another 277 games for a grand total of 363. Im not saying Brandon Morrow is a lock to follow this same kind of path, not at all, but if he does, you shouldnt be all that surprised. Baseball, as you can see, has had plenty of late bloomers...even late blooming Hall of Famers. - If you can track it down, you must read Joel Shermans piece in the New York Post from February 16th. Its the incredibly fascinating story of how badly Alex Rodriguez wanted to play in Boston and how close it came to actually happening before the Texas Rangers ultimately shipped him to the Yankees. Incidently, the World Series Count since that trade is Red Sox 3, Yankees 1. - The Yankees final series of the coming season is in Boston. That has led fans in the "Hub" to do whatever they can and pay whatever it takes for the chance to see Derek Jeter play his final game of his career in the "Pinstripes." But I would caution the fans that there is no guarantee Jeter will make an appearance. If any or all three are meaningful games and Jeter is healthy, of course he will play. Remember, though , this past season Mariano Rivera made his final appearance at Yankee Stadium. Though he accompanied the team to Houston for its final series with the Astros, he announced in advance, that he wouldnt be pitching in that series. If you want to dial it even further back, Red Sox legend Ted Williams homered in his final at-bat at Fenway Park back in 1960. That was it for the "Splendid Splinter," as he opted not to go to New York at all for the final series of the season against the Yankees. So for the sake of those spending all the money, lets hope Derek Jeter is healthy and there is something on the line in that final series. Jordan Matthews Eagles Jersey .B. -- Canadas Rachel Homan had ideal preparation for the playoffs at the Ford World Curling Championships with a pair of hard-fought wins over tenacious opponents Thursday. Tommy McDonald Jersey . </br></br> Apparently this took place at a soccer stadium for a club match in Brazil.ABBOTSFORD, B.C. -- Krys Kolanos is regaining his form just in time to help the Abbotsford Heat climb up the standings in the tight Western Conference. Kolanos, who had not scored since March 2, had a huge night, recording a hat trick and two assists the Heat rallied to beat the San Antonio Rampage 6-5 Sunday afternoon in American Hockey League action. Kolanos, who had been shuttled to and from the Calgary Flames through a stretch in which he scored just one goal in nine AHL games, spearheaded an Abbotsford comeback that began with his first-period power play goal. Abbotsford trailed 3-0 in the first period but slowly chipped away en-route to the win that put them back into fourth place in the West. "When Krys is playing how Krys played today, I wish I could put it in some kind of words...he just illuminates the room," said Heat head coach Troy Ward. "He makes everyone else more confident." Kolanos played on a new line with Paul Byron and Dustin Sylvester, while his former centre Ben Walter skated with Hugh Jessiman and Adam Estoclet. Both lines figured heavily into the win. "We had some huge efforts," said Heat forward Carter Bancks. "Kolanos stepped up huge, with Sylvester and Byron. Walters unit played great. Its a great win. Those ones feel really good when you can come back." Walter had two third-period goals and had an assist while Sylvester also scored and added an assist for Abbotsford (35-26-7). Jessiman and Byron each had two helpers. "Walter, Jessiman and Estoclet have been one of our best lines," Ward said. "Theyve kind of held us together on road. We managed those guys back together today. I wanted to put Kolanos with more speed so we put him with Byron and Sylvester. Krys skated the game well. They had some chemistry." Kolanos was humble after his five-point afternoon. "Ive got to give all my credit to my linemates," he said. "Sly (Sylvester) and Paulie B (Byron), they really skate the game well. They create opportunities for me to come with speed and give me time. They played unbelievable games tonight." The Heat needed the big game after losing 6-1 at home to the Rampage on Saturday. "It sounds stupid to say in hockey but we just stuck with our system," Bancks said. "We had guys blocking shots, diving in front of pucks. You could just kind of feel it, even when we were down 3-0 that there was no way that we were going to lose this game." San Antonio was up 4-3 when Walter one-timed a pass from Adam Estoclet with Hugh Jessiman screening in front at 1:28 of the third period. Walters second of the game gave the Heat theiir first lead. Randall Cunningham Eagles Jersey. After Jessiman drove hard to the net on a power play, Walter shovelled in a loose puck for his 16th of the year at 14:41. At 15:42 Kolanos completed the hat trick. Sylvester centred the puck from deep in the corner to Kolanos at the far side of the net and he roofed it from a bad angle. "We could have the whole team shoot that 6,000 times and not make one of those," Ward said. "Thats a goal-scorers goal. Thats an unbelievable shot. You just dont do that." Sullivan got the Rampage back within one at 16:57. The defenceman took a pass from Evan Barlow at full speed and beat Irving with a wrist shot short side for his sixth of the season. Kolanos third goal of the day stood as the winner. Greg Rallo, James Wright, Wacey Rabbit, Bracken Kearns and Sean Sullivan scored for San Antonio (35-27-5), which dropped from fifth to seventh in the West. The Rampage opened the scoring at 8:25 of the first. Sullivan shot the puck on net and it was redirected by Rallo for his 19th of the year. It was quickly 2-0. Just after an Abbotsford penalty expired, Wright took the puck off the end boards and banked it off the arm of goaltender Danny Taylor. That gave the Saskatoon native goals in three straight games and 12 on the season. The scoring continued when a clearing attempt off the glass took a fortuitous bounce right to Rabbit and the Lethbridge native scored on a short-handed 2-on-1 with a gorgeous wrist shot. That goal at 16:05 chased Taylor from Abbotsfords net after he made just three saves on six shots. He was replaced by Leland Irving who stopped 12 out of 14 shots for the win. "(They were) all bad bounces Id say for him," Bancks said. "I think Troy just thought it could change the momentum of the game. You see that quite often...even if its not the goalies fault. Irv (Leland Irving) came in and played great. He made some big saves for us. You feel for Danny because you know he wants to be good every night." The Heat got on the board two minutes later during a 5-on-3 power play. Kolanos one-timed a pass from Brent Connelly and it squeaked through the pads of Grumet-Morris at 18:01. Sylvester made it a one-goal game at 15:33 of the second when he snapped a cross-ice pass from Kolanos. The Rampage temporarily restored their two-goal lead with a power-play goal. Jon Matsumoto centred to Kearns for an easy tap in from the blue paint at 17:06 of the second. With 66 seconds remaining in the middle frame, Kolanos brought the Heat back to within one with his second of the game. He took a pass from Byron, snaked across the blue-line and sniped a shot from the hash marks.wholesale jerseys ' ' '
