In football, the straight on kicker is long gone and there are no more drop kicks. Basket Nike Air Max 95 Pas Cher . In hockey, there is no more rover and the players dont go without helmets and masks. But in baseball, some things refuse to die. This past season, the Blue Jays R.A. Dickey was the only full-time knuckleball pitcher in the majors. His knuckler is more of a hybrid, thrown harder than the traditional floater of the likes of Phil Niekro, Tim Wakefield and Charlie Hough. I often wondered that when the Jays aquired Dickey in the offseason last year, if he would eventually be the last ever to throw the storied pitch in the majors. Maybe not. The Red Sox have a knuckball pitcher in their system in 29-year-old right-hander Steven Wright. He made the conversion to throwing the knuckleball in 2011 and made it to the BoSox this past season with mixed success. On Aug. 6, his catcher Ryan Lavarnway was charged with four passed balls in one inning, tying the Major League record. The first time it happened was in 1954, when Ray Katt was catching Hall of Fame knuckleballer Hoyt Wilhelm, the second when ex-Blue Jay Gino Petralli - then of the Rangers - was catching yet another knuckleballer in Charlie Hough. And theres another would-be knuckler. Kevin Pucetas - a 29-year-old in the Texas organization - has bounced around a bit. He was drafted in the 17th round of the June draft in 2006. He showed enough promise to pitch in the All-Star Futures game in 2008. However, by October of 2010, he was dealt to the Royals as the player to be named later in the Jose Guillen deal. He was released by K.C. in 2011 and signed by Washington. Things didnt work out with the Nationals either and in January of this year, he was signed to a minor league deal by Texas. Pucetas pitched for Frisco in the Double "A" Texas League this season and didnt really blow anyone away with his stuff. After the season, to keep playing the sport he loved, he agreed to try and become a knuckleballer. He made seven starts in the Dominican Winter League and went 3-1 with a 4.86 ERA. However, something seemed to click in his final four outings. He went 22 2/3 innings and shaved his ERA down to 2.78. He gave up 13 hits, struck out 14 and walked only three. The Dominican team wanted him to stay longer because he was pitching so well, but as Gerry Fraley of The Dallas Morning News reported, the Rangers called him back stateside because they wanted him to be well-rested for spring training. So keep that name in mind come February - Kevin Pucetas of the Texas Rangers. Who knows, maybe hell follow the path that Dickey and so many other blazed before him. Three Ex-Blue Jays were also in the news this past week. Chris Woodward, who was drafted in 54th round by the Blue Jays in 2004, was named infield coach at Seattle. Chris spent parts of seven seasons with the Blue Jays as a "Jack of all Trades" utilityman and spent 12 years in the majors in total. Darnell Coles spent 14 years in the bigs and was with the Blue Jays for two seasons, including 1993, when he was a key bat of the bench for the team that won a second straight World Series. Darnell had just been promoted by the Brewers to be manager of their Triple "A" Nashville farm club, but opted out to become an assistant hitting coach with the Detroit Tigers with new skipper Brad Ausmus. The third former Blue Jay in the news was Ted Lilly, who retired this week at age 37 and battled what had become chronic neck problems. The lefty came to the Blue Jays in one of J.P. Ricciardis better deals back on November of 2003. The Jays sent outfielder Bob Kielty to Oakland to get him and from 2004 through 2006, Lilly went 37-34 for the Jays and ate a lot of innings. Unfortunately, he became better known in Toronto for his in-game run-in with skipper John Gibbons, when he balked at being taken out of the game while he was in the process of blowing a huge lead. Both men have put that behind them now. Lilly was traded five times over his career and is also one of those who was an Expo and a Blue Jay. He put together a career record of 130-113 with a 4.14 ERA. He didnt want to retire and was actually trying to pitch in the Venezuelan Winter League when he realized his body just couldnt carry him anymore. Now on to other matters - the Winter Meetings start Dec. 9, a week from Monday in Orlando. Cant wait! Nike Roshe Run Homme .C. -- The Grand Rapids Griffins are back atop the Western Conference thanks to a gritty come-from-behind win Saturday night. Nike Roshe Run Homme Pas Cher . Reassurance came from Paul Tesori, his caddie and close friend whose newborn son is in intensive care in a Florida hospital. "Paul sent me a text this morning, just told me he loved me and wanted to go out and fight as hard as I would any other day," Simpson said Sunday after doing just that.SAN DIEGO -- It was a rally that truly came out of left field. James Ward won 10 of the last 11 games to take a stunning five-set victory against Sam Querrey and give Britain a 2-0 lead against the United States in the first round of the Davis Cup on a temporary red clay court in the outfield of Petco Park, the downtown home of baseballs San Diego Padres. Ward, ranked 175th in the world, was two games from losing the match when he began his rally that gave him a 1-6, 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 victory. With dusk approaching and the lights on at the downtown baseball park, Ward won the match with an overhand smash. He leaned back, pumped his fists and hollered as his teammates, watching from one side of the court, jumped to their feet in celebration. "Its great to be around a group of guys you dont really have the support of normally, every week of the year," Ward said "Its certainly a different feeling. Youre not just playing for yourself, youre playing for everyone else." Wards victory in 3 hours, 11 minutes, followed Wimbledon champion Andy Murrays easy straight-set victory against Donald Young, who was making his Davis Cup debut. Murray has won 17 straight Davis Cup singles matches. Britain can clinch the match on Saturday if it wins doubles. Murray and Colin Fleming are scheduled to face Bob and Mike Bryan. Captains have until an hour before the match to make any changes. Murray, who had back surgery in September, said he feels good to go for doubles. Querrey, the United States No. 1 singles player in this tournament and ranked No. 49 in the world, had a 4-2 lead in the fourth set after winning the sixth game at love. But Ward rallied to win the next four games and the set to force a deciding fifth set. He jumped to a 4-0 lead in the fifth set before Querrey broke serve with a bleeder over the net to pull to 4-1. Ward then closed out the match. Ward didnt break Querreys serve until the eighth game of the fourth set to tie it at 4-4. "I thought Sam served really well from the beginning to the first three sets," Ward said. "It wasnt me returning badly. He made a lot of good serves. But in the end I got some chances and it happened." Ward improved to 9-5 in Davis Cup play. "Look, I love playing for my country," he said. "Every time I do it, it obviously brings something out in me thats a bit different, which I didnt see in the first set." He said team captain Leon Smith told him to come out of his shell. "And I did," Ward said. Ward said his parents travelleed to San Diego for the match and are staying with long-time friends. Nike Roshe Run Femme Pas Cher. "I came here when I was a kid," he said. "People always said, Where is your favourite place in the world youve been, and I have often said San Diego. Its a great place. I love being here. Again, to play a great match like today was pleasing." Querrey said he was "a little bummed obviously that I couldnt help the team. But its not over. You have to win three points. And if we can bounce back tomorrow and Bob and Mike win the doubles and then I think our side takes two on Sunday. "I thought he played well," Querrey said of Ward. "He came up with some good shots. A few break points that I had earlier, maybe if I had come through on those it could have been different. But he played well throughout the match. I started missing a few first serves when I needed them. But he did a good job of putting returns in later in the match and ended the match." U.S. captain Jim Courier said Ward played the way the Americans thought he would. "He was up, he was down, he was all over the place, but in the end he fought all the way through and the quality he showed shined through." Murray overwhelmed Young 6-1, 6-2, 6-3 in 1:38 in the opener of the World Group match. Murray was barely challenged by Young. The two-time Grand Slam winner took leads of 5-0 in the first set and 5-1 in the second set. Young never broke serve but took the sixth game of the third set to four deuces before the British star had an ace and then won when Young netted a backhand. "I played a good match today," Murray said. "I gave him very few opportunities when I was serving. I gave him a couple in the third set which was due to his good play and him playing better and me making some mistakes. But overall it was a good match for me." Murray, who had back surgery in September, said playing a relatively short match on Friday gives him a good chance of playing in the doubles match Saturday. "That obviously helps," he said. "Weekends like this you want to try conserve as much energy as you can when possible. Days can be quite long, and playing three days in a row is challenging so its good to get one three sets so we have options when we play tomorrow." In other World Group matches, France leads Australia 2-0, Kazakhstan leads Belgium 2-0, Germany is up 2-0 against Spain and Switzerland leads Serbia 2-0. The Canada-Japan, Italy-Argentina and Netherlands-Czech Republic matches are tied 1-1. wholesale jerseys cheap jerseys ' ' '
