Parapsychologie Info » ed out. The Padres had runners on the corners

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. Kansas City Royals Store . Hattestad managed to avoid the carnage midway through the mens final, as a crash took out three skiers, essentially leaving two men vying for gold. The Norwegian posted a time of 3:38.39, outlasting Swedens Teodor Peterson, who took silver with a time of 3:39. Kansas City Royals Pro Shop . -- Rookie Victor Oladipo came off the bench to score 20 points and Glen Davis had 18, leading the Orlando Magic to a 112-98 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night. https://www.cheaproyals.com/ . - Zac Leslie scored two goals and assisted on two more, and Justin Nichols made 34 saves as the Guelph Storm blanked the Kitchener Rangers 6-0 in Ontario Hockey League action on Sunday. Royals Jerseys China . -- Howie Kendrick had a two-run single in his first game batting leadoff this season, Chris Iannetta hit a pair of RBI singles and the Los Angeles Angels beat Cleveland 6-4 Tuesday night, sending the Indians to their fifth straight defeat. Royals Jerseys 2020 .Y. -- First, Ryan Miller.SAN DIEGO -- Bronson Arroyo figures the Arizona Diamondbacks rotten start has got to turn around at some point. "I mean, I dont think well play 9-22 every 31 games," Arroyo said after he and two relievers combined to hold the punchless San Diego Padres to three hits in a 2-0 victory Friday night in a matchup of the bottom two teams in the NL West. Aaron Hill provided Arroyo with all the backing he needed with a two-run single off Andrew Cashner in the third inning. "We put ourselves in a huge hole, especially in this division with two teams that are pretty potent, so its going to be a long season no matter how you cut it because were going to fighting uphill the whole way," Arroyo said. "Who knows where its going to end up." The Diamondbacks finally hit double digits in wins, but still have the worst record in the majors -- 10-22. They came in with the worst ERA, 5.20. The Padres came with a .217 batting average, worst in the NL and second-worst in the majors. It was the first shutout for the Diamondbacks. The Padres were shut out for the fifth time, tying them with Atlanta for the big league lead. But the 37-year-old Arroyo, in his 15th big league season, was sharp. Arroyo (2-2) allowed three singles in seven innings, struck out six and walked one. He is 4-0 with a 1.54 ERA in his last five starts against San Diego. He didnt allow a hit until Yonder Alonso singled to right with one out in the fifth. Until then, the only baserunner was leadoff batter Everth Cabrera, who reached in the first when Arroyo couldnt handle a chopper for an error. Arroyo then proceeded to get 13 straight outs, including when Seth Smith grounded into an inning-ending double play in the first. "They ran a lot of lefties at me as usual and I got the chance to take advantage of their aggressiveness in the outer half," Arroyo said. "They hit a lot of ground balls to second base. I had a little more zip tonight. I felt a little bit better. It makes a difference for me when I can get the ball up there 88, 89. Once in a while, makee them respect some of my other stuff a bit more.dddddddddddd" Padres starter Andrew Cashner had a bad third inning. He loaded the bases on a single and two walks, and then allowed Hills two-run single to left with two outs. "It was nice to have a smooth one from front to back," Arroyo said. "Get a couple of runs off a tough pitcher and be able to hold the lead was definitely the way you want to start a road trip." Arizonas Kirk Gibson, who won his 300th game as manager, said Arroyo "has been trending toward throwing the ball better and better, and it was the best stuff hes had all year tonight. We saw it from all arm slots; keeping the ball down when he wanted the ball down. I think he hit 90 mph one time." Padres manager Bud Black said Arroyo "has been doing it for a long time. He got back to the form that made him tough." San Diegos Alexi Amarista reached third with two outs in the fifth before being stranded when rookie Jace Peterson grounded out. The Padres had runners on the corners with two outs in the seventh before Peterson again grounded out. Addison Reed pitched the ninth for his seventh save in eight chances. Cashner (2-4) allowed two runs and four hits in six innings, struck out one and walked three. "I didnt think I did a very good job of a lot of stuff," Cashner said. "But I felt like I kept the team in the game, gave us a chance to win. The spot with the bases loaded, I cant hang a slider." NOTES: Arizonas Ender Inciarte, recalled from Triple-A on Wednesday, singled to left in the ninth for his first big league hit. He made his first start, in CF. ... Padres LF Carlos Quentin, who started the season on the disabled list with a bone bruise in his left knee, is scheduled to begin a rehab assignment Saturday for Class AA Lake Elsinore at Inland Empire. RHP Casey Kelly, who missed all of last season while rehabbing from reconstructive elbow surgery, will start that game as he also begins a rehab assignment. It will be his first competition since 2012. ' ' '