that. But to come back, its pretty weird. Ribeiro leads the Predato

The Toronto Blue Jays have made it abundantly clear how much they are counting on Brandon Morrow for the coming season. 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. Cyber Monday Yeezy . -- Chris Crawford hit a 3-pointer with 1:36 left to put Memphis ahead to stay, and the 21st-ranked Tigers beat seventh-ranked Louisville 72-66 Saturday, sweeping the season series from the Cardinals. Cheap Yeezy . But luckily for the Canadian squad, one goal was all it needed. Winnipegs Sophie Schmidt scored the winner off a Diana Matheson corner kick to seal Canadas third-place spot in the Torneio Internacional de Futebol Feminino in Brazil on Sunday. https://www.fakeyeezywholesaleonline.com/ .com) - Devin Booker scored 19 points and top-ranked Kentucky put on a defensive clinic in an 83-44 obliteration of UCLA in the CBS Sports Classic. Yeezy Sale .C. -- The RBC Cups semifinal participants were decided by a pair of overtime games. Clearance Yeezy . So what happens? Stevenson lands a huge left to Dawsons temple only 76 seconds into the opening round and walks away with the championship belt. "I said Id knock him out," said Stevenson (21-1).(SportsNetwork.com) - The Arizona Coyotes will try to snap their longest home losing streak in franchise history on Thursday night as they take on Mike Ribeiro and the Nashville Predators. In dropping the first two of a five-game homestand, the Coyotes are 0-5-2 in their past seven at Gila River Arena. That is the longest home skid in franchise history, even dating back to the clubs time as the original Winnipeg Jets. The Coyotes lost 5-2 to the Boston Bruins on Saturday, getting goals from Mikkel Boedker and Joe Vitale in the clubs third straight loss and sixth in seven games. Devan Dubnyk was tagged for four goals on 24 shots while Mike Smith stopped 8- of-9 in relief. We need our goaltenders to clean up a little more, said Arizona head coach Dave Tippett, whose club will try to avoid its first four-game slide of the season. Smith has posted a 3.27 goals against average and .890 save percentage in 21 games with 20 starts this season, while Dubnyk has logged a 2.74 GAA and .918 save percentage in 10 games with eight starts. Smith may get the start tonight and is 3-4-1 in his career versus Nashville with a 2.79 GAA and .898 save percentage. Arizona may also get forward David Moss in the lineup for the first time since he suffered an upper-body injury on Oct. 23 versus Minnesota. He has missed the past 22 games. Tonight will mark Ribeiros return to Arizona, where he spent one forgettable season in 2013-14. The Coyotes signed him to a four-year deal after he posted 49 points in 48 games with Washington, but Ribeiro had just 16 goals and 47 points in 80 games with the Coyotes. Ribeirro had the final three years of his contract bought out and Arizonas front office even took some parting shots at him following the release.dddddddddddd I think I mainly (feel) regret, that I couldnt help them in the way that I wanted, Ribeiro said on Nashvilles website. I know theres some resentment toward me because I let some people down that believed in me, and I kind of hurt them by doing that. But its in the past now; I moved forward from that. But to come back, its pretty weird. Ribeiro leads the Predators with 16 assists and is second on the club with 24 points. He had a goal and an assist in Nashvilles 4-3 shootout win at home over Arizona on Oct. 21. The Preds have won three straight over the Coyotes. Nashville avoided its first two-game slide of the season with Tuesdays 3-0 win over the Colorado Avalanche. Filip Forsberg scored on a breakaway 2:23 into the game and Pekka Rinne made 26 saves for his third shutout of the season and 35th of his career. I dont think I have any more words to use for him, said Forsberg of Rinne. Its unbelievable. He kept us in the game, especially in the second period when they kind of took over. He was huge for us and Im very happy to have him on our team. James Neal and Gabriel Bourque added empty-net goals in Nashvilles sixth victory in eight games, while Ribeiro had a pair of assists. One negative was forward Paul Gaustad exiting early in the first period with a lower-body injury that has him day-to-day. Rinne has logged six shutouts in his career versus Arizona, going 11-6-1 with a 2.11 GAA and .927 save percentage as well. ' ' '