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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. Jesus Molina Jersey .com) - Brad Stuart has yet to play a regular-season game for the Colorado Avalanche, but that didnt deter the club from signing the veteran defenseman to a two-year contract extension on Monday. Giovani dos Santos Jersey . According to a report from ESPN, the veteran safety has signed another one-year deal with the team Raiders, the team that drafted him, and who he returned to last year after a long stint with the Green Bay Packers. http://www.soccermexicojerseysteamstore.com/jonathan-dos-santos-mexico-jersey/ . Vinci also beat Dulgheru last week in Bucharest en route to her first WTA final in a year. Vinci next faces sixth-seeded Kurumi Nara of Japan, who beat Czech qualifier Katerina Siniakova 7-6 (5), 6-7 (3), 6-2. No. Jose de Jesus Corona Jersey . The weekend at Oriole Park has been less kind, with three players suffering varying degrees of injury. The worst ailment of the three, at least optically, is the deep bone bruise suffered by Adam Lind when he fouled a pitch off the top of his right foot in the sixth inning of Saturdays game. Edson Alvarez Jersey . Henry, who missed three games with a knee injury, was charged with a handball in the penalty area in the 82nd minute as he went to block a strike from Patrick Mullins. On the ensuing penalty kick, Lee Nguyen picked up his fourth goal of the season, giving the Revolution a 2-1 win Saturday afternoon.DAVIE, Fla. -- Ryan Tannehill plans to take the first snap on offence Sunday for the Dolphins against the Oakland Raiders, at least temporarily putting an end to questions about Miamis quarterback situation. Head coach Joe Philbin hasnt said Tannehill would be the starter but the third-year quarterback insisted that where he stands has been made clear to him. He has taken all of the snaps with the first team. "Ive been preparing to play Oakland in London and to go out there and win," said Tannehill, who has completed just 56.5 per cent of his passes and ranks 29th in the NFL in passer rating at 74.1. "Im taking the first snap of the game and playing the game." Philbins approach has created a distraction in the locker room, and Tannehill said that was an issue and was not a good feeling for him. But Tannehill said he understood Philbins handling of the situation, and remains confident in his abilities and the potential of Miamis offence. "Obviously, it doesnt feel good. It creates a bunch of stir and a bunch of distraction in the locker room, mostly from the outside coming in," Tannehill said. "Just guys having to deal with the distraction of it, its not a good feeling but hes been clear with me and I know where I stand. I dont know how it first came to me. I think I received some texts from basically everyone Ive ever known offering me support, which is a good thing I guess, and then coach came to me." Backup quarterback Matt Moore confirmed that nothing has changed with his role and that he has not taken a snap with the first team since training camp.dddddddddddd "Ive taken zero reps. Ryans prepared the same way he always does and Ive prepared the same way I always do," said Moore, who is the highest paid backup quarterback in the league and won six games as a starter for Miami in 2011. "We showed up on Tuesday and everything was the same. Obviously, I did get a couple of text messages from friends who read things and it caught me off guard but nothing was said in here." The quarterbacks lockers are near each other and they are together in the position meetings and on the practice field. Moore didnt notice any difference in Tannehills demeanour this week. With the Dolphins trying to avoid going into the bye week at 1-3, Tannehill understands the importance of this game with Oakland and he feels like he has the full support of his teammates. He spoke confidently about the running game and the offensive line, while saying he wished Philbin had handled it differently. "Does it feel good to deal with all the distractions that have been created because of the situation? No," Tannehill said. "Thats life. You face distractions. You face adversity in life and you have to be able to handle it. "You have to be able to fight through it and become a better man, become a better player because of it. Were going about our normal week. Its all this stuff on the outside that seems like the worlds collapsing. . I think the guys are confident, not only in their abilities but in mine." ' ' '