Allgemeine Themen » about that? Well, those

On Boxing Day, the pursuit of Masahiro Tanaka finally begins. The 25-year-old Japanese star has officially been posted by his club team, the Rakuten Golden Eagles. So for the new capped fee of $20 million, any one of the 30 Major League teams can get in on the bidding and getting a deal done by 5pm on January 24. Tanaka was a spectacular 24-0 this season with a miniscule 1.27 ERA. He is the same age Yu Darvish was when he was posted two years ago and, like Darvish, wants the challenge of pitching in the Majors. The Blue Jays were in on the chase for Darvish, but to what extent we will never really know. There were rumblings at the time that the Blue Jays barely lost out to Texas and their winning bid of $51.7 million. But Alex Anthopoulos and the organization would never confirm or deny that and in the end, it was felt the Rangers were actually bidding against themselves just to be sure they got Darvish. Texas signed him to a six-year, $60 million deal but if certain conditions are met, the sixth year turns into a player option. So far its been a good investment by Texas. Darvish is 29-18 over two seasons with 401 innings, 498 strikeouts and 169 walks. He was added the American League All-Star roster his first year, and only missed last years mid-summer classic due to an injury. Most scouts believe Darvish to be a better pitcher than Tanaka, who projects by many to be a number 2 or 3 starter, rather than a staff ace. When Tanaka won the Sawamura Award as top pitcher in Japan in 2011, over Darvish, he conceded that although he had slightly better numbers than Darvish in a couple of categories, he said "as a pitcher, Im nowhere near his calibre". The Blue Jays self-imposed five-year limit on contracts is one thing working against them, although Anthopoulos conceded a couple of weeks ago that the Jays might go to six years for the right player. The biggest thing going against the Jays is the desperation of some of those big-name teams that figure to be in on the bidding and the marquee presence of others. The Yankees pitching staff needs an infussion of youth and talent. The Dodgers havent won a World Series since 1988 and Texas has never won one. Boston is in that year-by-year battle for bragging rights and now that theyve won three World Series titles this century to the Yankees two, they arent going to let up now. The Blue Jays may make an offer just to say they did, but Id bet on Texas or the Yankees to be Tanakas ultimate landing spot. A couple of trivia points on Darvish. The first Major League hit he surrendered was to his countryman Ichiro Suzuki and the first home run he surrendered was to Edwin Encarnacion of the Blue Jays on April 30, 2012. Darvish still won that game though, 4-1. Another Babe It was on December 26 of 1919 when the most infamous deal in Red Sox history went down. It was the day Babe Ruth was sold to the Yankees. This is the story of another player who went by the nickname "Babe". Werner Birrer was a reliever and occassional spot starter for parts of three seasons in the 1950s with the Tigers, Orioles and Dodgers. Hes better known for his years pitching in the International League, in Buffalo, the city where he was born. He ultimately made it into the Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame and was a valued member of the community as a teacher and a coach. Babe Birrer passed away back in November at age 85. He had one day in his career where it all came together and earned him the sobriquet "Babe". On July 19 of 1955, Birrer came on in relief in the sixth inning to try and protect a 5-4 Tigers lead over Baltimore. Not only did he pitch four shutout innings of relief to earn his second of four career saves, Birrer slugged a pair of three-run homers to propel the Tigers to a 12-4 victory over the 0s. What was so special about that? Well, those were the only two home runs and only six runs batted inn of Birrers entire career. As far as anyone knows, he is the only Major League player in history to cram all of his home runs and RBI production into just one game. For that one day, that one game, Werner Birrer was called "Babe" by his teammates for the rest of his career. Oddly enough, the two relievers who surrendered those home runs to Birrer, George Zuverink and Art Shallock, are both still alive and amongst the 100 oldest surviving Major Leaguers. Shallock is 89 and 245 days, Zuverink 89 and 128 days. Just a little known page in the book of Tigers history. Ito Smith Jersey . The cause of his death is as of yet undetermined, but police said foul play is not suspected. Isaiah Oliver Falcons Jersey . Unfortunately for Toronto, that surge was too much to handle as the Stars scored six straight goals and ended the Marlies season with a 6-2 victory on Tuesday. Toronto had built a 2-0 lead on goals by Frazer McLaren and Peter Holland, but Texas charged back with a wild rally late in the second period to spark its trip to the Calder Cup final. http://www.falconsrookiestore.com/Falcons-Justin-Bethel-Jersey/ . On Thursday, they signed former Browns linebacker DQwell Jackson. Terms of the deal were not immediately available. Calvin Ridley Jersey . Toronto FC hosts the three-time Italian league champions in a friendly Aug. 7 at BMO Field, a game that Roma CEO Italo Zanzi said falls within a key part of their pre-season. Deadrin Senat Falcons Jersey .com) - Carmelo Anthony tallied 31 points to help the New York Knicks continue their improved play of late with a 100-92 victory over a short-handed Oklahoma City Thunder squad.Got a question on rule clarification, comments on rule enforcements or some memorable NHL stories? Kerry wants to answer your emails at cmonref@tsn.ca. Hey Kerry, I enjoyed your opinion on the Burrows hit. Please give us a breakdown of what happened between Andrew Ference and Zack Kassian on Saturday night. It seems to me that the Oilers players have been trying to get revenge on Kassian for some time now and maybe its enough already. Ference jumped off the ice and in my view the principal point of contact was the shoulder to the head. At high speed. I look forward to your unbiased breakdown. Wayne Buhler --- Kerry, why isnt anyone talking about Andrew Ferences hit on Zack Kassian in the Edmonton-Vancouver game on Saturday? Do you think its different/should be looked at differently than the Alex Burrows hit? Mark Westgate Wayne and Mark: The illegal check delivered by Andrew Ference to the head of Zack Kassian was not of the two minute variety but deserving of a match penalty under rule 48.5. As a repeat offender, Ference was suspended three games. Ference was last suspended for one game on May 2, 2013 following an illegal check to the head of Mikhail Grablovski in game one of the Bruins-Maple Leafs playoff series. In the explanatory video Brendan Shanahan said, “Ference makes the decision to check Grabovski after playing the puck, however in doing so, he lunges toward Grabovski, extending his left arm and shoulder, picking Grabovsski’s head and making it the principal point of contact.dddddddddddd” On January 22, 2012 Ference was imposed a three-game suspension for charging Rangers defenceman, Ryan McDonagh. The referee assessed a 5 minute major and game misconduct on the play. McDonagh was shaken up as a result of the hit but was not injured. On this most recent play, Ference was set in a coiled posture as he cut across to make a hit on Kassian when the Canuck forward carried the puck wide near the top of the left end zone face-off circle. Once Kassian dished the puck into the middle slot Ference elevated his posture and with skates off the ice, delivered a shoulder cap check making Kassian’s head the main point of contact. Ference also elevated his right arm/elbow through the illegal check. Kassian’s posture was upright and therefore did not contribute in any way to being contacted in the head by his smaller opponent. The main difference between this illegal hit and the one that Alex Burrows was suspended three games for is in the timing. Burrows picked off Alexei Emelin’s head through excessively late contact. I thought the Ference hit on Kassian was more in line with the four-game suspension just levied to the Predators’ Anton Volchenko following his illegal check to the head of Michael Ferland of the Calgary Flames. Even though Ferland was injured and Kassian was not, Volchenko (like Ference) has been suspended two previous times during his NHL career. 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