Dein erstes Forum » New York Knickerbockers on Nov. 1, 1946, at Torontos

The Toronto Blue Jays fate right now reminds me of the scene in the movie The Princess Bride were the wizard Miracle Max, played by Billy Crystal, is assessing whether the hero Westley is dead or if he can be saved. He used adjectives like "nearly" and "mostly" but saying ultimately that Westley wasnt dead and could be revived with his chocolate-coated miracle pill. Until the great back-to-back pitching performances in San Francisco this week by Josh Johnson and R.A Dickey, I think most Jays fans were looking ahead to next year. In fact, Ive heard many suggest that maybe its time to trade Jose Bautista and get as much as you can for him. For my part, that would be a mistake - at least for now. Its true Bautista will be 33-years old in October and his production has diminished over the last two seasons; largely because of injuries. Still, hes second on the club in RBIs with 30 and tied for second in home runs with 12, and after a horrible start over the first five or six weeks, has his batting average up to .263. Bautista is also the closest thing to a team leader this team has. With Edwin Encarnacion, he gives the Blue Jays a 1-2 power punch that ranks with the best in baseball. Theyre not Cabrera and Fielder in Detroit, but they supply the intimidation factor in the middle of a line-up that a contender simply must have. Bautista still has two years left on his deal with the Blue Jays with an option year, worth $14 million apiece. If things dont work out for this years edition of the Jays and things dont improve by next years trade deadline, that would be the time to move on Bautista. To do it now just doesnt make any sense. I can think of three other teams that traded star right fielders who watched those deals blow up in their faces. Lets start with the Cleveland Indians. On April 17, 1960, they swapped their beloved slugging right fielder Rocky Colavito to Detroit for Harvey Kuenn, who had won the American League batting title the season before. But Rocky was a hero in Cleveland and had blasted 42 homers and drive in 111 runs in 1959. The trade didnt really help either team all that much and hurt Cleveland the most because of how crushed the Indians fans were over their favourite player being moved. Frank Robinson had a solid 10 year career with the Cincinnati Reds and was only 29-years-old when the ball club hinted he was starting to look old and dealt him to Baltimore for pitchers Jack Baldschun, Milt Pappas and outfielder Dick Simpson. Robinson went on to forge a Hall of Fame career in Baltimore, helping the Orioles win a World Series and finished with 586 homeruns. He capped his career by becoming the first African American manager in the Majors in Cleveland. The Reds got burned again on November 3, 1992. They swapped Joe DeBerry and a 29-year-old outfielder by the name of Paul ONeill to the Yankees for outfielder Roberto Kelly, who was touted as a rising star. ONeill turned out to be the difference maker. He played mainly right field for the Yanks and helped them win four World Series titles between 1996 and 2000 under Joe Torre. Though his temper flare-ups were part of the reason the Reds moved him, it was ONeills rage to win that helped put the fire in the belly of those great Yankees teams. Im not saying dont ever trade Jose Bautista -- just not now. See how this season and next play out and then if you have to make, your move. Cuban defector Yasiel Puig is off to an incredible start with the Dodgers. In just four games, the 22-year-old, five-tool player is hitting .438 with three homers, including a grand slam and nine runs batted in. His OBPS is a staggering 1.501. He also has an incredible throwing arm and gunned down a runner at the plate to end a game from the warning track. With Matt Kemp and Carl Crawford injured, Puig will get plenty of playing time playing right field and batting lead-off. But when those two return, the Dodgers are going to have to make some pretty tough decisions, especially with the contracts Kemp, Crawford and their other outfielder Andre Ethier have. Seven of the Blue Jays next 10 games are against Texas - three at Rogers Centre and four at the Ballpark at Arlington next week. Going into last nights game, the Rangers had a 36-22 record - the best mark for 58 games in franchise history. So the next week-and-a-half could really tell the tail on the Blue Jays season. Spencer Ware Jersey . LOUIS -- Theres no telling how these wacky World Series games will end. Anthony Sherman Jersey . Hamelin, who triumphed in the 500 on Saturday, edged out Victor An of Russia by 0.021 seconds to maintain his lead in the World Cup standings. Russias Vladimir Grigorev was third. In the relay, Canada took control six laps from the finish line to beat Russia and the Netherlands. http://www.customchiefsjersey.com/custom-damien-williams-jersey-large-1816n.html . -- Anaheim Ducks defenceman Luca Sbisa will be out at least six weeks with a torn tendon in his right hand. Tanoh Kpassagnon Jersey . Vettel was 0.168 seconds faster than Red Bull teammate Mark Webber around the Suzuka circuit. Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg was two tenths of a second off Vettel. "The car balance is decent, but I think we can still improve," Vettel said. Cam Erving Jersey . The Dane followed up his first European Tour title last weekend with eight birdies and just a single dropped shot on Thursday for a one-stroke advantage over South Africas Allan Versfeld and Portugals Ricardo Santos. TORONTO -- After watching DeMar DeRozan drop more than 30 points on an opponent for the eighth time in nine games this season, Toronto coach Dwane Casey suggested that the game keeps slowing down for the NBAs leading scorer.DeRozan, who is averaging 34.0 points after scoring 33 in the Raptors 118-107 victory over the New York Knicks on Saturday night, agreed.Yeah, I always find ways I can be better mentally, physically, skill-wise, he said following Torontos fourth straight win over New York. I always try to find something in the offseason and during the season as well.The outburst put DeRozan in an exclusive club. In the last 50 years, only Michael Jordan, World B. Free and Tiny Archibald have started a season registering 30-plus points in eight of the first nine games.In a see-saw game that saw 27 lead changes, DeRozan provided a reassuring presence for a team that started one rookie in Pascal Siakum and a second-year player in Norman Powell, who had 19 points.Point guard Kyle Lowry, who scored what turned out to be the winning points with 1:41 to play on a driving layup, pointed to DeRozans fourth-quarter, 4-point play.He was serenaded with chants of MVP! MVP! from the crowd as he put the game out of reach with 26.8 seconds to go.Were just going to keep riding that coattail, Lowry said. Were going to keep letting him do him. Were going to rally around him and keep helping him be great.Carmelo Anthony scored 31 points, while Kristaps Porzingis and Derrick Rose added 21 apiece. Rose, who seemed to be favoring his shoulder at points in the game, said it was just a stinger.Losing, it hurts, period, Rose said after the Knicks fell to 3-6. Ive never been a loser in my life and just got to figure ways out. Were closer, a lot closer and the effort that we had, we need to find that effort for the entire game.TIP-INSKnicks: New York is 0-2 in the back end of back-to-back games. It has 15 such games this season. . The Knicks havent won a season series against thhe Raptors since the 2010-11 season, and are 4-9 against them in their last 13 games.ddddddddddddRaptors: F DeMarre Carroll was dropped from the starting lineup for the first time this season to give him some rest. Powell took his place. . Former Raptor Muggsy Bogues was in attendance, throwing signed basketballs into the crowd. . Saturdays game marked the first of 16 Atlantic Division games for Toronto. The Raptors have not lost a season series with their division rivals since 2012-13.OLD IS NEW AGAINThe Raptors wore blue throwback jerseys in tribute to the Toronto Huskies of the old Basketball Association of America, which eventually became the NBA. The Huskies hosted the New York Knickerbockers on Nov. 1, 1946, at Torontos Maple Leaf Gardens in what the NBA regards as the first game in its history, won 68-66 by the Knicks. The Raptors will wear the Huskies blue uniforms and play on a specially designed Huskies court on six occasions this season, and now have a 5-3 record when wearing the throwback uniforms.THEY SAID ITPowell on guarding Anthony: Im a student of the game. I watch a lot of film, especially guys I look up to. Ive watched so much Carmelo Anthony in my day, played with him so much in (video game NBA) 2K. The Knicks were my favorite team.STRO SHOWToronto Blue Jays pitcher Marcus Stroman watched the game from courtside, and threw a few signed mini basketballs into the crowd, launching a couple of the souvenirs all the way to the back of the lower bowl.UP NEXTKnicks: Host Dallas on Monday looking to snap a five-game losing streak against the Mavericks, who have won three straight at Madison Square Garden.Raptors: Visit Cleveland on Tuesday for the first time since last seasons Eastern Conference finals. The Cavaliers beat the Raptors in Toronto last month in the first of four meetings between the teams this season. ' ' '