I was thinking about Melky Cabrera the other day and his odds of being named Comeback Player of the Year. Cheap Air Max 720 Wholesale . After all, he was a disaster in his first season with the Jays in 2013. It was only after the fact we learned he needed surgery to have a tumour removed from his back, which seriously impeded his abilities last season to be the player he had been in San Francisco and Kansas City. Right now Melky is hitting .298 with 11 homers and 37 runs batted, and is playing better defence in left field than at any point last year. Hes even beginning to put the PED suspension in the review mirror. Yes, he would be a worthy pick for American League Comeback Player of the year. This really is a fascinating award. Its often said it is one no player really wants to win because it means at some point your career has gone off the rails or youve suffered a serious, possibly career-threatening injury. Only one Blue Jays player has even won the award. On May 29 of 2008, second baseman Aaron Hill suffered a concussion when he collided with teammate David Eckstein. Hill missed the remainder of the season. He came back though with a vengence in 2009, batting .286 and 37 doubles, 36 homers and 108 runs batted in. He went to the All Star Game in St. Louis in July, was named Blue Jays Player of the Year, and ultimately, American League Comeback Player of the year. Its interesting that there are actually three versions of this award. The original and the one with the most historic cache was established by the Sporting News in 1965. The Players Association created its version in 1992 followed finally by Major League Baseball in 2005. Two players won it after coming back from heart attacks, Tony Conigliaro of the Red Sox in 1969 and Scarboroughs own John Hiller - the Tigers starter turned closer. In addition to Hiller another Canadian "Hall of Famer" Fergy Jenkins won the award in 1974 with Texas. In 1976, the National League honours went to Tommy John, naturally for the year he had after undergoing the landmark elbow reconstruction surgery that still bears his name. In the American League, three men have won the award twice - Norm Cash of the Tigers, "Boog" Powell of the Orioles and Royals right hander Bret Saberhagen. In the National League, the club is even more exclusive. Former Expos first baseman Andres "The Big Cat" Galaragga won in Colorado in 1993 and Atlanta in 2000, while former Blue Jays right hander Chris Carpenter won twice with St. Louis in 2004 and again in 2009. Former pitcher and current broadcaster Rick Sutcliffe stands alone as the only player to win in both leagues. He did it in 1987 with the Cubs and 1992 with Baltimore. Talk about impressive runs, from 1977 through 1979, future Hall of Famers won in the National League three years running, with Willie McCovey, Willie Stargell and Lou Brock so honoured. But the ultimate comeback story is unfolding this season in Cincinnati. Heck this guys entire career has been one gigantic comeback story. Alfredo Simon is a 33 year old right-hander out of the Dominican Republic. He was signed back in 1999 by the Phillies as an amateur free agent. But in those days he went by the name of Carlos Cabrera. He hid his true identity so he could conceal his true age. The Phillies thought he was younger and didnt find out the truth until 2004. Simon has bounced around a lot and didnt actually crack the Majors until 2008 with Baltimore. He had brief snatches of success with the 0s saving 17 games in 2010 and starting 16 in 2011, but in 2012 he was claimed on waivers by the Reds off the Orioles. Before this season, Alfredo Simon had a career record in six years of (17-18) with 19 saves. He had been with six organizations, three of them twice. Yet the other night at 33 he become the National Leagues first 10-game winner this season. In fact he is (10-3) with a 3.05 ERA and he is convinced he can pitch 200 innings this season even though his previous high was 115 2-3 with Baltimore in 2011. A truly amazing story. All of which brings us to Ricky Romero, whos been slogging it out in Triple-A Buffalo trying to find the old Ricky who used to be the ace of the Blue Jays staff three years ago. We learned Thursday, that Ricky had to undergo surgery on his left knee and is done for the rest of this season. Ricky will be 29 years old next season and in the final guaranteed year of his contract. The Jays will be paying him another $7.5 million dollars. Maybe the knee surgery will make a difference and Ricky can author the kind of comeback story that Alfredo Simon has. One more thing on Simon. He had to battle back from Tommy John surgery as well after getting injured in just his second start for the Orioles in 2009.. This weekend marks a special anniversary at Rogers Centre. Saturday it will be 14 years since the only no-hitter in the history of the facility was pitched there. Oaklands Dave Stewart accomplishing the feat on June 21, 1990. Ironically later that same night, Fernando Valenzuela no-hit St. Louis. It was the only time in Major League history two no-nos have been thrown on the same day. Three years later Stewart won a World Series with the Jays and later became their assistant General Manager. Cheap Air Max 720 China . Neither made it that far in 2013. Not even close. Federer lost his second match at the All England Club. Nadal exited in the first round, a year after bowing out in the second. Cheap Air Max 720 . "Hes over there," the first baseman said. "You dont need to talk to anybody else." Indeed, Peralta did it all as the majors top team won again. http://www.cheapairmax720freeshipping.com/ .com) - James Harden put the Houston Rockets on his back and willed them to an overtime victory on Thursday.INDIANAPOLIS - Adam Vinatieris greying temples and greyer beard reveal one part of his remarkable career. At age 41, he is the NFLs oldest player.Hes not slowing down.Nine years after the leagues best clutch kicker made the surprising move to leave New England and sign with rival Indianapolis, Vinatieri is still finding ways to kick it in a young mans world.At his age, he could probably just leave practice and say See you on Sunday. But Vinnie works just as much now as he did when he was 25 years old, teammate Pat McAfee said. The reason he is so good and can be so good for however long he wants to be is his work ethic.McAfee was 9 years old when Vinatieri was a rookie in 1996.Over five seasons as Vinatieris understudy, the Colts punter and kickoff specialist says Vinatieri has advised him on everything from how to eat right to finding the proper balance between football and life. McAfee believes those life lessons have helped him thrive, and remain the primary reason Vinatieri seems to be on the cusp of milestones every week.The next chapter could come Sunday night when Vinatieri will try to become the first player in league history with 17 seasons of 100 points. He needs eight points to break a tie with Jason Elam, and it would be a fitting moment as the Patriots (7-2) and Colts (6-3) renew their rivalry.Hes as good of a kicker, good of a clutch kicker, and consistent kicker thats probably ever been in the game, New England coach Bill Belichick said Wednesday. Mentally, hes as tough as they come in terms of concentration, focus, discipline, blocking out all the things that he cant control and just doing his job.Vinatieri, after all, made decisive last-minute field goals in each of New Englands three Super Bowl wins. He earned his fourth Super Bowl ring in his first season with Indy. He made two equally memorable field goals during a New England blizzard, to tie and then beat Oakland, as the Pats made their first title run.Last month, he became first NFL player to score 900 points with two franchises and hes just 60 points away from making it an even 1,000 with both teams. With two points Sunday, hell also join Morten Andersen, Gary Anderson and Jason Hanson as the only players to reach 2,100 career points.TThings havent changed much this year. Cheap Air Max 720 Sale. Vinatieri is 32 of 32 on extra points and 20 of 20 on field goals. His current streak of 26 consecutive field goals made is the third longest in franchise history.But Vinatieris legacy cannot be measured purely by numbers.Hes played for Hall of Fame coach Bill Parcells, Hall of Fame finalist Tony Dungy and, of course, Belichick. Hes played with three No. 1 overall draft picks -- Drew Bledsoe, Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck -- in addition to certain Hall of Famer Tom Brady. He also played for the defunct World League of American Football long ago.Not all of his moments have been memorable. His Super Bowl kickoff against Green Bay in 1997, returned for a touchdown by Desmond Howard, has appeared in the NFLs Hall of Fame. It made Howard the only special teams player to ever win the MVP award.Vinatieri put that behind him long ago. An avid hunter, he also learned at a young age about the necessity of maintaining a steady heart rate before taking a shot.Backup quarterback Matt Hasselbeck saw how good he truly is when Vinatieri popped in a video of a lion hunt in Africa. As Vinatieri tracked the animal, the guide started explaining it was no longer safe.I feel like Im pretty unflinchable and my heart was racing, Hasselbeck said. I remember thinking, Theres no way a field goal is going to get his heart racing.Teammates dont just respect Vinatieri for his experiences. Theyve given him one of the rarest titles a kicker can attain, locker room leader.Not surprisingly, Vinatieri doesnt let the milestones, the nickname, the honours or the buzz get in the way of what he does best. Thats how he got a foothold in the NFL. And thats how he intends to keep it until he leaves, on his terms.Its been a lot of fun, he said. There have been so many great moments throughout my career -- the first time you win the Super Bowl is something you dream about as a kid. The Snow Bowl game was fun. Tackling Herschel Walker as rookie was great fun.When you get to my age, you focus on staying healthy and staying productive, he added. If thats a year or three years, I dont know. Im not putting a time on it.___Online:AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL ' ' '