Thomas becomes the sixth ex-Blue Jay to enter the Hall of Fame, | Forum
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Feb 26 '18
(SportsNetwork. Roberto Perez Jersey .com) - The Anaheim Ducks havent faced much adversity this season, but the Pacific Division leaders will try to avoid losing four straight games for only the second time this season when they visit the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night. It wasnt that long ago when the Ducks appeared poised to run away with the division title but the club has fallen on hard times of late. Anaheim has lost three straight and six of its last nine games and Bruce Boudreaus team is a pedestrian 7-7-2 over its last 16 games. The malaise has helped San Jose force its way into the Pacific title conversation. After winning for the eighth time in 11 games on Tuesday, the Sharks are just two points in back of Anaheim for first place. The Ducks are also two points behind St. Louis for the NHL lead. Anaheim has managed to gain two points during its current 0-1-2 slide, but the club came up empty in Mondays 3-1 home loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Phil Kessel and Tyler Bozak each registered a goal and two assists to lead Toronto to the victory in Leafs head coach Randy Carlyles return to Anaheim. Carlyle, of course, led the Ducks to their only Stanley Cup title in 2007. He served as Anaheims head coach for six-plus seasons before getting fired on Nov. 31, 2011 and replaced by Boudreau. Corey Perry scored the lone Ducks goal, while Frederik Andersen stopped 20 shots in the loss. "We had our fair chances, but we just couldnt capitalize on them," said Anaheim defenseman Francois Beauchemin. "I thought we played a decent game. We didnt get the result we wanted, but we had lots of chances offensively." The Ducks hope they can get back on track during a road-heavy portion of their schedule over the next few weeks. Anaheim, which has won three straight on the road and is 19-9-3 as the guest this season, kicks off a three-game trip tonight and will play seven of their next nine away from Orange County. Anaheim has claimed the first two of four meetings against the Flames this season and has won four of five and 10 of the past 13 encounters in this series. Calgary, however, has beaten the Ducks in three of the last four meetings at the Saddledome. The Flames, who are 17 points out of a playoff spot in the West, have lost two in a row. Calgary was last in action on Monday when it dropped a 3-2 decision to the visiting Los Angeles Kings. Calgary was down 3-0 with just under 13 minutes left in regulation, but made a valiant comeback effort behind goals from Mike Cammalleri and Brian McGrattan. In the end, however, the Flames were unable to get the equalizer and lost for the third time in five games. "Its unfortunate because I felt that defensively we did lots of good things, but we gave two goals off of tips in front and that ends up being the difference," said Calgary head coach Bob Hartley. "But once again we never quit. We pushed and we pushed and we made a decent come back." Joni Ortio made 20 saves in the loss and he could get another start in net tonight. The 22-year-old rookie has never faced the Ducks. Hiller expects to get the start for Anaheim. He is 5-4-1 with a 2.77 goals against average and .905 save percentage in 10 career games against the Flames. Calgary forward Markus Granlund is questionable for Wednesdays game with an upper-body injury suffered in the loss to the Kings. Defenseman Luca Sbisa is also questionable for Anaheim after sitting out Mondays game with a lower-body injury. Corey Kluber Jersey . "Weve given ourselves now a tougher task," said Carlyle after the Friday practice, the Toronto head coach notably chipper and upbeat throughout. "But the bottom line is we just have to win our share of games [and] not worry about what anybody else is doing. Edwin Encarnacion Jersey . - The New Orleans Saints have re-signed receiver Joseph Morgan for one year and have agreed to a four-year deal with free agent fullback Erik Lorig.NEW YORK -- Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and Frank Thomas were elected to baseballs Hall of Fame on Wednesday, while Craig Biggio fell two votes short and tainted stars of the Steroids Era remained a long way from Cooperstown. Maddux was picked on 555 of 571 ballots by senior members of the Baseball Writers Association of America. His 97.2 percentage was the eighth-highest in the history of voting. Glavine, Madduxs longtime teammate in the Atlanta rotation, appeared on 525 ballots and received 91.9 per cent. Thomas, the first Hall of Famer who spent the majority of his career as a designated hitter, was at 478 and 83.7 per cent. Thomas said he accepts the view of many Hall of Famers that players whose accomplishments are muddied by accusations of steroid use, such as Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, dont belong in the Hall. "Ive got to take the right stance, too. No, they shouldnt get in," he said. "There shouldnt be cheating allowed to get into the Hall of Fame." The trio will be inducted July 27 along with managers Bobby Cox, Joe Torre and Tony La Russa, elected last month by the expansion-era committee. Maddux and Glavine, who played under Cox for most of their careers, will become the first pair of 300-game winners to be inducted in the same year. "Its exciting for me to go in with my teammate," Maddux said. The only other time three players were elected together in their first appearances was in 1999 with Nolan Ryan, George Brett and Robin Yount. Biggio received 427 votes and 74.8 per cent, matching Nellie Fox in 1985 and Pie Traynor in 1947 for the smallest margin to just miss. Traynor made it the following year, and Fox was elected by the old Veterans Committee in 1997. Biggio, who spent his entire career with the Houston Astros, appeared on 388 ballots last year in his initial appearance -- when writers failed to elect anyone -- and appears to be on track to gain election next year. "Obviously, Im disappointed to come that close," he said in a statement. "I feel for my family, the organization and the fans. Hopefully, next year." Mike Piazza was next with 62.2 per cent, up from 57.8 last year. Jack Morris was 78 votes short at 61.5 per cent in his 15th and final appearance on the writers ballot, a drop from 67.7 per cent. Morris replaces Gil Hodges (63 per cent in 1983) as the player with the highest-percentage of the vote not in the Hall. Jeff Bagwell dropped to 54.3 per cent from 59.6, and Tim Raines to 46.1 from 52.2. Controversy over how to evaluate stars tainted by the Steroids Era continued to impact the vote totals of players with stellar statistics. In their second appearances on the ballot, Roger Clemens dropped from 37.6 per cent to 35.4, Barry Bonds from 36.2 to 34.7 and Sammy Sosa from 12.5 to 7.2. Bonds, baseballs career home run leader, is the only seven-time MVP in major league history. Clemens is the lone seven-time Cy Young Award winner. "As for what they did, I dont think any of us will ever really know," Thomas said. "But I can just tell you, what I did was real and thaats why Ive got this smile on my face right now because the writers, they definitely got it right. Yan Gomes Jersey. " Mark McGwire, appearing for the eighth time, fell from 16.9 to 11 per cent -- down from a peak of 25.6 in 2008. Rafael Palmeiro will be dropped from future ballots after falling to 25 votes and 4.4 per cent -- below the 5 per cent threshold necessary to remain eligible. One voter submitted a blank ballot. "I can go home and sleep at night and rest," Thomas said, "so I dont have to worry about all the nonsense that the other people are going through, because I know I wont be getting a call in the middle of the night from someone saying, oh, he did this or he did that." Deadspin.com announced Miami Herald columnist Dan Le Batard had turned his ballot over to the website, which allowed readers to vote on how it should be cast. "I hate all the moralizing we do in sports in general, but I especially hate the hypocrisy in this," Le Batard said in remarks posted by Deadspin. "I always like a little anarchy inside the cathedral weve made of sports." BBWAA Secretary-Treasurer Jack OConnell declined comment. Maddux reached the major leagues in 1986 and Glavine a year later. They become the first primarily starting pitchers to enter the Hall whose careers began after Bert Blyleven, who debuted in 1970. And they are the first teammates on a starting rotation to be elected together since 1946. Add in Cox, and the induction will be dominated by Braves. "Its fitting, given the influence those two guys had on my career," Glavine said. "The thing that would have disappointed me the most had it not happened would have been a lost opportunity to go in with Bobby and Greg." Eighth on the wins list with a 355-227 record and a 3.16 ERA over 23 seasons, Maddux won four consecutive Cy Young Awards from 1992-95 and a record 18 Gold Gloves with the Chicago Cubs, Atlanta, the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego. An eight-time All-Star, he won at least 13 games in 20 straight seasons. Glavine, a 10-time All-Star and a two-time Cy Young winner, was 305-203 over 22 seasons. A two-time AL MVP, Thomas hit .301 with 521 homers and 1,704 RBIs in 19 seasons with the Chicago White Sox, Toronto and Oakland. Thomas becomes the sixth ex-Blue Jay to enter the Hall of Fame, following Phil Niekro, Dave Winfield, Paul Molitor, Rickey Henderson and Roberto Alomar. Of those players, only Alomar entered the Hall as a Jay. Writers who have been members of the BBWAA for 10 consecutive years at any point were eligible to consider the 36-player ballot. Next years vote will be even more crowded when Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, John Smoltz, Carlos Delgado and Gary Sheffield become eligible, five years after their retirements. The BBWAA last month formed a committee to study whether the organization should ask the Hall to change the limit of 10 players per ballot. In a sign of how some newly eligible players have taken votes from holdovers, Lee Smith dropped to 171 from 272 last year, his percentage falling to 29.9 from 47.8. Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys China NFL Cheap Jerseys ' ' '
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