Johnny Cash » include the Blue Jays Dioner Navarro,

The Kansas City Royals are still a dark horse favourite as far as the World Series goes, but KC is rapidly turning into the peoples choice after beating Oakland 9-8 in that Wild Card game extra-inning thriller and then wiping out the L.A. Angels three straight in their A.L Division series. Going all the way still wont be an easy task. Since the advent of the original Wild Card format, only four teams have gone on to win the World Series from that position. In the American League that would be the Angels in 2002 and Boston in 2007. The Red Sox incidently have made to the postseason through the back door Wild Card route more than any other franchise, seven times in all. The two National League Wild Card World Series winners over that 20-year span were the Florida Marlins in 1997 and the St. Louis Cardinals in 2011. The Rockies and Cards have made it to the Playoffs as Wild Cards most frequently among the Senior Circuit clubs at three times apiece. We talk so much about what pitching means to success, and it certainly does. But the Atlanta Braves are an interesting case. Theyve made it twice to playoffs as a Wild Card team, however they havent won a single playoff series in over a decade. This despite having the second-best ERA in the Majors over the past nine years at 3.75. The Braves pitching coach over those nine years has been Roger McDowell, he of the Magic Loogie Seinfeld episode. Concussions have come to the fore as a major problem in pro and amateur sports over the past few years, Baseball is no exception, but the bulk of concerns in the Majors surrounds one position, catcher. In these playoffs alone, Royals star catcher Salvatore Perez was hit in the head on the follow-through of a Josh Hamilton swing in Game 2 of their series. Perez was left dazed and suffering from concussion-like symptoms, but fortunately is alright. Then Sunday, in Game 3 of the Orioles series, Tigers catcher Alex Avila took a foul ball right off the jaw and had to leave the game. Its not the first time it has happened to Avila and it has caused some to worry about his long-term future in the game. Just doing a rough count, I came up with seven other catchers who have had concussions or at least concussion-like symptoms. The Twins Joe Mauer heads the list. He has become a 1B/DH type after getting hit in the mask a number of times. He may never catch full-time again. The others on the list include the Blue Jays Dioner Navarro, the Yankees Brian McCann, Bostons David Ross and Oaklands John Jasso in the American League along with the Mets Travis DArnaud, the Phillies Carlos Ruiz and the Giants Hector Sanchez. That was only a quick search - I know there are more. Baseball has already done its best to eliminate home plate collisions, but Im honestly not sure what can be done about foul tips and follow through swings. Being a catcher has always been a hazardous occupation and to a certain degree at least it always will be. The Search is On For the bulk of 30 Major League clubs, the off-season has already begun. Houston has already hired A.J. Hinch as its new manager, and the Astros old skipper Bo Porter has surfaced as the Braves third base coach. Texas and Arizona are still looking for new managers. Of the eight candidates the Rangers are considering and interviewing, two have former ties to the Blue Jays. One is Clevelands bullpen coach and former Jays catcher Kevin Cash, and the other is John Farrells bench coach Torey Lovullo, who was also a coach on Farrells staff with the Blue Jays for two years. The Rangers are also close to adding two assistants to GM Jon Daniels. The first is former Jays third base prospect Michael Young, who went on to star with Texas and the Phillies, and the other is former Jays reliever Darren Oliver. Arizona is also interviewing eight candidates including Don Wakamatsu, who was Farrells bench coach with the Jays, and Diamondbacks hitting coach Turner Ward who came off the bench with the Blue Jays when they won the World Series in 1992 and 1993. Also on the list is Sandy Alomar Jr., Robbies brother, who has been coaching in Cleveland the past few years. Popularity Poll There has never really been a question as to which team is more popular in Chicago. But this point only further serves to drive the point home. The Cubs and White Sox finished with identical records and both missed the Playoffs by a mile yet the North side Cubs drew one million more fans than the South siders. Cheap NBA Jerseys China . Howard had 17 points and a career-high-tying 26 rebounds in his Houston debut, James Harden added 21 points and the Rockets cruised to a 96-83 win over the Charlotte Bobcats on Wednesday night. Wholesale Jerseys From China . MLB.com reported that the Dodgers locked the left-hander in for one year at $10 million with up to $4 million in incentives. http://www.wholesalechinajerseysforcheap.com/ . Patty Mills scored 15 points, Tim Duncan had 10 points and 11 rebounds in limited minutes, and San Antonio trailed for only 11 seconds late in the first quarter of a 103-90 victory over Portland on Wednesday night. Wholesale Authentic NBA Jerseys . That further limits the options of Australia coach Ewen McKenzie, who on Monday suspended six players who were involved in a night out in Dublin ahead of the Saturdays 32-15 win over the Irish. The Wallabies play Scotland on Saturday before facing Wales on Nov. Cheap Jerseys USA .C. - Goodyear has warned teams that increased speeds at Charlotte Motor Speedway will put a heavy emphasis on the right front tires in Saturday nights race a€” a potentially key development for drivers trying to advance in the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship.BUFFALO, N.Y. - Latvia is in love with Buffalo Sabres forward Zemgus Girgensons, who remains the runaway leader in the NHL All-Star game fan vote.The second-year player had nearly 1.1 million votes Tuesday. Thats nearly double the total of each of the next two forwards: Chicagos Patrick Kane (586,310) and Jonathan Toews (573,198).Girgensons total is more than half the 2 million population of his native Latvia, where the NHL says hes attraacted more than 80 per cent of his votes.dddddddddddd.The only limit on voting is fans can use the same device no more than 10 times a day.The 2012 first-round draft pick leads Buffalo with nine goals and is second with 17 points.Dallas forward Tyler Seguin leads the NHL with 23 goals and 38 points, but ranks ninth among forwards with 214,183 votes.Voting ends Jan. 1. The game will be played at Columbus, Ohio, on Jan. 25. ' ' '