Interview Ecke » years ago. We learned Thursday, that

I was thinking about Melky Cabrera the other day and his odds of being named Comeback Player of the Year. 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 Adidas NHL Jerseys .S. routed Sweden 7-0 Sunday to win its fourth straight title and seventh overall under-18 world championship. Olson earned his third shutout of the tournament and the Americans allowed only four goals in six games to set an International Ice Hockey Federation under-18 record. Cheap Stars Jerseys China . Thats when the eight-time champion revealed that a painful back is slowing his serves -- and, all in all, giving him more trouble than his opponents so far. http://www.cheapstarsjerseys.com/ . -- Antoine Bibeau bought the Val-dOr Foreurs valuable time at the Memorial Cup with his 51-save shutout Friday. Cheap Dallas Stars Jerseys . LOUIS -- The Atlanta Braves used a two-run rally in the ninth to end their road trip with a win. Cheap Stars Jerseys . Having won the first leg 1-0 in Barcelona, Madrid entered the match at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium already in control and quickly sealed its place in the semifinals when Jese Rodriguez scored in the seventh minute.SAN DIEGO -- Seth Smith hit a home run and scored three runs, Carlos Quentin also homered and drove in three runs, and the San Diego Padres beat the Cincinnati Reds 8-2 Tuesday night. Smith had three hits as the Padres finished with a season-high 16 one night after managing just one hit in a 1-0 win over the Reds. Ian Kennedy (6-9) pitched six strong innings, giving up one run and seven hits with a walk and three strikeouts to get his first win in nearly a month. Kennedy, who improved to 4-1 in his career against the Reds, was 0-3 with a 6.08 ERA in his last four starts in June. Quentins two-run homer in the four-run, seventh inning was the key blow when the Padres extended their lead to 7-1. Mike Leake, vying for his career-best fourth straight win, allowed three runs and 11 hits in 5 2-3 innings. In each of his previous two starts, Leake (6-7) gave up one run and four hits in eight innings. San Diego had its highest scoring total since an 11-1 win over the Cubs on May 23. Chase Headley put the Padres ahead 3-1 with an RBI single in the sixth to drive in Smith, who had doubled to right field. Smith hit his ninth homer of the season leading off the first to give the Padres a 1-0 lead. It matched their hit total from the previous nigght and was San Diegos first homer since Tommy Medica had one on June 24.dddddddddddd Quentin also doubled in the first inning, but was doubled off second base when he sprinted for third base on an infield pop up after forgetting the number of outs. After totalling just five runs in their previous five games, the Padres extended the lead to 2-0 when Kennedy got San Diegos third straight single. The Reds pulled to 2-1 in the fifth inning when Todd Fraziers two-out, broken-bat single to centre drove in Zack Cozart. That snapped the Padres scoreless innings streak at 21. NOTES: Padres SS Everth Cabrera was a late scratch with a strained left hamstring. Hell be re-evaluated Friday, but could be headed to the DL. ... RHP Andrew Cashner (sore right shoulder) will resume throwing on Wednesday after getting the OK from the teams medical staff. ... 2B Jedd Gyorko (plantar fasciitis) had his cast removed on Tuesday. ... Reds 1B Joey Votto was lifted for pinch-runner on Tuesday, an indication his left knee remains tender. "He is not running at full speed," manager Bryan Price said. ... Reds RHP Johnny Cueto (8-5, 1.88) faces Padres RHP Tyson Ross (6-8, 3.18) in Wednesday afternoons series finale. 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