The Toronto Blue Jays have made it abundantly clear how much they are counting on Brandon Morrow for the coming season. Trey Burke Jersey . Morrow made 30 starts in 2011 and appeared to have the "stuff" of which stars are made. He looked even better early in 2012, until a strained oblique muscle shut him down in early June. The injury woes continued in 2013 when an entrapped radial nerve in his pitching arm effectively shut him down from the end of May. So Morrow went from 30 starts in 2011 to 31 combined in 2012 and 2013. Morrow has really only been a starter for four seasons and last lost large chunks of the past two to injuries. So where does that leave us? Well, Morrow has a career record of 41-40 with a 4.22 ERA. He has never pitched more than 179.1 innings. In 102 career starts, he has four complete games, yet when he has been healthy, Morrow has had moments of sheer brilliance and could easily pass for a staff ace or at least a number two starter. He will make $8 million this season in the final year of a three-year pact, with the Jays holding an option year worth $10 million. There are those who will say that since Morrow is about to turn 30, if he doesnt make it it now, he never will. In some cases that is true, but you would be surprised at the number of pitchers whose careers didnt take off until they hit 30. Curt Schilling, who won a pair of World Series titles with the Arizona Diamondbacks and Boston Red Sox only won 52 games through the age of 29. From that point until he retired, he racked up 164 victories. Eventually, he could wind up in the Hall of Fame. Though not as extreme an example, lefty Mickey Lolich, who won three games for the Detroit Tigers in the 1968 World Series, won 101 of his 217 career victories after turning 30. Red Sox knuckleballer Tim Wakefield didnt come to pitching until his late 20s, having tried to make it first as an infielder in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization, but from 30 on, he put up 156 of his 200 career wins. The remarkable Jamie Moyer, the soft tosssing lefty control artist, pitched untill he was 49 and totalled 269 victories. Due to injury, Moyer didnt pitch in his 29th year, but from 30 on, he won the incredible total of 235. So, in other words, at age 29, Morrow has more victories than Moyer did. There are a couple of other lefties worth mentioning, as well. Jim Kaat, whos probably remembered as much now for his broadcasting work nationally as he is for his playing days, won 283 games over his career, He won 128 games through the age of 29 and 155 after that until he retired in his 40s. Tommy John, for whom the operation is named, won 288 games, the seventh-most all-time amongst southpaws. He won 95 games through the age of 29 and he won another 29 more before having elbow transplant surgery at age 31. He missed the entire 1975 season in recovery. John then returned to win 164 more games until he retired in 1989 at age 46. These last two examples put up the most amazing totals of all after turning 30. Hall of Fame knuckleballer Phil Niekro only had 31 victories through the age of 29. He finished with 318. Do the math. He won 287 games from the age of 30 on. Another man enshrined in Cooperstown, lefty Warren Spahn, was almost impressive and, in some ways, even more so. At the age of 21 after just part of one season in the Majors, Spahn left for three years to serve in the United States Army during World War II. When he resumed his career, Spahn racked up 86 wins through the age of 29. From that point on, he won another 277 games for a grand total of 363. Im not saying Brandon Morrow is a lock to follow this same kind of path, not at all, but if he does, you shouldnt be all that surprised. Baseball, as you can see, has had plenty of late bloomers...even late blooming Hall of Famers. - If you can track it down, you must read Joel Shermans piece in the New York Post from February 16th. Its the incredibly fascinating story of how badly Alex Rodriguez wanted to play in Boston and how close it came to actually happening before the Texas Rangers ultimately shipped him to the Yankees. Incidently, the World Series Count since that trade is Red Sox 3, Yankees 1. - The Yankees final series of the coming season is in Boston. That has led fans in the "Hub" to do whatever they can and pay whatever it takes for the chance to see Derek Jeter play his final game of his career in the "Pinstripes." But I would caution the fans that there is no guarantee Jeter will make an appearance. If any or all three are meaningful games and Jeter is healthy, of course he will play. Remember, though , this past season Mariano Rivera made his final appearance at Yankee Stadium. Though he accompanied the team to Houston for its final series with the Astros, he announced in advance, that he wouldnt be pitching in that series. If you want to dial it even further back, Red Sox legend Ted Williams homered in his final at-bat at Fenway Park back in 1960. That was it for the "Splendid Splinter," as he opted not to go to New York at all for the final series of the season against the Yankees. So for the sake of those spending all the money, lets hope Derek Jeter is healthy and there is something on the line in that final series. Courtney Lee Jersey . The 155th edition of the Plate for Canadian-foaled three-year-olds, the oldest continuously run stakes race in North America, will be televised live on TSN in HD (High Definition) in a special presentation from 4:30 – 6:00 pm ET. Post time is 5:38 pm. Mario Hezonja Jersey . Modin, 36, tallied seven goals and three assists in 36 games with the Thrashers this season. The Sundsvall, Sweden, native has posted 232 goals and 230 assists in 894 career NHL games with Toronto, Tampa Bay, Columbus, Los Angeles and Atlanta and has appeared in 57 post-season contests, helping the Lightning capture the 2004 Stanley Cup Championship. http://www.officialknicksfanstore.com/kids-noah-vonleh-knicks-jersey/ . - The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are going to meet with Richie Incognito to determine if one of the central figures in the Miami Dolphins bullying scandal can help their struggling offensive line.UNIONDALE, N.Y. - There is nothing new about the New York Islanders heading into a new season trying to improve on the one before.Yet, this one has a different feel even though last season ended again without a trip to the playoffs.The Islanders are facing major changes, both on and off the ice. The ones away from the rink are already much more dramatic especially because they are about to say goodbye to the only rink the once-proud franchise has ever known.Nassau Coliseum has only one NHL season left in it, and Long Island is about to lose the biggest sports team it has called its own. The Islanders moved into the Coliseum when the team was born in 1972, won four straight Stanley Cup titles as the primary tenant, and then drifted into mediocrity and worse after the dynasty core faded away.But with captain John Tavares back after an Olympic knee injury robbed him of a second half of a season that had showed much promise, a seemingly solid goaltending tandem in place, and more firepower up front, the Islanders might have enough to pump up the old building one more time before the team moves to Brooklyn next season.There are a lot of loyal fans here, and we want to make it special for them, though obviously its not something were going to think about every day, said coach Jack Capuano, who is starting his fifth season behind the Islanders bench.New York has reached the playoffs only once in Capuanos and Tavares tenures, a six-game loss to division rival Pittsburgh in 2013, and just twice overall since 2006 a€” a far cry from five consecutive trips to the finals in the glory days of the early 1980s.The 24-year-old Tavares was near the top of the NHL scoring leaderboard last February when he severely hurt his knee while playing for Canada at the Sochi Olympics and missed the final quarter of the season. He still finished second on the team with 66 points a€” including 24 goals a€” despite playing in only 59 games.Now he feels fully recovered and says had the Islanders qualified for the playoffs, he would have been out there with his teammates.It is great, he said heading into training camp. I had a normal off-season, and the injury has been put behind me for a good three months now.Im really anxious to dive right back into it. The nerves and energy getting ready for the season were there. If I ever lose that feeling, I shouldnt be playing. This is what I love to do. I couldnt be more excited.If he is back to full strength, then perhaps the biggest question mark surrounding the Islanders will be eliminated before the first puck is dropped on opening night at Carolina on Oct. 10.New York finished 34-37-5 last season, which landed the Islanders last in the eight-team Metropolitan Division and 14th in the 16-team Eastern Conference.___Here are other things to watch in the Islanders upcoming season:NABBY NO MORE: After three seasons of Evgeni Nabokov as the No. 1 goalie, the Islanders hhave moved on to a new duo of Jaroslav Halak and Chad Johnson. Anthony Mason Jersey. They will have the responsibility of replacing Nabokov, who played at least 40 games in each of his seasons in New York and posted a goals-against average under 3.00 in every campaign. Halak won a total of 29 games last season while splitting time with St. Louis and Washington, and has 144 career wins in eight NHL seasons. Johnson has played in only 37 NHL games, but 27 were last season with Boston when he went 17-4-3 with a 2.10 GAA. He has a career mark of 20-6-6 but has never made a post-season appearance.SECONDARY SCORING: Assuming Tavares is back to full strength and takes his place at the top of the teams scoring list, New Yorks offence will need solid production from the group behind the captain.Kyle Okposo picked up the slack last season and finished with career bests of 27 goals and 42 assists for a club-leading 69 points. Frans Nielsen was second with 25 goals and third with 58 points.There was then a steep drop-off as Josh Bailey was fourth in scoring with 38 points, but only eight goals. Michael Grabner slipped to only 12 goals in 64 games after posting 20, 16 and 12 goals in the previous three seasons.LEAF COLLECTION: Islanders general manager Garth Snow made big investments in free-agent forwards Mikhail Grabovski and Nikolai Kulemin, reuniting the former Toronto Maple Leafs teammates with four-year deals.Grabovskis contract is worth $20 million, while Kulemin will make $16.75 million.The 30-year-old Grabovski, from Belarus, had 13 goals and 22 assists in 58 games last season for Washington. He has 107 goals and 145 assists in eight seasons with Montreal, Toronto and Washington.The 27-year-old Kulemin, from Russia, had nine goals and 11 assists in 70 games last season for Toronto. He has 84 goals and 111 assists in 421 games in six seasons, all with the Maple Leafs.Grabovski and Kulemin were Toronto teammates from 2008-13 and spent time as linemates, too. Grabovski gives the Islanders depth at centre behind Tavares, and would seem to be a good fit on a line with left winger Kulemin.New York will also have returning centres Frans Nielsen, Brock Nelson and Ryan Strome providing strength up the middle.OWNING UP: Not only will the Islanders be changing locations in the near future, the people calling the shots will be undergoing a makeover, too.In August, the club announced that owner Charles Wang sold a minority stake of the team to a former Washington Capitals co-owner and a London-based investor who will become full owners in two years. Jon Ledecky and investor Scott Malkin agreed to buy a substantial minority interest and will take over full ownership from Wang.On Tuesday, the NHL board of governors unanimously approved the minority stake purchase. The overall purchase remains subject to completion of documentation and further league review before the transaction is closed. 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