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 Grizzlies Jerseys Authentic . "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. Cheap Grizzlies Jerseys China . Wilson hit Schenn from behind during Tuesday nights game in Philadelphia, earning a five-minute major for charging and a game misconduct. He has a phone hearing with the department of player safety, which limits any potential suspension to five or fewer games. http://www.cheapgrizzliesjerseys.com/. -- Theres been so much talk about Mike Moustakas at the plate that the third baseman ignored the conversation Wednesday -- even after doing something positive. Cheap Swingman Grizzlies Jerseys . Justine finished first with a score of 22.44 while Chloe was second with 21.66 points. Defending champion Hannah Kearney of the U.S., was third at 21.49. A third Dufour-Lapointe sister, Maxime, failed to make the final group and finished 12th while Audrey Robichaud of Quebec City was 10th. Cheap Memphis Grizzlies Jerseys . -- Novak Djokovic benefited from an erroneous call and claimed he didnt realize he had broken the rules.ENGLEWOOD, Colo. - Theres no longer any bad blood between Bill Belichick and Wes Welker heading into the showdown Sunday between the New England Patriots and Denver Broncos.Belichick said he has long gotten over Welkers hit that sidelined then-Patriots cornerback Aqib Talib in the AFC championship.At the time, New Englands often cantankerous coach called it one of the worst plays hed seen in nearly four decades of coaching and asked the NFL to look into it.The league ruled the hit was legal.Way past that, Belichick said in a conference call with Denver media Wednesday. I have a lot of respect for Wes and what he did for us and what hes done for the Broncos and what hes done throughout his career.Welker took out Talib, now his teammate in Denver, on a pick play at the line of scrimmage in the second quarter of Denvers 26-16 victory in January. Talib went to the locker room with a bruised knee and didnt return.With the Patriots best cover player out, Peyton Manning finished with 400 yards passing and two TDs — nearly 300 of those yards coming with Talib sidelined.When Talib signed a free agent deal with Denver this spring, he called Welker, a good friend of mine, and said, I watched that play 1,000 times and I can promise you he didnt do it on purpose.Welker, who played six seasons in New England before coming to Denver in 2013, got over the brouhaha even faster than his old boss.I moved on to getting ready for the Super Bowl, Welker said Wednesday. So, its the same for me. Its in the past and Im just really kind of looking forward to this game.Hes hoping its better than his homecoming last year, when his muffed punt in overtime led to New Englands 34-31 win in overtime.Welker said hes probably a little more comfortable with it this time around as the Broncos (6-1) prepare to face the Patriots (6-2). Im just so excited about the opportunity and a big game like this.The forecast for wintery weather has helped him stay focused this week.No, I havent had to get any tickets. So I think a lot of that is people like visiting Denver where its warmer weather, and they saw the forecast in Foxborough and said, Well, I dont think Ill be heading there, Welker said.Welker just doesnt want to have to return to New England in January.Obviouslyy its still early but at the same time, theyre all big games, especially when it comes down to home-field advantage, he said.dddddddddddd. Theyre really big and you have to make sure that youre treating these games as playoff-type games.Manning vs. Brady XVI features two quarterbacks coming off monster months in which they each threw for 14 touchdowns.Mannings 127.4 passer rating in October was second only to Tom Bradys 129.1 — which came on the heels of the Patriots 41-14 wipeout at Kansas City that had many fans saying the Patriots dynastic days were history.Since then, the Patriots have won four straight.Im not surprised at all at Bradys bounce-back, Welker said. Ive seen it 100 times there where its one bad week and everythings falling apart. So, its one week and you can never really judge anything off that and you knew they were going to bounce back from it.Welker has a unique perspective of having been on both sides of Manning vs. Brady.Theyre both the best in the game right now and Im obviously very fortunate to get to play with both, Welker said.Welker isnt having the same kind of season he enjoyed last year. After five 100-catch seasons in New England, Welker was leading the Broncos with 73 catches for 778 yards and a career-high 10 touchdowns in 2013 before missing most of the final month with a concussion. He returned for the playoffs and caught 18 passes for 160 yards and a TD.This year, he has 19 catches for 181 yards and one touchdown.He caught just two passes for 5 yards in Denvers last game, a 35-21 win over San Diego. But Manning called his second one the catch of the game, because it came on third-and-4 from Denvers 10 with 3:29 left.Would I want the ball more? Yes. (But) as long as were winning games and were being productive on offence and doing those things, Im good with however we get that done, Welker said. Its kind of strange being, I feel like, the weak link of our offence.If Im the weak link, were going to be OK. Im excited about the guys we have and the camaraderie that we have together and really pulling for each other.___AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL___Follow AP Pro Football Writer Arnie Melendrez Stapleton on Twitter: http://twitter.com/arniestapleton Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '