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I always enjoy going over the baseball transactions every day just to follow the career paths of players or coaches, or even managers, I may have dealt with in the past. The other day, one name in particular caught my eye: Roy Howell signed on to be the manager of the Seattle Mariners Triple-A farm club in Tacoma. Of course, I had to make sure, it was the Roy Howell I was thinking of and it turns out it was. Roy Lee Howell came to the Blue Jays in their very first season in 1977. He had the fiery red hair and, later, the beard to go along with his gamer personality. Howell, a third baseman by trade, was the fourth-overall pick of the Texas Rangers in the 1972 draft. In the spring of 1977, he lost the Rangers third base job to longtime Rangers star Toby Harrah. Pat Gillick quickly pounced and pulled off his first significant in-season trade in franchise history on May 7 of that year, getting Howell in return for pitcher Steve Hargan, infielder Steve Mason and $200,000. Howell never had great numbers, in fact, his batting average peaked at .316 in 1977 and his best production year was 1979, when he 15 homers and knocked in 72 runs. But that first year with the Jays, he had a game for the ages at Yankee Stadium, no less. Howell slugged a pair of home runs, two doubles and a single, driving in nine runs as the Blue Jays came up with, by far, their biggest victory of their inaugural season pummeling the Yankees, 19-3. Those nine runs batted-in in a game is still a franchise record. Remember that 1977 was the year the Yankees won their first of back-to-back World Series. Howell spent four years with the Jays, then moved on as a free agent to the Milwaukee Brewers and finally to the San Francisco Giants. He came into managing late. Only three years ago in 2011, he became the skipper of the independent Pennsylvania Road Warriors of the Atlantic League. After that, he worked his way up in the Mariners organization as a hitting instructor. He wasnt actually supposed to be the skipper at Tacoma this year, but then fate stepped in. John Stearns, who was coaching on the Ms big league staff had to step down for health reasons. Rich Donnelly, a long time Major League coach, who had just been hired at Tacoma was promoted to Seattle to replace Stearns and, just like, that Howell, at age 60, was the new manager of the Rainiers. I looked back at that 1977 Blue Jays roster and its interesting, if not amazing, how many got involved in coaching or managing after their playing days were done. The most prominent include Alan Ashby, who went on to become an even better broadcaster, Phil Roof, Ernie Whitt, whos managed the Canadian mens team among others, Canadian Dave McKay, who worked for many years in Oakland and St. Louis with Tony LaRussa. I counted nine in total, including Doug "the Red Rooster" Rader, who had big league managerial stints with Texas, the White Sox and the Angels. Rader was also a coach on LaRussas staff in 1992, when they lost to the Blue Jays in the ALCS. Who knows? Maybe in the next couple of years Roy Howell will get his Major League shot. - Drew Hutchison will be starting for the Blue Jays Friday afternoon at Dunedin against Clay Buchholz and the Red Sox. If Hutchison continues to pitch the way he has this spring and holds his own against the BoSox, you can pretty much guarantee he will make the opening day roster as the number-four or five starter. Ricky Romeros big test is Tuesday at Lakeland against Detroit. Though Ricky has pitched well in two extended relief outings this spring, this will be his first start where he should face predominantly Major League hitters. If he gets through the outing unscathed, he will definately be in the conversation for the fourth or fifth starters slot. - The other day, a Tampa Bay Rays prospect by the name of Jeremy Moore crashed a monster home run off Marcus Stroman over the "batters eye" in dead centre field at Dunedin and drew the praise of skipper Joe Maddon. I wanted to learn a little bit more about Moore, so I did a little digging. He was a sixth-round pick of the Angels in 2005, a speedy outfielder who could handle all three positions well. Though he seemed to be progressing well through the minors, he was bothered by a bone spur and other issues in his hip. That seemed unusual for somebody so young, but doctors felt the beatings he took as a four-sport star in growing up in Louisiana, including football, had done the damage. Moore ultimately had to undergo hip surgery at age 24, though, thankfully, not hip replacement surgery like Bo Jackson. Moore missed the entire 2012 season before signing a minor-league deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers. After batting .211 with seven homers and 31 runs batted in last season in his comeback year, the Rays saw enough in him to sign Moore in January. Though he may be a long shot to make the Tampa Bay opening day roster, he has hit four homers this spring and has the versatility the Rays covet. Impressing Joe Maddon doesnt hurt either. Jeremy Moore is the kind of player you really pull for. - Andrew Marchand of ESPN New York pointed out that the Blue Jays could be on hand in New York for "Derek Jeter Day." Sunday, September 21, the Blue Jays are in New York and that is the Yankees final Sunday home game of the regular season. Nothing is official yet, but the Yanks did hold "Mariano Rivera Day" on the final Sunday of last season. So there is a chance, the Blue Jays will be part of the grand farewell of one of the Yankees all-time greats. Cheap Air Force 1 Canada . The group of Slava Fetisov, Igor Larionov, Vladimir Konstantinov, Sergei Fedorov, & Slava Kozlov were a dominant force for The Wings at one point in the 90s. Air Force 1 Canada . The German has taken the pole for three straight races -- winning the first two. Hes aiming for a third consecutive win at the Yeongam circuit and, most importantly, a fourth consecutive F1 championship. http://www.airforce1canada.com/ . -- The anointed starting quarterback for the Oakland Raiders is strengthening his hold on the position this training camp instead of losing it. Wholesale Air Force 1 Canada . -- LeGarrette Blount made one last big splash into a soggy end zone. Air Force 1 Shoes Canada . "Canada," Bolland said with a smile. "Is that a question?" One day earlier, though, fellow Toronto Maple Leafs centre Nazem Kadri wasnt so sure his home and native land could pull off the win against the United States in the semi-finals of the Olympic hockey tournament. GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Kelvin Benjamin shook off one tackler and then three more, bullying his way into the end zone to finish off Florida States most impressive play on a day filled with them. Benjamin was clearly a mismatch -- just like the game. Jameis Winston threw three touchdown passes to Benjamin, and No. 2 Florida State moved a step closer to playing for the national championship with a 37-7 victory against rival Florida on Saturday. "Tremendous," FSU coach Jimbo Fisher said. "KB has real advantages with his size, speed and athleticism. He can be a very, very special player, and hes starting to develop into that guy." The Seminoles improved to 12-0 for the first time since 1999 and likely will earn a spot in the Bowl Championship Series title game by beating Duke in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game next Saturday. Florida, meanwhile, ended its worst season since 1979. The Gators (4-8) lost their final seven games and missed a bowl for the first time since 1990. Floridas bowl streak had been the second-longest in the country, behind Florida State. "We hit rock bottom this year," Florida guard Max Garcia said. "I feel like the only way we can go is up." The Seminoles were four-touchdown favourites in a lopsided matchup that lived up to advance billing. Although the outcome was never in doubt, the Gators made it interesting early with some stout defence. They hit Winston several times, even late once, and stuffed FSUs running game. But with its offence floundering once again -- Florida managed just three first downs in the first half -- the defence eventually wore down. And Winston & Co. took advantage. "His competitiveness is ridiculous," Fisher said of Winston. "Hes a competitor. Nothing fazes that guy. He thrives on that. ... The guys ability to learn and process information is what puts him over the top. He can think. He understands what hes doing at all times. And when he makes a mistake, he can come off and tell you exactly why he did it, what he did or didnt do right." Winston, the Heisman Trophy candidate being investigated for his role in an alleged rape, hooked up with Benjamin for touchdown passes of 45 and 29 yards in the second quarter. Winston found his 6-foot-5 target again in the third, a 56-yard connection that would have gone the distance had Benjamin not fallen down while making the catch. Devonta Freeman scored on the next play, weaving untouched from 11 yards out and putting the Seminoles ahead 27-0. Winston and Benjamin recorded the hat trick with a 4-yard score in the fourth. FSU outgained Florida 456-193, most of it through the air. Winston completed 19 of 31 passes for 3327 yards.dddddddddddd Benjamin caught nine passes for a career-high 212 yards, beating Loucheiz Purifoy early and often. Benjamins previous high was 103 yards receiving at Boston College earlier this year. "Just doing the little things to be a great receiver, basically," Benjamin said. About the only thing that went wrong for FSU was that testy exchange between Winston and coach Jimbo Fisher in the fourth quarter. Fisher was upset that Winston let the play clock wind down, forcing the team to call timeout. Winston screamed back at Fisher, who grabbed Winstons facemask on the sideline. The coach and player downplayed it afterward. Floridas defence held tough early, giving up just 33 yards and a field goal in the first quarter. Purifoy even intercepted Winstons fifth pass of the game, but the Gators failed to capitalize on the turnover. Austin Hardin missed a 49-yard field goal wide right. It was Floridas ninth missed field goal of the season. As the offence kept stalling, the defence started fading. "Everybody started looking at the scoreboard as a collective group and saying, Dang, the offence is just three-and-out, three-and-out, three-and-out," Florida defensive lineman Jon Bullard said. It certainly didnt help that Florida had to throw its offensive game plan out the window after four plays. Trey Burton hurt his left shoulder on his second carry of the game, a fitting finale for the injury-riddled Gators. Coach Will Muschamp said the plan was to line Burton up at quarterback for 35 plays. He ran twice for 47 yards, including a 50-yarder up the middle on his first carry. He injured his shoulder on his second run, Floridas fourth offensive play. He went to the locker room and later returned wearing street clothes. His left arm was in a sling and wrapped with ice. "Obviously you dont want to go out like that," Burton said. "I felt like I let my team down a little bit." Without him, Florida turned to freshman Skyler Mornhinweg. He struggled in his two previous games, throwing for 229 yards, with two touchdowns and an interception. Mornhinweg finished 20-of-25 passing for 115 yards. Floridas worst season in 34 years did nothing to affect Muschamps status for 2014. Athletic director Jeremy Foley held an impromptu news conference before the game and reiterated "total confidence" in Muschamp, but said "weve got to fix some things" on the offensive side of the ball. "We havent made an excuse all year and were not going to make them now," Foley said. "We know what this program is all about. I have total confidence in coach Muschamp and have made that clear. Weve got to fix some things." ' ' '