The Blue Jays have had an incredible month of May - no two ways about it. [url=http://www.texansrookiestore.com/]Houston Texans Jerseys[/url] . With two games still to play, they are 20-8 including a nine-game win streak that came to an end at the hands of the Kansas City Royals on Thursday night at

The Blue Jays have had an incredible month of May - no two ways about it. Houston Texans Jerseys . With two games still to play, they are 20-8 including a nine-game win streak that came to an end at the hands of the Kansas City Royals on Thursday night at the Rogers Centre in 10 innings. If they win the last two games in May against KC, they will close out the month at 22-8. A year ago only four teams had a singular month better than that, three in the American League and one in the National League. Three of the four made the post-season and the other, the Texas Rangers, made it to the knockout tie-breaker and lost out in Game 163. The Tampa Bay Rays were the best going 21-5 in June, while the Cleveland Indians were a scorching 21-6 in a pressure-packed September run. The Rangers were 20-7 in August. The Blue Jays best month in 2013 was June where they finished 17-9, including an 11-game win streak. but they quickly faded after that. The Dodgers actually put together the most incredible short-term run on the way to winning the NL West. On June 20, they were sitting 12 games below .500 and there was talk skipper Don Mattingly was on the verge of being fired. Then, almost coincidentally with the arrival of Yasiel Puig , they went 8-1 to close out June, followed by a League best 20-6 in July and 23-6 in August. That in total is a fabulous 51-13 run that led them to finish the campaign at 90-72. Im not saying one 20-win month guarantees you a playoff spot. Injuries can undermine all that momentum, but one huge month can provide a team with an incredible boost of confidence and provide a bit of a cushion for the inevitable cold spells as the season unwinds. Heres something else. I know the season is only one-third over, but I cant remember the last time the Blue Jays had contenders for four major awards. Edwin Encarnacion for MVP, Mark Buehrle for Cy Young, Melky Cabrera for Comeback Player of the Year and, possibly, Casey Janssen for Fireman of the Year ( 8-for-9 in save opportunities, so far) and, if Edwin werent my pick for MVP, Jose Bautista would be right there, too. A lot can change over the course of the final fourth months of the season, but you cant ignore all of the positives coming out of the Blue Jays camp after all those years wandering in the wilderness. - There has been plenty of talk about the Blue Jays trying to pry right hander Jeff Samardzija loose from the Chicago Cubs to shore up the rotation and possibly push the Blue Jays over the top. Well, Alex Anthopoulos made it pretty clear on Thursday, the Blue Jays wouldnt be making any trades until July at the earliest and could wait up until the July 31st non-waiver trade deadline. This wont really make any difference as far as possible dealings with the Cubbies go this season, but in their entire 37-plus years history, the Blue Jays have only made six trades with the Cubs. Only one really included a significant name player from a Blue Jays standpoint. On December 10, 2001, Gord Ash, embarking on his final season as Jays GM, dealt shortstop Alex Gonzalez to the Cubs for lefty reliever Felix Heredia and a player to be named later, who turned out to be 3B/SS prospect Jim Deschaine who never made it to the Majors. Heredia only spent one season with the Jays before leaving as a free agent. Alex spent two-plus years with Chicago and even went to the playoffs with them in 2003, the year of the " Bartman" catch down the left-field line, that helped the then Florida Marlins rally to win that NLCS in seven games and ultimately go on to beat the New York Yankees in the World Series. Some Blue Jays fans believe George Bell was dealt to the Cubs. Not so, as he left the Jays and signed with the Cubbies as a free agent on December 6, 1990. On March 30, 1992 Bell was swapped across town to the White Sox for reliever Ken Patterson and, yes, Sammy Sosa who would go on to become a tainted legend with the Cubs. That is to this day considered to be the worst trade in White Sox history. Outside of teams that have never won the World Series, the Cubs have the worst Fall Classic legacy. They are 2-8 all-time and, since winning their last World Series over the Detroit Tigers in 1908, they have won only one playoff series since when they edged the Atlanta Braves in a five-game NLDS in 2003. They dropped seven-straight World Series appearances between 1910 and 1945 and their all-time playoff win-loss record is 27-54. If thats not enough, they have the worst record in the Majors this season at 19-32 and are sitting in last place in the NL Central 11-and-a-half games back of the Milwaukee Brewers and the season isnt even two months old yet. - Friday night at Dodger Stadium, Josh Beckett will be the latest to try and equal a record that most feel can never possibly be broken. Beckett will have the chance to throw a second-straight no-hitter when the Dodgers host Francisco Liriano and the Pittsburgh Pirates. Johnny Vander Meer of the Cincinnati Reds made history within a four-day span in June of 1938. On June 11, the 23-year-old lefty, in his first full season in the Majors, pitched a no-hitter against the Boston Braves, then known as the Bees. It was the first no-hitter by a lefty since 1931. Four days later at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, Vander Meer was the Reds starting pitcher in the first night game ever in New York in front of a sellout crowd of 48,000. "Vandy" was outstanding again. He almost lost it in the ninth when he walked the bases loaded with one out, but he got a force out at the plate for the second out and then got Leo Durocher to fly out to end the game. Though he was a four-time All-Star and was one of a handful of pitchers to lead his league in strikeouts three years in a row, he finished with a 119-121 record and a 3.44 ERA with 29 career shutouts, He also has the ever-lasting fame that goes with back-to-back no-hitters. Josh Beckett gets his shot at immortality on Friday night. Jordan Akins Jersey . - Defensive end-linebacker Mike Neal apparently is returning to the Packers. Tyrann Mathieu Jersey . The goals took Liverpools tally in the Premier League this season to 70, overtaking Manchester City as the top scorers, and left the fourth-place team just four points behind league leader Chelsea. http://www.texansrookiestore.com/Customized/ . -- The Minnesota Vikings released reserve cornerback A.I spent time on Wednesday reviewing and adding some things to my protections pages in my playbook and I thought it would be a good education about how involved protections are. It is, I believe, one area that the fans have no idea how much communication goes on and how much the offensive line, backs and quarterback have to be on the same page. Lets start with a team running a drop back protection from a one back set. From a base coverage look, there will be usually six defenders that are "threats" to the QB. We also have secondary defenders, or threats, that are covering the receivers that may rush the QB from coverage look. Lets start with four defensive lineman and two linebackers in the box area, which is the area just outside the tackles and everything inside the tackles. The centre will make a call and identify the front, or where the defensive players are aligned as pertaining to the offensive players. A term like "UNDER" means that the two defensive tackles have moved or shifted to the boundary, "OVER" means that the Noseguard has aligned over the centre and the field guard is covered. "EVEN" is a term that the centre will say when he is uncovered by a defensive lineman and the guards are covered by a defensive lineman. "ODD" usually means the centre is covered and the guards are not covered by defensive lineman. "TRIPLE, DOUBLE EAGLE, SOLID" are terms that the centre will use when the centre and both guards are all covered by defensive lineman. Once the front is set, the centre will determine which defenders they will be blocking. There is five offensive lineman, so that would leave one threat in the 4-2 (four DL and two LB) six man box. The sixth defender is the running backs responsibility. The front four DL is handled by the OL and the centre will point to the LB and say his number that they are going to be responsible for. The back will then block the next closest threat and if he doesnt come, look for anything from the secondary (the guys covering the receivers). It is crucial that the RB and the offensive lineman see the point by the centre because if not, you could block the wrong people or leave a rusher unblocked. Usually the back will be taking the LB on the side that he is aligned. Sometimes the centre will identify the front and make a call and a signal like "SOLID" and that would tell the back that the OL is going to take the LB to the backs side and that the back must now adjust and find the sixth threat wherever he is aligned. A lot of times, a mistake in protection is when the RRB does not get the call from the OL and he and the line block the same LB. Jordan Akins Texans Jersey. After the centre IDs the front and sets the protectors, the QB then understands where the unblocked players are that the QB has to throw HOT off of. Hot means that he must throw before that defender can run and hit the QB. A lot of times the OL is reading the most inside threat of three defenders. For example, the guard and tackle look to see if the inside LB threat comes with a defensive lineman and if he doesnt they can work to an outside threat that is coming. They will always handle the inside two most threats if three come, the QB will have to throw HOT off of the third threat to that side. Some terms that offensive lineman will use to communicate with each other: Dog - A linebacker that blitzes the QB Stunt - Twists and gap exchanges between two adjacent defensive linemen Blitz - A secondary player that is rushing the QB Fan - Guard and tackle fan out and block the two defenders outside them Pop - When an uncovered lineman gets away from the line of scrimmage to look to his threat and any other threats from the outside. Roger - Three offensive lineman slide to the right Louie - Three offensive lineman slide to the left Squeeze - Call by the offensive guard or tackle where they both step inside and take the defenders inside of them. It is made when they are blocking by themselves and they have three threats. They will leave the most outside threat for the QB to throw HOT off of. Ronnie -The line blocks a full slide protection to the right, protecting their play side gap. Lonnie -The line blocks a full slide protection to the Left, protecting their play side gap. MDM or Trollie - When a tackle is blocking a down lineman and a defender not accounted for rushes inside of the down lineman. The tackle will take the inside threat and let the QB throw HOT off of the outside threat. Each team has their own calls and have many different calls which tell how to block rushers and who will block rushers. Zone protections with 2, 3, 4, 5 offensive linemen all have their own terms and calls -- calls to tell the back that he will block a gap and not a man. It is an amazing process that the offensive line and backs do on every single pass play. Each protection also has their own set of calls. For example, there is a different set of calls when there is no backs in the backfield or when the offensive line is using a sprint out protection. As you can see, the OL have to be an intelligent crew and they all have to be on the same page. Want to learn more about offensive football? Start with the offensive line! 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