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. Cyber Monday Shoes . 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. Shoes China . It all would have been for naught, however, had it not been for some clutch shooting in the fourth quarter by Kobe Bryant and a couple of equally critical hustle plays by Derek Fisher and Pau Gasol in the final minutes. Fake Shoes . Bayern winger Franck Ribery marked his league return after recovering from a cracked rib by scoring two goals and setting up two more as the league leaders inflicted the heaviest home defeat on Bremen in the Bundesliga. https://www.fakeshoeswholesale.com/ . Dillon Brooks scored 26 points on 9-17 shooting for Canada while pulling down six rebounds and picking up six steals. Teammate Chris Egi had 20 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks. LOS ANGELES -- Los Angeles Lakers coach Mike DAntoni resigned Wednesday after less than two seasons on the job. Team spokesman John Black confirmed DAntonis resignation, ending the brief tenure of the Lakers fourth head coach in less than three years. DAntoni went 67-87 after taking over the Lakers early in the 2012-13 season. He replaced the fired Mike Brown, who lasted just 71 games after replacing 11-time NBA champion coach Phil Jackson in 2011. The injury-plagued Lakers were 27-55 this season, their worst campaign in more than 50 years and the second-worst winning percentage in franchise history. With Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash and Pau Gasol sitting out large chunks of the season while the Lakers lost an NBA-worst 319 man-games to injuries, the 16-time NBA champion franchise missed the playoffs for the first time in nine seasons and only the third time in 38 years. "Given the circumstances, I dont know that anybody could have done a better job than Mike did the past two seasons," Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak said. "On behalf of the Lakers, we thank Mike for the work ethic, professionalism and positive attitude that he brought to the team every day. We wish him the best of luck." The 62-year-old DAntoni had one year left on his contract, but wanted the Lakers to pick up his option year for 2015-16 to have any chance of success. The Lakers apparently refused, leading to DAntonis resignation. DAntoni walked away from a $4 million payday for next season, although he may receive a portion of that money as severance. A phone message left for DAntoni wasnt immediately returned. Despite the Lakers injuries on a roster consisting mostly of players on one-year contracts, Los Angeles fans largely directed their anger during a rare down season toward DAntoni. Lakers great Magic Johnson, who was sharply critical of DAntonis coaching style, hailed the news on his Twitter account. "Happy days are here again!" Johnson tweeted. "Mike DAntoni resigns as the Lakers coach. I couldnt be happier!" DAntoni also has coached the Nuggets, Suns and Knicks. He reached two Western Conference finals with Nash in Phoenix before having much less success in New York. "Whenever a coach isnt there anymore, for whatever reason, all of us in the fraternity feel badly," San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said after the Spurs playoff victory over Dallas. "He is a heck of a coach and heck of a guy. You always feel badly when something like that happens. I just hope that what he wants is going to be what happens for him. He is a special guy." DAntonis signature up-tempo style of play seemed an odd match from the start with the aging, ball-dominating Bryant and the Lakers, who ran Jacksons deliberate triangle offence to perfection. Lakers owners Jerry and Jim Buss curiously chose DAntoni to replace Brown over Jackson, who strongly contemplated a return ffor a third stint on the Los Angeles bench. Clearance Shoes. . Jackson became the president of the Knicks in March. Kupchak said he will begin the search immediately for the Lakers fifth head coach since 2011 -- including Jackson, who walked away from the team after falling short of a third consecutive championship. DAntonis departure will allow the Lakers franchise overhaul to begin in earnest after their worst season since 1957-58 back in Minneapolis. Los Angeles missed the post-season for just the second time in the 17-season career of Bryant, who occasionally clashed with DAntoni. The Lakers have a top-10 pick in a strong draft and just three players under contract for next season, including Nash and Bryant. The fourth-leading scorer in NBA history will make more than $48 million over the next two years. A coaching change also might make the Lakers more attractive to Gasol, an unrestricted free agent who intimated he wouldnt consider returning if DAntoni still coached the team. Kupchak has said the Lakers are very interested in re-signing the 7-foot Spaniard, one of the top available free agents. "There would have to be significant changes," Gasol wrote in Spanish on his personal blog recently. "Ive never concealed the fact that DAntonis style doesnt suit my game. Everybody knows this. I dont know if my decision will be swayed by whether Mike stays or leaves. Obviously, the coach is a very important factor for any team." After joining the Lakers on short notice last season, DAntoni was unable to assemble a contending team immediately around Bryant and Dwight Howard, who struggled to embrace the pick-and-roll game so important to DAntonis offence. Los Angeles won 45 games last season despite its awful start under Brown. But the Lakers lost Bryant to a torn Achilles tendon late in the regular season before getting swept out of the first round by San Antonio. Howard left the Lakers as a free agent last summer, fleeing to Houston for less money to escape the Lakers drama and high expectations. Bryant played in just six games this season after breaking a bone near his knee in December, and Los Angeles never had a consistently competitive team in his absence. Nash also missed most of the season with various injuries, but the 40-year-old point guard hopes to play again next season. DAntoni realized he would take the blame for the Lakers woes this season, and the veteran coach seemed comfortable with the prospect when the team packed up for the summer. "Every coach should be under scrutiny," DAntoni said two weeks ago. "Some coaches get fired even after the best years theyve ever had. ... Theres always things we could have done better, and its easier with hindsight. Things dont always go smoothly. For the most part, our guys were very competitive. For us, there are some silver linings in there, but in hindsight, its disappointing for everybody." ' ' '