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MINNEAPOLIS - Raul Ibanezs first opportunity to be an everyday major league player came with the Kansas City Royals. Darryl Strawberry Authentic Jersey. Returning to the Royals more than a decade later, his hope is for another experience: post-season play. The Royals signed the 42-year-old Ibanez Monday, nine days after he was released by the Los Angeles Angels. "Its been in the works for a while. I was really excited about the opportunity to come here. I like the makeup of the club, and I like the possibilities. Theyre endless," Ibanez said in Minnesota before the Royals played the Twins. "Theres a great opportunity to do some special things here." The Royals entered Monday 3 1/2 games behind first-place Detroit in the AL Central and 1 1/2 games out of a wild-card spot. Manager Ned Yost said hell probably play Ibanez in the outfield, at first base and as the designated hitter. "Hes what we call a professional hitter," Yost said. "So we think hes going to be a big addition to our team." Ibanez, the second-oldest active player in the majors behind Clevelands Jason Giambi, who is on the disabled list, batted just .157 in 57 games for the Angels. Though 10 of his 26 hits were for extra bases, he said his balance was "totally off" at the plate. "Im just going to be myself and try to help this team any way I can," Ibanez said. This is his fifth team since 2011. Ibanez hit 29 home runs just last year for Seattle, the team that he broke in with in 1996. He didnt regularly crack the lineup until joining the Royals in 2001, and in 2002 he had his breakout year with a .294 batting average, 37 doubles, 24 home runs and 103 RBIs in 137 games. "I have some very fond memories of the city. My son was born in Kansas City. Nothing would please me more than to be part of something that hasnt been done here in a long time, and thats getting into the post-season," Ibanez said. "Ive been in from the other side, and when youre playing against them you look at that team and you realize how far the organization has come and how much progress theyve made." The Royals made several moves Monday. Ibanez and infielder Christian Colon were added to the roster, and infielder Pedro Ciriaco and outfielder Justin Maxwell were designated for assignment. Colon was recalled from Triple-A. The fourth overall pick in the 2010 draft was batting .296 with 48 runs, 14 doubles and 14 steals in 74 games for Omaha. Yost said Colon will play second base, shortstop and third base. Kansas City also traded left-hander Donnie Joseph to the Miami Marlins for cash. He was designated for assignment on June 24. The 26-year-old Joseph pitched in one game for Kansas City this season, getting two outs on June 16 in Detroit. The Royals got him during the 2012 season in a trade that sent reliever Jonathan Broxton to Cincinnati. Keith Hernandez Authentic Jersey . The thunderous cheers quickly changed to an appreciative chant: "Ma-son! Ma-son! Ma-son! Headed to New York with new life, Mason sure earned this curtain call. Matt Harvey Jersey . -- Last month, Richie Incognito said severe repercussions would be warranted if the Miami Dolphins kept allowing sacks at such an alarming rate.WACO, Texas -- Kansas coach Bill Self knows most people look at how Andrew Wiggins plays as a barometer for what to expect from the eighth-ranked Jayhawks. Dont make the mistake of overlooking the other players around the Big 12s top-scoring freshman. Naadir Tharpe scored 22 points, nine in a go-ahead run before halftime, and the Big 12-leading Jayhawks rebounded from their first league loss with a 69-52 victory at Baylor on Tuesday night. "Weve just got to be a team that its going to be a different guy most every night," Self said. "And (Tharpe) stepped up when we needed him to step up." Early on, there were three ties and nine lead changes. Tharpes short jumper with 3 1/2 minutes left in the half broke a 25-all tie and put the Jayhawks (17-5, 8-1 Big 12) ahead to stay. The tiebreaking shot was Tharpes third basket in a 14-3 spurt over the final 5 minutes of the first half, and he added a 3-pointer with a minute left. He then made another 3 on Kansas opening possession after halftime. Wiggins, a native of Vaughan, Ont., finished 4-of-13 shooting and didnt make his first basket until a half-court shot to beat the buzzer going into halftime for a 35-27 lead. "Well, we ran that play for him at the end of the first half to get him going," Self joked of Wiggins, who finished two points off his season average. "It was big. It gave a great momentum push going into halftime," said Perry Ellis, who had 14 points and 10 rebounds. "It was great that he knocked that down. It got him going." Cory Jefferson had 14 points to lead Baylor (14-8, 2-7), which lost its fourth consecutive game at the Ferrell Center after a 13-game home winning streak. Its the longest home drought since dropping six straight in 2005. The Bears, coming off a win at then-No. 8 Oklahoma State that snapped their overall five-game losing streak, was trying to set up for a final shot before halftime when Kenny Chery threw an errant pass that Wiggins intercepted. "Round 1 is over in the league. We have to do betteer in Round 2," Baylor coach Scott Drew said. Gary Carter Jersey. "The good thing is I believe we can win every game, but with the Big 12 being like it is we can lose every game. We have to make sure we play well to have a chance to win." Baylor has never won consecutive games over Top 25 opponents. The Bears shot only 29 per cent from the field (16 of 55) -- Drew, looking for a positive, pointed out they did have assists on all but one of those made baskets. They were outrebounded 45-31. Kansas was coming off an 81-69 loss Saturday at surging Texas. "We just came out there without energy. I felt like even though Texas played that tremendous game out there, we kind of beat ourselves," said Tharpe, who sat the final 10 minutes of that game when had only three points on 1-of-4 shooting. "We didnt come out with any kind of energy, we had nothing. After they made a play, we had nothing coming back. So we knew coming into today in Waco, we had to come out with some fire right away. And thats what we did." In their regular season finale last March, the Jayhawks lost 81-58 at Baylor. They still had a share of their ninth consecutive Big 12 title, but that loss kept them from winning it outright. Baylor was within 49-44 midway through the second half and Wiggins had just shot and missed the rim. But the Bears missed three free throws on the same possession. Then, with Baylor students chanting "Air Ball!, Air Ball!", Wiggins swished a 3-pointer from the right wing. Wiggins scored again on the next possession to push the lead to 54-44, and had the next basket as well with a dunk with 7:49 left. Brady Heslip had 12 points on four 3-pointers, but didnt score again after his last gave Baylor a 22-21 lead with 6:34 left in the first half. "We were just playing him behind his numbers. We were running behind him," Tharpe said of second-half adjustments on Heslip. "We just knew that he got a lot of good looks off in the first half, and we couldnt let that happen again." cheap jerseys ' ' ' |
