In football, the straight on kicker is long gone and there are no more drop kicks. In hockey, there is no more rover and the players dont go without helmets and masks. But in baseball, some things refuse to die. This past season, the Blue Jays R.A. Dickey was the only full-time knuckleball pitcher in the majors. His knuckler is more of a hybrid, thrown harder than the traditional floater of the likes of Phil Niekro, Tim Wakefield and Charlie Hough. I often wondered that when the Jays aquired Dickey in the offseason last year, if he would eventually be the last ever to throw the storied pitch in the majors. Maybe not. The Red Sox have a knuckball pitcher in their system in 29-year-old right-hander Steven Wright. He made the conversion to throwing the knuckleball in 2011 and made it to the BoSox this past season with mixed success. On Aug. 6, his catcher Ryan Lavarnway was charged with four passed balls in one inning, tying the Major League record. The first time it happened was in 1954, when Ray Katt was catching Hall of Fame knuckleballer Hoyt Wilhelm, the second when ex-Blue Jay Gino Petralli - then of the Rangers - was catching yet another knuckleballer in Charlie Hough. And theres another would-be knuckler. Kevin Pucetas - a 29-year-old in the Texas organization - has bounced around a bit. He was drafted in the 17th round of the June draft in 2006. He showed enough promise to pitch in the All-Star Futures game in 2008. However, by October of 2010, he was dealt to the Royals as the player to be named later in the Jose Guillen deal. He was released by K.C. in 2011 and signed by Washington. Things didnt work out with the Nationals either and in January of this year, he was signed to a minor league deal by Texas. Pucetas pitched for Frisco in the Double "A" Texas League this season and didnt really blow anyone away with his stuff. After the season, to keep playing the sport he loved, he agreed to try and become a knuckleballer. He made seven starts in the Dominican Winter League and went 3-1 with a 4.86 ERA. However, something seemed to click in his final four outings. He went 22 2/3 innings and shaved his ERA down to 2.78. He gave up 13 hits, struck out 14 and walked only three. The Dominican team wanted him to stay longer because he was pitching so well, but as Gerry Fraley of The Dallas Morning News reported, the Rangers called him back stateside because they wanted him to be well-rested for spring training. So keep that name in mind come February - Kevin Pucetas of the Texas Rangers. Who knows, maybe hell follow the path that Dickey and so many other blazed before him. Three Ex-Blue Jays were also in the news this past week. Chris Woodward, who was drafted in 54th round by the Blue Jays in 2004, was named infield coach at Seattle. Chris spent parts of seven seasons with the Blue Jays as a "Jack of all Trades" utilityman and spent 12 years in the majors in total. Darnell Coles spent 14 years in the bigs and was with the Blue Jays for two seasons, including 1993, when he was a key bat of the bench for the team that won a second straight World Series. Darnell had just been promoted by the Brewers to be manager of their Triple "A" Nashville farm club, but opted out to become an assistant hitting coach with the Detroit Tigers with new skipper Brad Ausmus. The third former Blue Jay in the news was Ted Lilly, who retired this week at age 37 and battled what had become chronic neck problems. The lefty came to the Blue Jays in one of J.P. Ricciardis better deals back on November of 2003. The Jays sent outfielder Bob Kielty to Oakland to get him and from 2004 through 2006, Lilly went 37-34 for the Jays and ate a lot of innings. Unfortunately, he became better known in Toronto for his in-game run-in with skipper John Gibbons, when he balked at being taken out of the game while he was in the process of blowing a huge lead. Both men have put that behind them now. Lilly was traded five times over his career and is also one of those who was an Expo and a Blue Jay. He put together a career record of 130-113 with a 4.14 ERA. He didnt want to retire and was actually trying to pitch in the Venezuelan Winter League when he realized his body just couldnt carry him anymore. Now on to other matters - the Winter Meetings start Dec. 9, a week from Monday in Orlando. Cant wait! Custom Pittsburgh Pirates Jerseys . John Albert Elway, 24, was booked into jail early Saturday morning after an incident near a college campus in downtown Denver, according to jail records. Pittsburgh Pirates Store . Snedekers best result so far this year is a tie for eighth place at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March. He sits 113th in FedEx Cup standings and has dropped to 31st in world rankings — not the results expected from a player ranked fourth in the world only two years ago. https://www.cheappiratesjerseys.us/. John Albert Elway, 24, was booked into jail early Saturday morning after an incident near a college campus in downtown Denver, according to jail records. Pirates Jerseys China . The win puts the final playoff berth in Group A in question. If the Czechs beat Slovakia on Tuesday, they will go through. If they lose, Germany will get the last quarter-final berth. Pittsburgh Pirates Shirts .Michael Briscoe is serving a life sentence for sexual assault, kidnapping and first-degree murder in the death of 13-year-old Nina Courtepatte in 2005.EASTBOURNE, England -- Top-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland failed to reach the second round of the Aegon International when she was beaten 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (4) by Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia on Monday. But defending champion Elena Vesnina of Russia held off a strong challenge to beat Shuai Peng of China 6-3, 6-4, and there was another hard-fought victory for 2012 runner-up Angelique Kerber of Germany, who defeated Alison Riske of the United States 7-6 (6), 6-4. Former champion Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark also won, beating Australian Samantha Stosur 7-5, 6-4. Radwanska won the grass-court tournament in 2008, but she has since fallen in the first round four times and not won a match at Eastbourne since she reached the quarterfinals in 2011. Despite her early exit, Radwanska was not too concerned about her lack of match preparation for Wimbledon. In 2012 after a first-round defeat she went on to reach the Wimbledon final, and last year after an opening-round loss she reached the semifinals there. "The first match (on grass) is always tricky," she said. "Well, it was a great match before Wimbledon to get used to it ... I just hope I can do the same good results (at Wimbledon) this year." Wozniacki had to recover a break of serve at the beginning of each set to defeat Stosur but felt comfortable to be back on a surface which netted her the 2009 title at Eastbourne as well as the junior trophy at Wimbledon. Following her first round defeat at Roland Garros, Wozniacki enjoyyed a break in Miami with family and friends, including Serena Williams.dddddddddddd "That was a lot of fun," Wozniacki said. "Serena and I had a good time with some of our other friends ... I came back home and I worked hard every day four, five hours a day. My game is in good shape." Eastbourne also features No. 8 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus. A former No. 1, a left foot injury restricted her to just one match since she surrendered her Australian Open title in the quarterfinals in January. Drawn to face Italian Camila Giorgi in her opening match on Tuesday, Azarenka said, "Its not important for me whos going to be on the other side. I just want to see what I can do, and just see how to raise my level from there." Everyones mind inevitably is on Wimbledon, which begins next week, but second-seeded Petra Kvitova, who reached the Eastbourne final in 2011 before going on to claim the Wimbledon title, is determined to keep her focus on this week. "Of course, I want to play the best that I can to get used to the grass and everything before Wimbledon, but Im taking this tournament as a very big one," Kvitova said. "Its a very tough draw. Everybody wants to be successful here." In the mens event, Frenchman Jeremy Chardy beat former two-time champion Ivo Karlovic of Croatia 6-4, 6-4, sixth-seeded Gilles Simon of France defeated Australian qualifier Chris Guccione 7-6 (2), 6-4 and American Sam Querrey beat Britains Kyle Edmund 7-6 (5), 6-3. ' ' '