Following Fridays game, The Toronto Blue Jays activated pitcher Dustin McGowan from the 60-day disabled list and optioned pitcher Todd Redmond to the Buffalo Bisons. The last time Andy LaRoche was at Rogers Centre, he played three different infield positions for the Oakland Athletics over a three-game series. He should expect more of the same now that hes back in Toronto with the Blue Jays. LaRoche was called up from the triple-A Buffalo Bisons on Friday along with catcher Josh Thole while veteran catcher Henry Blanco was designated for assignment. LaRoche, who was signed to a minor-league deal in January, hit .282 with seven homers and 32 RBIs in 49 games with the Bisons this season. Hell give the Blue Jays some infield depth and will likely see action at third base with Brett Lawrie out with a high ankle sprain. "Well pick our spots, hell get some action," manager John Gibbons said before Friday nights game against Texas. "Could be second, could be third, could be first," he added. LaRoche, 29, split last season between triple-A Columbus and Pawtucket. He made his big-league debut in 2007 and has 22 homers and 113 RBIs in 403 career games with the Athletics, Los Angeles Dodgers and Pittsburgh Pirates. "LaRoche is a natural fit for us," Gibbons said. "Hes been around, hes an old vet. "He fits in, he can play some third base for us now that Bretts down. So its a good addition." LaRoche and Thole were not in the starting lineup for the opener of a three-game series against the Rangers. Regular starter J.P. Arencibia was behind the plate and Maicer Izturis got the start at third base. LaRoche said he has played all four infield positions over the last two years but is most comfortable at third base. "Whatever role they want me to play, (I hope to) do it as (well) as I can and hopefully help contribute to this team and just help them win as much as I can," LaRoche said. Thole, 26, was acquired last December in the R.A. Dickey trade with the Mets. He spent four years in New York before the trade and is quite familiar with handling Dickeys knuckleball. "They played together and won a Cy Young together so thats all you need to know," Gibbons said. Dickey won the National League Cy Young Award in 2012 with the Mets after going 20-6 with a 2.73 earned-run average. He has been rather mediocre this season with a 5-7 record and a 4.66 ERA. Dickey said he didnt work with Thole at spring training but they plan to throw together in the bullpen on Saturday. "Having Josh come up -- who has a lot of experience with me -- it should be a pretty seamless transition," Dickey said. Thole also gives the Blue Jays a deeper offensive threat in the backup catcher position. He hit .322 in 41 games with the Bisons this season with seven homers and 31 RBIs. In 308 career big-league games, he has a .261 average with seven home runs and 87 RBIs. Blanco, 41, had a .184 average with three doubles in 15 games this season. He has played for 10 big-league teams over his 16-year career. Notes: Gibbons said there is no definitive timeline in place for Lawries return. The Langley, B.C., native has been wearing a walking boot after injuring his ankle on an awkward slide in a game May 27. Lawrie is on the 15-day disabled list. Youth Thunder Jerseys . MORITZ, Switzerland -- Fog prevented downhill racers from getting their Olympic dress rehearsal. Carmelo Anthony Jersey . Philadelphia is 2-0 against the Senators this season and scored five goals in each victory. The Flyers recorded a 5-0 win in Ottawa on Nov. 12 and then earned a 5-2 home decision on Nov. 19. The Flyers have claimed three straight and four of the last five encounters with the Sens overall and Philly has won two in a row and three of its past four tests in Canadas capital city. http://www.cheapthunderjerseyschina.com/ . The Vikings announced Thursday that Priefer will be one of seven holdovers from the previous staff, along with offensive line coach Jeff Davidson, wide receivers coach George Stewart and others. Norv Turner will mark his 30th year of coaching in the NFL as the offensive co-ordinator, as widely reported for weeks, and George Edwards will be the defensive co-ordinator. Jerami Grant Jersey . Perez, 35, posted a 1-2 record with a 3.69 earned-run average in 19 relief appearances last season. His season ended Aug. 9 due to a torn ligament in his left elbow. Perez joins infielder Andy LaRoche and catcher Mike Nickeas with minor-league agreements for 2014 that include invitations to attend spring training. Patrick Patterson Jersey . PETERSBURG, Fla. When Dr. Mike Shingles had helped to pop Michigan States most beloved hip into place from his seat in the back of an Ann Arbor ambulance, he did what most football fans were doing on the night of Oct. 17, 2015: He reached into his pocket for a cellphone and started searching for the clip.Beside him, Jalen Watts-Jackson reclined in a relative moment of comfort and let the last half-hour start to wash over him. He braced for the next bump in the road on the short drive to the University of Michigans hospital and strained his neck to try to see what Shingles had on his screen. The clip wouldnt load. The cell towers near Michigan Stadium that night were working overtime.The relevant material, whether viewed on Internet video cut-ups or live on television that night, started shortly after 7:20 p.m. Michigan punter Blake ONeill bobbled a low snap, collided with a pair of Spartan rushers and flipped the ball directly into the arms of Watts-Jackson. A 37-yard sprint later, Watts-Jackson lunged into the end zone with two Wolverines draped around his legs, leaving a cleat and a healthy hip behind.If a viewer makes it this far without scrubbing backward to confirm what his or her eyes just saw, the scoreboard graphic in the corner speeds into action, scrolling to a final score: Michigan State 27, Michigan 23.Victoria Norris made it to the exit gate at Michigan Stadium around the time Watts-Jacksons hip was sliding into place. She walked into the concourse and tapped in a password to check her messages on her cellphone. Then a junior in Michigans kinesiology school, Norris kept her cellphone in airplane mode during football games to preserve the battery. Tonight, she was going to need it.Two sections over, Chris Baldwin climbed the steps of the Big Houses low, sloping bowl and ignored the incessant buzzing in the pocket of his jeans. The Saginaw, Michigan, native had friends and family on both sides of the rivalry and knew they would all be pinging him tonight to gloat or commiserate. He had no plans to respond to anyone until he thumbed through the list of incoming messages and saw each came with an attached picture of his shocked face.With social media it happens almost instantly, Norris said. We saw that happen before, so I wasnt that surprised when my phone started blowing up. I didnt realize to what extent it would be until probably the next morning.Norris and Baldwin, along with Watts-Jackson, of course, became the faces of an unforgettable moment in college football history. Do you remember the final score when Stanfords band took the field too early? Can you recall how far Doug Flutie launched his Hail Mary before leaping into the arms of a teammate? The details of last years rivalry game -- the 27-23 final score, the 37-yard return -- will start to fade. The displays of emotions are the parts that are built to last.In the clip, the camera tilts up into the stands, and Baldwins face is the first we see after Watts-Jackson reaches the end zone. His wrists are pressed against the sides of his head in a mixture of anguish and disbelief. Behind his left elbow a young woman stands with her bottom jaw temporarily detached from the rest of her face. Next to her a man in the same yellow sweatshirt as Baldwin wraps his arms around his own head like hes trying to squeeze the sight of Michigan States touchdown out of his eyes. For whatever reason, the camera settled on Baldwin.He had been coming to the Big House to watch his Wolverines since kindergarten, making the decision to move a couple of hours south and study computer engineering an easy one. As far as he can remember, Baldwin says, he had never been on the stadium videoboard or more than a spec in the camera lens in a television broadcast before that night.I figured this will be funny for a day at the most, Baldwin said. Then well move on to the NFL Sunday, and thatll be the end of it.Two months later, he was in Atlanta shaking hands with Heisman Trophy winner Derrick Henry and Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson. Baldwin attended the Home Depot College Football Awards in December to hand Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio his trophy for the years best play. Dantonio looked shocked -- how fitting -- to see him.Is that you? Dantonio asked the very first time they saw each other in person.Yeah, Baldwin said. Thats me.No further explanation was needed. Baldwin has met hundreds of new people since the play, all starting with some form of, Hey, arent you the guy ... Most want to recount their own memories or heartbreak or glee from that night. He has taken countless photos in the past year. His image has appeared on T-shirts from at least two companies (one of them sent him some food and made a donationn to the Chad Tough Foundation).dddddddddddd He and Norris even became a popular East Lansing Halloween costume last October.His favorite story came when old neighbors from Saginaw, diehard Spartan fans who were watching the game at their daughters wedding reception, let him know that they had seen him amid their celebration. The whole wedding party gathered around the TV with Baldwins face frozen in anguish and took a picture of their smiling faces beside his.At that point, Baldwin realized that this whole thing might be fun.Norris didnt appear on screen until nearly a minute after the touchdown. The camera danced between bewildered folks in blue and maize and giddy ones in green and white. Then it found Norris with her fingers laced together on top of a blue headband and her mouth and eyes still equally gaping.Her grandfather used to coach the golf team at Michigan, and football games at the Big House were personal for Norris. She spent Saturdays growing up yelling at the television screen with her mother while a trio of brothers less in love with sports found other ways to stay busy.It was an easy decision when a coach at nearby Skyline High School asked if Norris, then a goalkeeper for the high schools soccer team, wanted to try to kick field goals for his football team.Norris could put one through the uprights from as far as 45 yards out. She gave punting a brief try as well.I wasnt as good at it as kicking, she said. Knowing that I could get hit while punting was not my forte, so I decided it best to leave that to someone else.She semi-seriously entertained the idea of trying to be a walk-on at Michigan when she first enrolled, but decided instead to play goalkeeper for the Wolverines club soccer team.Norris got the photo requests and the questions just like Baldwin, albeit probably not quite as many. She saw the Halloween costume, too. When she needs a fun fact icebreaker at a new job or her last year of classes, she normally tells people that she has been made into a Crying Jordan meme on the web. No one has been able to top that one yet.Norris mother didnt see the pictures of her daughter until they landed in her email inbox a couple of days after the game. Norris visited the family home later that day to show her mom all the various places her picture had appeared over the weekend. The two gawked at Victoria now on the other side of the TV screen they had hollered at together.She was just mind-blown, Norris said. She thought it was really cool.A couple of days earlier, Norris phone battery had dripped down to 60 percent before kickoff. She slid it into airplane mode as she always does to conserve power and eliminate distractions from her post in the front row of the student section. The messages piled up as soon as she reconnected to the network leaving the stadium, and by the time she walked through town to her apartment the battery was dead.Watts-Jacksons phone was going through its own struggles at just about the same time. It sat unattended in in the visitors locker room at Michigan Stadium, vibrating until it could vibrate no more.When he was reunited with his belongings the following day after surgery in Ann Arbor, Watts-Jackson tried to flip through all the messages he had received. He had a couple of days to watch the clip and its aftermath while recovering in the hospital. His overloaded phone continued to freeze every time he turned it on.Appreciation for his play and concern for his hip poured in through other avenues that week. He received letters and phone calls and soon learned that someone had named a horse after him.Watts-Jackson, like Baldwin and Norris, described the moment as bittersweet, the chance to be part of a legend mixed in with a considerable dose of pain. He wasnt able to return to the field during the Spartans run to the College Football Playoff, and it would be several months before he could walk without some type of help.Id do it all over again, just as long as I knew it would get us to the playoff and keep our goals alive, he said in December.Norris and Baldwin cant say the same. Both said theyd gladly give up their extended 15 minutes of fame for a Michigan victory. The ordeal, though, hasnt come without its lessons. Why do players sacrifice as much as they do, and why do fans torture themselves with their deep emotional connections to a college football team? The sport can be so cruel and painful at times. But shared pain can be beautiful.I guess it really did lift my spirits, said Baldwin, who is still searching for tickets for another round of the rivalry on Saturday. ' ' '