For the last couple of weeks, there has been a strange and somewhat sad story unfolding in the Philadelphia Phillies camp. Cheap Wholesale Air Max Shoes . Jimmy Rollins, who should go down as one of the all-time great Phillies, is being questioned about his attitude and whether he is hurting the franchise by refusing to allow himself to be traded. Rollins is 35 years old and has played in Philadelphia his entire career. Hes a three-time All-Star and a four-time Gold Glover. He won a Silver Slugger Award and was named the National League MVP in 2007, in addition to winning a World Series with the Phils in 2008. Rollins has one year, plus a vesting option for another year, left on his contract. He is a "5/10" man, that is, he has played 10 years in the Majors and five consecutive years with his current team, so he has the power to veto any trade. Its no secret that the Phillies are an older, veteran team that may have one more shot at glory or, more likely, is heading for a blow-up and a major rebuild. Rollins, perhaps bothered or jaded by the teams struggles the past couple of years, was accused in so many words of not hustling enough or providing enough leadership. At one point, his previous manager, Charlie Manuel, benched him to send a message and this spring, his current manager, Ryne Sandberg, sat Rollins for three days after he said that spring training games were basically meaningless. The Detroit Tigers need a shortstop since Jose Iglesias is likely gone for the season with stress fractures in both of his legs. Rumours began that the Phils might try to deal Rollins to the Tigers. Rollins responded by saying he is unmovable because, at this time, he doesnt want to go anywhere. Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro, Jr. angrily shot down the rumours, saying there never was any talk of trading Rollins in the first place. One of Rollinss motives for wanting to stay in Philly is his pursuit of the franchises all-time hits record. He needs just 60 more to break Hall of Famer Mike Schmidts mark of 2234. Rollins is fourth on the list right now behind Schmidt, Richie Ashburn and Ed Delahanty. Even with a subpar season, Rollins will pass all three as long as he stays healthy. Jimmy Rollins is accused of being selfish for not allowing a trade for the good of the franchise. In Toronto, Mats Sundin and Carlos Delgado took the same kind of heat from Leafs and Blue Jays fans when they refused to be dealt in the final years of their contracts. Rollins is already the Phils career leader in doubles, but the hits record is something special to him. As he put it, only 30 players in baseball can say they lead a franchise in base hits. Is he being selfish? Not if he gives everything hes got to the Phillies every time hes on the diamond. Rollins wouldnt be the first to hang in to attempt to reach a career milestone. Two of the greatest pitchers in Major League history hung in past their primes in order to reach 300 wins. Lefty Grove, in some pundits minds the greatest pitcher of all-time, came back in 1941 needing seven wins for 300. He won his 299th on July 2 of that season. Essentially down to being a once-a-week pitcher for the Boston Red Sox at that time, he didnt get number 300 until July 25 and it wasnt pretty. Grove went all the way in a 10-6 victory over Cleveland giving up five earned runs on 12 hits. He never won again that season and called it a career on December 7, 1941, the day the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. Early Wynn, Tom Cheeks original partner on the Blue Jays radio broadcasts, went 7-15 with the Chicago White Sox in 1962 and finished that season with 299 victories. He came back with the Cleveland Indians, the club with which he had most of his greatest seasons, in 1963 at age 43 for one last shot at number 300. On July 13, he finally got it , but hardly in grand and glorious style. Wynn left the game after five innings with Cleveland holding a 5-4 lead over the Kansas City Atheltics. Earlys roommate, Jerry Walker, took over and held KC scoreless over the final four innings. Wynn became the first pitcher to have won 300 since Lefty Grove in 1941. There was one other case that I can recall of a player hanging in to get a record. Carlton Fisk, then of the Chicago White Sox, broke Bob Boones all-time record for games caught behind the plate with his 2,226th on June 22, 1993. Six days later, in what was perceived to be a heartless move, Fisk was released by the club. Is Jimmy Rollins selfish? No less so than any of the above three Hall of Famers. As long as the effort and the desire are there, I say more power to Rollins. He has a contract and the rules of baseball say he cant be traded. The one last twist to this story: Mike Schmidt is an icon in Philadelphia and will be working on home-game telecasts on Sundays this season. There are a lot of Philllies fans who dont want to see him lose this record. Rollinss position in all of this reminds of the heat Roger Maris was taking in his successful pursuit of Babe Ruths single season home run record in 1961. Some never forgave him for hitting 61 in 61. Jimmy Rollins doesnt deserve to receive the same kind of scorn. If he breaks the record, hes earned it. - Its hard to get into the idea of the season opening this weekend in Australia. The Los Angeles Dodgers are taking on the Arizona Diamondbacks in two games before returning to Arizona for the remainder of spring training. The really strange thing is, thanks to the time difference, the season effectively opens as a day-night doubleheader for us. The first game starts at 4am et/1am pt on Saturday morning and the second one at 10pm et/7pm pt on Saturday night. - One sad note out of the Blue Jays camp: the team released lefty reliever Luis Perez to make room for utility sluggerMatt Tuiasosopo, who was picked up on waivers from Arizona. Two years ago, Perez, for my money, was the best all-around reliever in the Jays bullpen. But then he blew out his elbow and needed Tommy John surgery. Perez was supposed to be back this season like Drew Hutchison and Kyle Drabek, however, he had a set back in the offseason and needed further surgery to remove scar tissue. Now at 29, his career is in limbo. Heres hoping he can make it back all the way to the Bigs somewhere. Nike Air Max Cheap Sale .DeMarco Murray got his 20th carry late in the fourth quarter with a 10-point lead, not long after Dez Bryant made his final catch of the day.Sure enough, a 44-17 win over Washington didnt change Dallas post-season position. Cheap Nike Air Max For Sale Online . Gerald Green and Miles Plumlee? Green had bounced around the NBA when he wasnt playing overseas. The Pacers gave up on Plumlee after just one season. Now Green and Plumlee are key cogs in the Suns surprising breakout season. http://www.cheapairmaxforsale.us/ . Louis Blues and back into top spot of the TSN.ca NHL Power Rankings. The Sharks had been ranked No.MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- The Memphis Grizzlies think they may have finally turned the corner in a frustrating, injury-plagued season. They certainly turned around their recent fourth-quarter play Saturday night in a 120-99 win over the Denver Nuggets. "Teams know that were going to play hard and, regardless of our record, were going to be a tough out," said guard Mike Conley, who had 14 points. "Weve always been a thorn in the side of a lot of teams. Hopefully, were starting to get back to that." Zach Randolph scored 20 points and the Grizzlies got 62 points from their bench as six Memphis players finished in double figures. Ed Davis led the reserves with 17 points, hitting 6 of 8 shots, while Jerryd Bayless had 15 points. James Johnson matched Conley with 14 points, and Mike Miller added 11, connecting on 3 of 5 outside the arc. Memphis sent the Nuggets to their sixth straight loss -- the longest Denver losing streak since a six-game skid in December, 2004. "There are a lot of things that we can take away from this game, and the five games before that," said Nuggets forward Wilson Chandler, who finished with 19 points. "If we want to win, we have to play harder, thats what is all comes down to." The 120 points were a season high for Memphis, and only two less than the most the Nuggets have allowed in a game this season. The teams had played six straight games where the winning margin was single digits, and Saturdays win was the most lopsided Grizzlies victory in the series history. Ty Lawson led the Nuggets with 20 points, while Jordan Hamilton scored 12. "It was a thorough ripping all the way through," Nuggets coach Brian Shaw said, later adding: "After we had a pretty decent first half, we gave up 30 points in the third quarterr and 35 points in the fourth quarter. Cheap Air Max Trainers. You are not going to win any games, especially on the road, against any team giving up numbers like that." The Grizzlies led by seven early in the final period before a 21-5 burst that included 3-pointers by Conley, Miller and Bayless gave them a 23-point lead. "We turned defence into offence," Conley said. "That was the biggest thing. We got out into transition, and we got easy 3s, pull up 3s. We had drive-and-kick layups and dunks." Memphis, which is playing without centre Marc Gasol and reserve wingman Quincy Pondexter due to injuries, trailed 56-55 at halftime. But the Nuggets began showing the fatigue of playing on the second night of a back-to-back in the third. Denver committed a handful of turnovers in the period, while connecting on 6 of 19 shots from the field. Meanwhile, Randolph was working inside to help Memphis build its first double-digit lead of the night. He scored 10 points in the third, leading Memphis to an 85-72 advantage entering the fourth. Memphis has won three of its last four. "At one point, we were struggling badly," Davis said. "I dont know how many we lost in a row, but the only thing we could do was win, and thats what we have to do the rest of the season." NOTES: The game marked the return of Darrell Arthur to Memphis, but the Nuggets forward didnt play because of a right quadriceps contusion. Arthur, who spent his first five seasons in Memphis, was traded in the off-season for C Kosta Koufos. ... The Nuggets, who lost Friday night to the New Orleans Pelicans, are now 1-5 in the second game of back-to-backs. ... Kenneth Faried returned to action after missing two games with a sprained left ankle. He played 13 minutes, finishing with three points and two rebounds. 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