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TORONTO -- Casey Janssen doesnt have a date circled on his calendar for his return to the Toronto Blue Jays lineup. The Toronto closer is dealing with a left abdominal/lower back problem that sent him to the disabled list March 30, the eve of the Jays season opener. "Its just a day-by-day thing," Janssen said Saturday of his return. He says he plans to push as hard as he can go, but does not want to set a rigid timeline that might lead to disappointment -- or headlines. "We dont want to get ahead of ourselves," he explained. "We dont want to have dates where either I or you (media) guys or anyone else wants to have as a deadline or a certain date, where if I dont make it that day then its breaking news or something like that." Coming after a pre-season that saw him pitch just three innings as he protected his shoulder, it all means that Janssen is a long way off from where he hoped to be. "Im starting to trust it a lot more," he said of the problem oblique muscle. "Im starting to be a lot more active on it. The recovery is quicker, I guess. If Im active on it, within a few hours it (the discomfort) is probably gone. You wake up with a fresh start every day which is nice. "Ive just got to continue to progress. The further we get away from that Montreal date, the healthier its going to get." The Montreal date was the late March finale to the Toronto pre-season. Janssen felt something as he was warming up to go in against the New York Mets, but didnt think it was anything more than a "tight something." "Never did I imagine Id be sitting here in late April having not thrown a pitch," he said. The days after, however, he knew it was something more than tightness. Janssen is slated to throw a bullpen session Sunday, with another planned a few days later. A rehab assignment in the minors will follow. He has already had one of those shut down mid-month when it was determined he needed further rest. "I cant wait to throw (the bullpen session), Im excited," he said. "Hopefully theres no looking back." As frustrated as he is by the inactivity, the 32-year-old right-hander understands patience is needed. "Being in the position where I pitch in a game, youve got to be good," he said. "You dont want to let the team down by figuring it out up here. "So I want to be clicking once I get up here ... At the end of the day, my arms got to be able to bounce back, do the things Im asked to do here and then also have my side tested enough where, the same thing, Im not getting special treatment when Im ready." Janssen, who converted 34-of-36 save opportunities last season. says he only feels the injury occasionally in his day-to-day life. But given the importance of the bodys trunk to throwing, it is like Kryptonite to a pitcher. "Theres no injury thats fun," he said. "This one seems to take lot more time, even when theres no extreme pain." Sergio Santos has assumed the role of closer in Janssens absence. Cheap Air Max For Sale .S.-Portugal game on June 22 in the Amazonian jungle city of Manaus. FIFPro, the international soccer players union, had pressed FIFA to avoid the earliest kickoffs in the hottest and most humid weather. Cheap Wholesale Air Max Shoes . As if the individual strands of grey hair or the increasing amount of joint pain werent reminders enough, the impending end of Jeters career is a slap-in-the-face indicator of a generations fleeting youth. http://www.cheapairmaxforsale.us/. On Wednesday, Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas hit back. In a passionate defence of himself and the London clubs medical staff, the Portuguese coach rebuked the "incompetent people" who have attacked Tottenham for allowing Lloris to continue playing after being briefly knocked unconscious against Everton on Sunday. Cheap Air Max Trainers . Ted Ligety, Mikaela Shiffrin, Bode Miller and Tim Jitloff underlined the squads enormous potential on the Rettenbach glacier in Austria. Nike Air Max Cheap Wholesale . Louis Cardinals, the team will be celebrating the 25th anniversary of the opening of the SkyDome. Jays legends Jimmy Key and Ernie Whitt, members of playoff and World Series-winning teams of the past, will be on hand for the festivities to look back at what was the beginning of the Jays halcyon years.With the Toronto Raptors celebrating their 20th anniversary season in 2014-15, Josh Lewenberg and TSN.ca take a look back at the franchises first two decades with weekly Top Five lists, counting down the standout and signature players and moments in team history. Raptors Top Five: Best wing players 5. Anthony Parker (2006-09) Raptor stats (3 seasons): 11.9 points, 4.0 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.1 steals, 46% FG, 42% 3P, 235 games played/226 started Right off the top, a notable omission from this list is former NBA scoring champ Tracy McGrady, who very nearly snagged this spot. Make no mistake, McGrady had one of the best pro careers of any player to have ever put on a Raptors uniform, but thats not the benchmark here. If it were, Hakeem Olajuwon would top next weeks list of top Raptors bigs and, spoiler, he wont. McGrady played his last game as a Raptor before his 20th birthday and didnt make a significant impact until his third and final season with the club, helping lead them to their first-ever playoff berth while looking an awful lot like the superstar he would soon become in Orlando. Good, but not enough to top Parker, who was a consistent - and some would say undervalued - contributor for three full seasons early in his 30s. The versatile, guard-forward was one of Bryan Colangelos first and better finds, plucking him out of the Israeli league just in time to play an integral role for the 2006-07 division-winning club. Parker was an iron man during his tenure in Toronto, missing just 11 games in three years while logging over 32 minutes per contest in each season, shooting an efficient 42 per cent from three-point range and often defending the oppositions best perimeter player. Quietly dependable and always a consummate professional, Parker gets the nod here. Did you know?: Two of Parkers three years in Toronto (2006-07, 2007-08) rank among the franchises six best single-season effective field goal percentages, thanks in large part to his efficient three-point shooting. Jose Calderon and Amir Johnson account for the other four. 4. Doug Christie (1996-2000) Raptor stats (5 seasons): 14.2 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 2.1 steals, 41% FG, 36% 3P, 314 games played/299 started In the same mold as Parker, Christie was an underrated, do-it-all fixture for the first quarter of the franchises existence. Arriving in a trade midway through the Raptors inaugural season, Christie spent his prime in Toronto, where he helped bridge the gap between the Damon Stoudamire and Vince Carter eras. For a couple seasons, prior to Vinsanity, it looked like he may have been nothing more than a good player on a horrendously bad team, but his true value was felt when he shifted back to his natural role as a complimentary piece next to Carter on the Raptors first ever playoff team. Christie was a Swiss Army knife for them that season, playing and defending three positions and even starting playoff games at point guard. Not only was he the teams best perimeter defender, but he was also one the top stoppers in the league at his position. He started every game he played, logging at least 31 minutes a night in each of his four full seasons before he was sent to Sacramento for Corliss Williamson. Did you know?: Christie is the Raptors all-time leader in steals (664), steals per game (2.1) and steal percentage (3.2) 3. Morris Peterson (2000-07) Raptor stats (7 seasons): 12.0 points, 3.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.0 steals, 42% FG, 37% 3P, 542 games played/364 started In 2000, the Raptors transitioned from the traded Christie to Peterson, their first-round draft pick that summer. Coming off a national championship at Michigan State, Peterson was entrusted right away and played an immediate role on one of the best teams in club history, a team that was one shot away from the conference finals. With Carter hurt the following season, Peterson - along with Alvin Williams and Antonio Davis - shouldered the load on a team that fought their way into the playoffs and nearly knocked off the favoured Pistons. It didnt take long foor him to find his niche in the NBA, as one of the leagues more reliable three-and-D players, he would spot up in the corner at one end and work his tail off on the other.dddddddddddd. His circus shots, work ethic and dependability made him an instant fan favourite, but his importance to the franchise is in his longevity. Peterson is the only Raptor to have played for the organizations two most iconic teams (prior to last seasons renaissance, that is) - a member of the playoff series-winning club in 2000-01 and the 2006-07 division champs. Did you know?: Peterson owns the franchises iron man streak, appearing in 371 consecutive games. He played all 82 games in four straight seasons. 2. DeMar DeRozan (2009-present) Raptor stats (5 seasons): 16.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 0.9 steals, 45% FG, 27% 3P, 383 games played/371 started Theres been a lot written about DeRozan in this space - what hes been able to accomplish, coming into the NBA with little more than raw athleticism and playing for a series of bad teams - all of it a credit to his exceptional work ethic. A true self-made all-star, who at the age of 25-years-old, is still adding to his game and getting better. So, Ill leave it at this...When the Raptors took their training camp to Vancouver this fall, a fair-weather reporter asked DeRozan if he feels hes following in Vince Carters footsteps. If he cared to put as little effort into the answer as the reporter did in the question he could have easily shrugged it off, said Yeah, sure and moved on. His response: I hope to leave a legacy of my own. Obviously, Vince started off here and put the city on the map. My goal is to continue and have my own legacy as DeMar DeRozan and not follow what Vince Carter did. Well said. Did you know?: DeRozan set a career-high with 313 assists last season, 99 more than the year prior, his previous career-best. He recorded five or more assists in 27 games after doing so 12 times in 2012-13 and five times total in his first three NBA seasons. 1. Vince Carter (1998-2004) Raptor stats (7 seasons): 23.4 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.3 steals, 1.0 blocks, 45% FG, 38% 3P, 403 games played/401 started Carter remains the most controversial figure in franchise history. Hes also its best player - bitterness aside, its hard to debate that. His legacy is somewhat tarnished by his ugly break-up with the team, his admissions of dogging it and the less-than a kings ransom they got back in return. Only recently, as his (possible) Hall-of-Fame career comes to a close, has the city started to forgive. That said, he meant everything to a young franchise that was still without an identity when he was drafted ahead of the lockout shortened 1998-99 campaign. You cant take that away from him. Its become something of a cliche (see DeRozans quote above), but yes, he put Toronto on the basketball map in a way that the team is only recently beginning to replicate. He was marketable, he was dynamic and captivating, he was must-see television. On a nightly basis, he would do something jaw dropping and, evident in the stat youll see below, that translated to immediate team success. Did you know?: Carters name is all over the Raptors record book, but perhaps most impressively, Carter is responsible for the teams two highest single-season win share totals (an estimate of the number of wins contributed by a player); 2000-01 (12.9) and 1999-00 (11.8), the franchises first two playoff appearances. He finished sixth and seventh in the NBA, respectively, in that category during those seasons. The only players ahead of him both years: Shaquille ONeal, Karl Malone, Tim Duncan. Honourable mentions: Tracy McGrady (1997-2000), Jalen Rose (2003-06), Tracy Murray (1995-96, 2001-02), Walt Williams (1996-98), Dell Curry (1999-2002) Expert picks: Jack Armstrong 1. Vince Carter 2. DeMar DeRozan 3. Morris Peterson 4. Doug Christie 5. Anthony Parker Leo Rautins 1. Vince Carter 2. Doug Christie 3. DeMar DeRozan 4. Morris Peterson 5. 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