Vorstellung » Alex Gordon with two on and two outs. Th

The email dropped in my box a few weeks ago. Almost lost it in the endless stream of playoff-related info (Rangers Availability, 5:00pm, JW Marriot) and reminders from Shutterfly about my daughters upcoming soccer practices. This note was from a friend made a few years ago, in the worst possible way you can make a friend. Paul Frustaglio just wanted to let me know they were having a golf tournament on June 26th for his son Evan. "Drop by, if you can make it," he wrote. I couldnt. Would be in Philadelphia for the NHL Draft. So I sent along my regrets and said that Id at least try to get a prize sent over from TSN. "I should have remembered that was draft week," Paul wrote back. "Evan was a 96." Thats the first way every hockey parent describes his/her kid; by their abbreviated birth year. When someone asks,"What is your boy?" We know instantly what they mean. "Oh, hes a 98." There will be a slew of 96s who have their names called Friday night and Saturday in Philadelphia who will remember Evan Frustaglio. He was part of an elite group of Toronto area hockey players growing up. From minor atom on, he battled against top prospects like Sam Bennett, Robby Fabbri, and Josh Ho-Sang. He played on summer teams with Bennett, Sunny Milano and Connor McDavid, next years draft prodigy. When the Grade 8 team from Vaughns Hill Academy, a sport-focused private school north of Toronto, played its opening game in 2008, Evan scored the games first three goals. His linemate Michael Dal Colle, a likely top-five pick Friday, scored the next six. "Evan had sick hands," Dal Colle says, waiting for his luggage at the Philadelphia airport. "He wasnt big but his skill level was off the charts. Great player, great guy. So sad." Evan Frustaglio was 13 when he started to feel sick at a hockey tournament in London. His Mom, Ann-Marie brought him home after the Saturday games, thinking there was no point staying over if he wasnt likely to be better for Sunday. Dont want the flu to spread around a dressing room. And it looked like, felt like, had to be, the flu. Thats what the doctor at the walk-in clinic said Sunday. "Probably just a mild virus... give him lots of fluids." But his parents were worried, and Paul stayed up all night watching him. The next morning, Evan told his Mom he was feeling OK, so she went off to work. Paul took the day off to stay home with Evan, and catch up on sleep. He gave his son a bath, and noticed an odd rash, but couldnt reach his family doctor to ask about it. Evan went back to bed, and Paul left the room briefly. When he called Evans name just a few minutes later, there was no answer. Paul found him sprawled on the bathroom floor, limp. The rest, four years later, is still a painful blur. A panicked 9-1-1 call, the operator giving Paul instructions on how to do CPR, the medics arriving and trying to revive him. Too late. Evan died October 26, 2009, the same day they started giving H1N1 shots to the public. That virus, the one supposed to prey on the vulnerable, the elderly and the very young, had killed a strong, healthy teenage athlete. "It attacked his heart," Paul says. "He was... too healthy. From what they told me, the best laymans way to put it is that his heart literally beat itself to death." Evans death triggered H1N1 hysteria across Canada. Instantly, there were line-ups that queued for hours at immunization clinics. Three thousand came to Evans wake. Hockey people, mostly. Entire teams that played with and against him. Some who did neither. Hockey is like that. I met Paul there. He was remarkable, thanking me and everyone else over and over for coming. The ultimate Canadian, overly polite even when his world was crumbling around him. He proudly showed me the flowers Sidney Crosby had sent. Evan had touched people. You hold on to that to keep you going, I guessed. Doctors would thank Paul for doing interviews, for talking about Evan, for encouraging people to get immunized. That helped him a little too, he supposes. But soon the H1N1 story faded, and the Frustaglios were left to figure out how to continue their lives without their first-born. Theyre still working on it. Evans younger brother Will, a 99, was too young to grasp the loss of his best friend. Its only started to really hit him hard in the last year or two. But hes done remarkably well. He is a top student and athlete at The Hill, his brothers old school, working out everyday in the same gym as Dal Colle. Will got the size gene Evan didnt, and enters his junior draft year as a solid prospect. Any parent who has lost a child tells you the grieving never really ends. But after four years, Paul and Anne-Marie finally felt ready to celebrate Evans memory. So as you read this, The Hill Academy is holding the first Evan Frustaglio Memorial Golf Tournament at The Glen Eagle Golf Club near Bolton, Ontario. The school is naming its gym after Evan. Money raised from the tourney will be used to set up a scholarship, and the plan is to designate a different charity every year to support. Would Evan have been in Philly Friday? Would he have gotten the chance to walk up on that stage and put on some teams sweater and ballcap, while Paul and Anne-Marie and Will and aunts and uncles and friends cheered and cried a little in the stands? Useless hypothetical, I suppose. His size was starting to be an issue by the time he was a teenager, so the odds were probably against him. But with those hands, that skill, and a fearlessness to boot, who knows? A couple of growth spurts... and... maybe. No. Was right the first time. Useless hypothetical. Paul Frustaglio would prefer to celebrate the life his son had, instead of the one that might have been. And so Friday night, he will do what he does every year. "I will watch the draft for sure," he says. "Im sure it will be bittersweet and a little sad this time because it is Evans class. But these kids are great kids. Some of them I watched since they played minor novice in the North York Hockey League. Ill be incredibly happy for all of them." Click here for more information on the golf tournament. Wholesale Shoes China Free Shipping . -- Once again, Carlos Santana was a huge hit in Kansas City. Cheap Discount Shoes Online . Bilbaos first victory in four rounds lifted it four points clear of Real Sociedad and kept it in command of Spains last Champions League berth for next season. In contrast, Betis was left 11 points from safety after a dismal performance that at times bordered on self-destruction amid some questionable refereeing decisions. http://www.cheapshoesfastshipping.com/ .Y. -- Phil Jackson lost out on his preferred coach, but hes working hard on keeping his star player. Wholesale Cheap Shoes Free Shipping .com) - Mikko Korhonen carded a 5-under 67 on Thursday to claim medalist honors at the European Tours Final Qualifying Stage tournament. Cheap Shoes Fast Shipping . Stiverne stopped Chris Arreola in the sixth round Saturday night, claiming the WBC heavyweight title belt vacated by Vitali Klitschko.BALTIMORE -- The Baltimore Orioles traditionally thrust a pie in the face of a successful teammate while hes being interviewed after a game at Camden Yards, and Nick Markakis was poised to be the recipient. On Saturday night, however, his teammates thought Markakis deserved better. He had played out of position for the sake of the team and singled in the winning run in the 10th inning after two throwing errors by pitcher Danny Duffy laid the groundwork for a 3-2 victory over the Kansas City Royals. So J.J. Hardy handed Markakis the pie and a fork, and he happily took a bite. Markakis, a Gold Glove right fielder, played first base for the first time since 2011. He was there because slugger Chris Davis was sidelined with a strained left oblique, an injury that will put the major leagues reigning home run king on the 15-day disabled list Sunday. Not only did Markakis play the position flawlessly, but he drove in two runs and ended the game with a deft opposite-field single to left. "It was an interesting day. Long day," Markakis said. "Get to the ballpark, Hey, you are playing first base. All right, strap it up and lets go. Its always fun. Its a different view of the game, a different look. It definitely goes a lot quicker in the infield than the outfield." The Orioles went eight straight innings without scoring before facing Duffy, who had pitched 8 1-3 scoreless innings on the season. After Duffy (1-1) hit Jonathan Schoop to begin the 10th, the left-hander threw wildly to second base after fielding a bunt by David Lough. Jemile Weeks followed with another bunt, and on this one Duffys throw went high and wide to first, loading the bases. "The boys battled their butts off all game and I came in and just wasnt sharp," Duffy said. "I got ahead of the first guy. I tried to go up-and-in on him. I thought it was a good pitch and the ball got away from me. Pitchers fielding practice, man. Its a simple game and I just wasnt sharp. I didnt do my job tonight." Louis Coleman replaced Duffy and struck out Nelson Cruz before Markakis delivered the game-winner. Zach Britton (3-0), the sixth Baltimore pitcher, struck out Jarrod Dyson with two outs and a runner on second in the top of the 10th. Kansas City fell to 0-12 when failing to score at least four runs. The Royals -- who stranded 11 and went 3 for 11 with runners in scoring posittion -- are 11-0 when scoring four or more runs.dddddddddddd Knowing they would be without Davis, the Orioles recalled Weeks from Triple-A Norfolk to provide an extra bat. Markakis, meanwhile, played his fourth career game at first base. "He didnt bat an eye," manager Buck Showalter said. "He looks at it as a way to make a contribution. Theres a lot of Gold Glove right fielders who would have broke out in hives if you asked them to play first base." Jeremy Guthrie started for Kansas City and gave up two runs before getting two outs, and then blanked his former team over the next six innings before leaving with the game tied. The right-hander finished up by getting David Lough to hit into a double play with runners on the corners and one out in the seventh. "We did a nice job of getting back in that game after Guthrie gave up two runs in the first," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "He settled down unbelievably. He did a great job of pitching out of a jam in the seventh inning." Baltimore starter Wei-Yin Chen allowed two runs, nine hits and two walks over a season-high seven innings. The left-hander ended his outing with his sixth strikeout, against Alex Gordon with two on and two outs. The Orioles took a 2-0 lead in the first. Weeks hit a leadoff single in his first at-bat with Baltimore, Cruz walked and Markakis delivered an RBI single before Adam Jones drove in a run by hitting into a fielders choice. The Royals used doubles by Alcides Escobar and Eric Hosmer to get a run in the third. Chen avoided further damage by retiring Gordon on a grounder with the bases loaded and two outs. After Weeks tripled with two outs in the fifth and Cruz looked at a third strike, Kansas City pulled even in the sixth. Gordon singled and Danny Valencia beat out a chopper to third before Justin Maxwell blooped a two-out RBI single to centre. NOTES: Orioles C Matt Wieters went hitless after getting at least two hits in four straight games. ... Miguel Gonzalez will pitch for the Orioles in Sundays series finale against James Shields, whos 9-7 in 24 career starts against Baltimore. ... Guthrie is 2-0 with a 1.89 ERA in three career starts against the Orioles. ... Escobar hurt his knee in the 10th inning on Schoops slide into second base, but he stayed in the game and Yost said, "I think hes going to be all right." ' ' '