with a pint of beer - their chosen reward for thirsty work - only to be informed that it did not set the right tone.Higgs retired after the 1969 season, at

WASHINGTON -- Washington Nationals pitcher Gio Gonzalez called it "a lie" right from the very start, from the moment a newspaper report linked him to a clinic accused of distributing performance-enhancing drugs. A little more than six months later, Gonzalez was formally cleared by Major League Baseball. Gonzalez, a left-hander who finished third in NL Cy Young Award voting last year, said Monday he has "no lingering sense of animosity" over being connected to MLBs drug investigation. New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez was banned through 2014, while 12 players were suspended 50 games apiece Monday because of their relationship to Biogenesis of America. MLB also announced that its inquiry "found no violations" by two players linked to Biogenesis in media reports: Gonzalez and Danny Valencia, a Baltimore Orioles third baseman recalled from the minors on Sunday. "Ive never been really concerned about it," Nationals manager Davey Johnson said about Gonzalezs involvement. "I had a conversation with him in spring when it all came up. We had a nice talk about it. He wasnt concerned about it. I was, like anybody else, upset he was even linked to it. It is a relief that everybody knows it wasnt a problem. Its just another distraction you dont have to deal with." Gonzalez never sounded bothered by the whole thing, and he has pitched rather well this season for a Nationals club that entered Monday three games below .500 after leading the majors in wins last year. "I think it was on his mind so I think it had some effect on him," general manager Mike Rizzo said before the Nationals hosted the Atlanta Braves on Monday night. "I think he handled it well. Its a testament to his mental makeup and the way he prepares for games. I thought hes thrown extremely well, considering." Gonzalez is 7-4 with a 3.57 ERA and a team-leading 139 strikeouts in 133 2-3 innings. In 2012, his first season with Washington, Gonzalez went 21-8. Overall, in six years in the majors with the Oakland Athletics and Nationals, the 27-year-old Gonzalez is 66-44 with a 3.64 ERA. Baseballs investigation began last year and escalated in January, when the Miami New Times published documents connecting several players to Biogenesis, whose founder, Anthony Bosch, eventually co-operated with MLB. When that newspapers report came out in January, Gonzalez posted on his Twitter feed: "Ive never used performance enhancing drugs of any kind and I never will, Ive never met or spoken with tony Bosch or used any substance provided by him. anything said to the contrary is a lie." He later said that his father, Max, was a patient of the clinic and went there to get help losing weight. In February, Gonzalez said he had taken blood and urine tests two days after the initial newspaper report and that they came back negative. "I am very pleased that Major League Baseball has cleared my name. With this process now complete, I have no lingering sense of animosity, as I quickly realized that the objective of this investigation was to clean up our game," Gonzalez said in a statement issued Monday by the Nationals. "This is an ideal that I share with both Major League Baseball and the (players union). I would also like to acknowledge the unwavering support of my teammates, the Lerner Family (that owns the Nationals), Mike Rizzo, Davey Johnson, our coaching staff and Nationals fans everywhere." The Orioles did not have a game Monday. A day before, the 28-year-old Valencia homered for Baltimore after rejoining the club from Triple-A Norfolk. He has spent time in the majors with the Minnesota Twins (2010-12), Boston Red Sox (2012) and Orioles (2013), compiling a .254 batting average with 30 homers and 143 RBIs. At spring training, Valencia told reporters he didnt have any connection to Biogenesis or its founder, Bosch. "Ive never had any contact with those people," Valencia said at the time. "Ive never met Tony Bosch -- never seen him, never been to that clinic, never heard of that clinic until the New Times story first broke. That being said, Ive never ever taken a PED in my life, never failed a drug test in my life and I never will." Dmitry Kulikov Jersey . Burke is expected to miss two to three months after breaking a finger in the teams third preseason game. Tinsley, a 10-year veteran, spent the last two seasons in Utah, where the point guard averaged 3. Nikolaj Ehlers Jersey . A knee to the thigh might have stung him the most, but his sixth straight double-double made up for the brief burst of pain. http://www.jetsauthentic.com/authentic-laurent-brossoit-jets-jersey/ . Louis Rams wide receiver Stedman Bailey last Sunday. The fine is the fourth this season for Goldson. He was fined $30,000 for a hit on the New York Jets Jeff Cumberland in Week 1. Teppo Numminen Jets Jersey . -- Patrick Reed got an early start in golf. Kyle Connor Jets Jersey . Deulofeu injured a muscle in his right leg in Evertons 4-1 win over Fulham in the English Premier League on Saturday. Barcelona says that its team doctors will "co-ordinate" with Evertons medical staff as Deulofeu recovers. Ken Higgs, observed an admirer, was a wonderful fast-medium bowler with great stamina, an instantly recognisable curved run and an arse that crossed two postcodes. He played in 15 Tests for England, and, especially in Lancashire, many will profess he should have played more. With his passing, at 79, one of the Red Rose countys cricketing legends has been lost.Higgs was a heart-of-oak bowler, who took pride in his remorseless accuracy and his ability to find swing and cut when conditions offered the slightest encouragement. Few bowlers of his pace - early 80s perhaps - have jarred the bat with such regularity.His England record was a fine one: 71 wickets in 15 Tests at 20.74 each and with an economy rate of only 2.14 runs an over. Better economy for England than Brian Statham, Lancashires prince of parsimony, and at Old Trafford there was no higher accolade than that.Born in Kidsgrove, in Staffordshire, on January 14, 1937, he lived there throughout his Lancashire career. He did not drive and would commute daily to Old Trafford by bus and train. This was an era in which all but a few high-profile batsmen habitually walked for a dismissal if they had edged the ball. Higgs was incensed one day at Old Trafford when David Steele stood his ground after the bowler believed he had found the edge. They were due to return to Staffordshire on the same train from Manchester Piccadilly after the match, but Higgs was resentful enough to catch the next one.He had suggested no particular aptitude for cricket as a schoolboy. He was more taken by football and as a centre half attracted the attention of Port Vale junior sides and was selected for an FA youth tour of Germany in the winter of 1953-54. But military service intervened and gradually his interests shifted to cricket, encouraged in part by watching his brother, Roy, play in the Staffordshire League. When his military service was over, it was not long before he broke into Staffordshires Minor Counties side. The Lancashire coach, Stan Worthington, a former Derbyshire and England allrounder, recommended him to the county, suggesting that he might develop into another Alec Bedser.Higgs quickly proved himself to be Stathams most faithful new-ball partner at Lancashire after making his debut against Hampshire in 1958, taking seven wickets in the second innings. He took 67 wickets that year and 113 in his second, the first of five years in which he was to take more than 100 first-class wickets in a summer. He was not averse to a scathing quip or two if he felt that luck was against him.These were difficult times for Lancashire. They were runners-up to Yorkshire in 1960 but finished no higher than 11th for the next seven seasons. Job insecurity did not help Higgs cricket and there was some talk of his release, until a dramatic recovery of form that led to an England Test debut alongside Statham against South Africa in 1965. It was to be Stathams last Test, but Lancashires pace attack now briefly served country as well as county.Higgs was summoned for the 1965-66 Ashes tour but illness and injury prevented him following up a useful first outing in Brisbane. A subsequent tour to New Zealand brought more fortune, with 17 wickets in three Tests.His best series came against a powerful West Indies in 1966, when his 24 wickets were not only the most by an England bowler but were heavy with top-order wickets: Conrad Hunte, Rohan Kanhai and Basil Butcher to the fore. His 6 for 91 in a drawn Test at Lords remained his best Test figures. A grand effort, Wisden recorded. As many as 23 players represented England as the selectors rang the changes to no avail in a losing series, but Higgs was the only ever-present.But it was an unexpected batting feat that gained most attention that summer as England won the fourth Test, at The Oval - Brian Closes first as captain - by an innings.dddddddddddd Higgs shared a last-wicket stand of 128 with John Snow to take England to 527. When Higgs gave a return catch to the spinner, David Holford, the pair were only two runs short of the record last-wicket stand in Tests at the time, one that had stood since 1903. They were entirely oblivious of the fact. Afterwards the newspapers showed them celebrating their feat on the balcony, sipping tea. As Snow was to record in Cricket Rebel, they had intended to pose for the photo with a pint of beer - their chosen reward for thirsty work - only to be informed that it did not set the right tone.Higgs retired after the 1969 season, at 32, with 1033 first-class wickets at 22.90, his departure influenced to some degree by the belief that Lancashire were not paying him his due compared to Farokh Engineer and Clive Lloyd, two of the overseas players who brought a much needed shot in the arm to the county game in the late 1960s. Suitably, for family fallouts, the Old Trafford flags flew at half mast on news of his death, nearly half a century later.He played two seasons for Rishton in the Lancashire League, but county cricket retained a pull for him and he was persuaded to make a return by Leicestershires chief executive, Mike Turner, and made such a success of it that he took his first-class tally past 1500. He took 4 for 10, including a hat-trick, in the 1974 Benson & Hedges Cup final, and a few years later scored 98 batting a No. 11, during what remains a club record partnership of 228 with Ray Illingworth. As ever, Higgs sweep shot, which he doted upon for his entire career, was to the fore.Illingworth, whose captaincy was to transform Leicestershire after he cut his ties with Yorkshire, wrote later: He was just the type we needed - as strong as a bull, and he never turned it in. He was a bit temperamental at times, because he needed to blow up about twice a season, and then you had to handle him a bit diplomatically, but he has a big heart, and was always willing to put everything into the game with you.After his retirement Higgs became Leicestershires bowling coach, but after four years in retirement, a spate of injuries pressed him into an emergency return against Yorkshire in 1986. Conditions were perfect for swing and seam, and possessed of a statelier heft than ever, he came on second change and returned 5 for 22 in 11 overs at the age of 49, passing the outside edge at will. He was proud of the coaching clinic he had just enacted. I knew hed do that to us, bemoaned Yorkshires wicketkeeper, David Bairstow.Higgs partner for much of that spell was a player at the extreme opposite end of his career. Phil DeFreitas, then aged 20 and in the second season of his first-class career, took four of the remaining five Yorkshire wickets to enhance a reputation that would later that year earn him his first England call-up for Mike Gattings tour of Australia. DeFreitas was one of many who praised Higgs mentoring abilities upon hearing of his death. He taught me so much about the game, he said.Higgs could be a gruff soul, not much given to small talk, and he was no fan of authority, especially when it came with limited knowledge. But former team-mates often spoke warmly of his willingness to offer advice and guidance, and of his strong, uncomplicated team ethic. He just got on with his job, operating around 80mph, but getting enough life from the pitch to jar a batsmans hands and make batting a demanding task. After his retirement he ran a guest house in Blackpool, where further wisdom was offered over the fried breakfasts. ' ' '