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October 1st of 1980 wasnt a particularly special day in Blue Jays history. It was the final home game of the regular season at old Exhibition Stadium. The Jays were days away from wrapping up a 67-95 season. On this day, there were but 12,426 fans in the stands to watch the culmination of a fifth straight losing season. The fans on hand probably didnt even realize they were witnessing something special, something unique. Not the final score. Detroit out slugged the Blue Jays 11-7. So what was it about this game? Well it was the final start of the incredible, yet semi tragic career of Mark Fidrych. On this day the man-child they called the "Bird" went five innings giving up five runs, four of those earned. The Jays effectively ended his day by scoring four runs in the fifth. Ernie Whitt keying the rally with a three run homer, the last "Round Tripper" Fidrych would ever surrender. Fidrych gutted it out through that fifth inning and managed to get the win, to finish his season at (2-3). The starter for the Blue Jays that day was a 23-year-old Dave Stieb. He got torched for seven hits and six earned runs in just 2 1/3 innings and took the loss to fall to (12-15). Greatness was yet to come for Stieb who was in just his second season in the Majors, his first full campaign. For Fidrych, we were just left with memories and the lingering question of how great he might have been. Flash back to May 15th of 1976. The Tigers were home to Cleveland. Their scheduled starter that day had the flu. The manager, Ralph Houk "the Major" of Yankees fame, handed the ball to a 21-year-old long lanky right hander, who reminded a minor league coach of his at Lakeland of the legendary Sesame Street character "Big Bird". All Fidrych did was pitch a complete game two-hitter as he out-dueled Clevelands Pat Dobson in a 2-1 Tigers victory. There were 14,583 people on hand for the game. Remember that number. There were some great Blue Jays and Canadian baseball connections in that game. Rusty Staub was in right field for Detroit. Alan Ashby, a Blue Jay a year later was catching for Cleveland and the two DHs - the Tigers Willie Horton and the Indians Rico Carty - played with the Jays as well. For Fidrych this was only the beginning of one of most magical seasons in baseball history. After losing his next start at Fenway in yet another complete game, 2-0 to the great Luis Tiant, Fidrych would go on to reel off seven straight victories He was more than just a pitcher though, he was a fun loving unassuming kid who just loved playing the game. He would talk to the ball and carefully groom the mound before every inning. He caught the baseball world by storm. Fidrych appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated twice and was the first athlete ever to appear on the cover of "Rolling Stone" Magazine. In his first 13 starts, Fidrych worked an unbelievable 120 1/3 innings. If you do the math, thats over nine innings per start. How is that possible? Well three times over that span Houk let him go 11 innings. On June the 28th, he was featured in a Monday Night baseball national telecast, Fidrych beat the Yankees 5-1 in just an hour and 51 minutes. Fidrych would go on to start the All-Star game for the American League in his 12th Major League start. He would go on to finish the season at (19-9) for Detroit with a 2.34 ERA. But it was some of his other numbers that were truly astounding. Fidrych made 29 starts from mid-May till the end of the season. He pitched 24 complete games including four shutouts and pitched 250 1/3 innings. Pitchers today are proud just to hit 200 innings. On May 31st, he pitched a game that lasted one hour and 48 minutes. Then in his next start, he bested that taking just one hour and 46 minutes. Another unusual thing about Fidrych was he had his own personal catcher. He was 24- year-old Bruce Kimm, a rookie who played his first game with the Tigers just two weeks before Fidrych made his first start. They worked so well together in that first start Houk kept them as a battery all season. I dont know if that would ever happen today. As great as he was for Detroit that season, the Tigers still finished up the track at 74-87. Somehow, though he was voted Rookie of the Year, he didnt win the Cy Young too. That honour went to the Orioles Jim Palmer. But Fidrychs success on the diamond would be short lived. He injured his knee in the spring of 1977, and later in that season damaged his shoulder. Times being what they were, and medical advances in the treatment of arm injuries were still in their infancy, it wasnt discovered till 1985 that the "Bird" had a damaged rotator cuff. He finished his career with a (29-19) record and 3.10 ERA and 34 complete games in just 58 starts. This is the really incredible number. When Roger Clemens, one of the All-time greats pitched for the Blue Jays in 1997 and 1998, attendance barely increased on days he was on the mound at Rogers Centre. Yet in 1976, a year in which the Tigers drew 1,467,020 fans, more than half of that number showed up for the 18 games Fidrych pitched in. That is incredible. So if you were one of the few who were at Exhibition Stadium on Oct. 1, 1980 consider yourself lucky. You saw the final appearance of one of the most unique talents and colourful characters the baseball world has ever seen. Discount Nike Shoes .1 million contract. The club said that Boll will earn $950,000 in 2012-13 and $1.15 million in 2013-14. The 26-year-old Boll had two goals and one assist with 126 penalty minutes in 54 games with the Blue Jackets in 2011-12. Nike Shoes Outlet .The ruling takes effect on Jan. 1 and stems from the debate surrounding Paralympic champion Markus Rehm, an amputee who won the national long jump title competing with a carbon-fiber prosthesis. https://www.fakenikeshoeswholesale.com/. Mission accomplished. Now the Royals will take the field on Saturday with a World Series lead for the first time in team history when they play Game 4 of the Fall Classic against the Giants at AT&T Park. Clearance Nike Shoes . Not to be outdone, Atletico Madrid bettered its title rivals by demolishing 10-man Getafe 7-0 with Diego Costa returning from injury to score with a brilliant bicycle kick. "It was an almost perfect night," Atletico coach Diego Simeone said. Fake Nike Shoes For Sale .C. -- Kurt Busch put his chances at "70 per cent" at running the Indianapolis 500 this year because of recent developments that have pushed a potential program along. SAN FRANCISCO -- Yasiel Puig tied a franchise record with three triples and added a double and two RBIs as the Los Angeles Dodgers moved within a half-game of NL West-leading San Francisco by beating the Giants 8-1 on Friday night. The Dodgers matched a club record with five triples, including three during a five-run fifth inning that chased Tim Lincecum (9-7). It was the most triples in a game for the franchise since 1921 and most by a Dodgers player since Brooklyns Jimmy Sheckard had three in 1901. Zack Greinke (12-6) tossed seven innings of four-hit ball, striking out 10 and walking one. Tyler Colvin hit an RBI single in the ninth for San Franciscos only run. Greinke recorded another rare feat on a night full of them: he struck out four batters in the third after a wild pitch allowed Hunter Pence to reach base on a swinging strike three. Even with all of Greinkes greatness, the game belonged to Puig and the triple-crazed hitters in blue. The performances at the plate came after Dodgers manager Don Mattingly shook up his crowded outfield, putting Puig in centre, moving Matt Kemp -- who had three hits, including a triple -- to right and starting Carl Crawford in left. Puig got things going with a hard-hit fly ball to centre with one out in the first inning, flipping his bat as he sprinted out of the box. Two fans -- one wearing a Giants jersey, the other in a Dodgers uniform -- battled for the ball as it approached the wall, knocking it back on the field. Puig hustled to third, and umpires kept him there following a video review. Adrian Gonzalez followed with a sharp single tto right to score Puig and give Los Angeles a 1-0 lead.dddddddddddd. The Dodgers did most of their damage in a wild fifth. Puig and Dee Gordon hit back-to-back RBI triples, and Kemp had a two-run triple as the Dodgers scored five runs in the inning. Puig added his third triple to right-centre off reliever Juan Gutierrez in the sixth to extend the Dodgers lead to 7-0. He thought he had another extra-base hit when he flied out to deep centre in the eighth. The last player with three triples in a game was Denard Span for Minnesota in 2010. Lincecum was charged with six runs and nine hits in 4 1-3 innings. His start came after getting two outs in Tuesday nights 14-inning win in Philadelphia for his first career save. Giants manager Bruce Bochy said he didnt expect Lincecum to be tired from the extra appearance because the right-hander usually throws a bullpen session on that day between starts. Either way, it was Lincecums worst start since giving up eight runs in 4 1-3 innings at Cincinnati on June 3. The night was even shorter for his catcher. Hector Sanchez took a foul tip from Gonzalez off his mask in the third. Sanchez struck out in the bottom of the inning before Buster Posey moved from first to catcher to begin the fourth. NOTES: Dodgers SS Hanley Ramirez returned after missing three games with a left wrist injury. He went 2 for 5 with one RBI. ... The announced crowd of 41,753 was San Franciscos 300th consecutive regular-season sellout. ... Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw (11-2, 1.92 ERA) starts opposite Giants RHP Ryan Vogelsong (5-7, 3.99 ERA) on Saturday night. ' ' '