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October 1st of 1980 wasnt a particularly special day in Blue Jays history. Cheap Blazers Jerseys Authentic . 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. Cheap Blazers Jerseys China . "I wasnt waving the pom-poms to be involved with it to start with," Carlyle said after a 5-2 win over Carolina on Sunday night. "Its been a trying time. "Specifically we havent played as well as wed like to hang our hat on. Cheap NBA Jerseys . Rajne Soderberg, the director of the Stockholm Diamond League event, said in an email Friday that the ban still holds. Euromeetings, the organization representing Europes top track events, "will continue to recommend that members do not invite athletes who we believe cause disrepute to our meetings and our sport. http://www.cheapblazersjerseys.com/ .Then came December.Three straight losses, including a crushing 27-24 defeat to Washington (4-11) on Saturday, has the Eagles (9-6) on the brink of playoff elimination.COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- As the final seconds of regulation ticked off the clock, the sellout crowd was poised to storm the court to celebrate an upset victory in Marylands final regular season game in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Disappointment ensued. No. 5 Virginia forced overtime, forcing the fans back to their seats to see if the Terrapins could rebound from the letdown to pull off an upset against the best team in the league. And that is precisely what happened. Maryland closed out its 61st and final ACC regular season in stunning fashion, outlasting the Cavaliers 75-69 in overtime Sunday to end Virginias 13-game winning streak. "Today wasnt just an ordinary game. It was a lot of things," Terrapins coach Mark Turgeon said. "We always play for Maryland, but today we played for former players, former coaches, all our fans." After blowing a seemingly secure lead in the closing seconds of regulation, the Terps (17-14, 9-9 ACC) never trailed in the extra session in front of an emotional crowd of 17,950 at the schools final home basketball game in a conference it joined as a charter member in 1953. When the final buzzer sounded, thousands of fans raced onto the court to celebrate another unforgettable ACC memory at the expense of one of its biggest rivals. Anthony Gill scored 15 points and London Perrantes had 14 for Virginia (25-6, 16-2), which had already clinched the regular season title and was vying to set an ACC record for most league wins during the regular season. "Not that we felt were invincible, but now we know we arent," coach Tony Bennett said. "So now we address it, and now we get after it." What hurt the most it that Maryland shot 48 per cent and scored 32 points in the paint against the nations top-ranked defence. "I was surprised how our defence didnt execute like we should have down the stretch," Gill said. "We are a defensive team, but we made it too easy for them. Theyre a good team, but we just slipped up." Seth Allen scored five of his 20 points in overtime and Dez Wells finished with 18 for the Terrapins, who will play in the Big Ten next season. Maryland had lost six straight to Virginia, including a 61-53 decision in February that was part of the Cavaliers school-record winning streak against ACC competition. This game, however, was unlike any that preceded it. "The crowd was lively and thats what our guys got to understand, that youre getting teams best shots," Bennett said. Cheap Portland Trail Blazers Jerseys . "I dont know if all that mattered. It was just a team that outplayed us. The crowd was great for them, the atmosphere was great. But we did get it to overtime and they answered the bell." The end of regulation was a horror show for Maryland. After Jake Layman made two free throws with 4.1 seconds left to put the Terrapins ahead 64-61, Maryland quickly fouled. Malcolm Brogdon made the first free throw and intentionally missed the second before the Terrapins swatted the ball out of bounds with 1.7 seconds to go. Gill caught the inbounds pass in the lane and dropped in an uncontested jumper to force overtime. "Our guys were down. I was down," Turgeon said. "I said, Lets make this the best five minutes of the year. They didnt believe me the first time I said it. But I said it 15 times during the timeout." Overtime began with Allen making two straight layups for a 68-64 lead. The guard then blocked a shot before adding a free throw. The Cavaliers used a layup by Gill to close to 71-69 with 1:13 left, but they would not score again. Despite the loss, Virginia will head into the ACC tournament as a top seed for only the second time. "I feel like we just need to get back in practice and just get back to what we know -- and thats defence and not letting people penetrate," Gill said. Maryland opened the second half with an 11-2 run, turning a one-point deficit into a 45-37 lead. After Wells made two free throws, Perrantes answered with a foul-line jumper. Wells then made a basket and added two foul shots before Allen popped a 3-pointer and Shaquille Cleare added a layup. The teams combined for only two field goals over the next 5 minutes, but Virginia made five free throws during that span to close to 47-44 with 11:34 left. Minutes later, Joe Harris hit a 3-pointer to end a 6-0 spree that put the Cavaliers in front 52-51 with 8:30 to play. Maryland went ahead 62-58 with 2:39 remaining but could not make the lead stand up. Perrantes scored 12 first-half points on four 3-pointers, including one in the closing seconds that put the Cavaliers ahead 35-34. As an expression of gratitude to the lone senior on the squad, Turgeon started seldom-used forward John Auslander, who missed his only shot before being replaced with just under 4 minutes elapsed. Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '
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