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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. Fake Air Max . Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist stood tall with 41 saves between the pipes, but it was defenceman Ryan McDonagh who got the first star of the game as he had a goal and an assist and now has two goals and four assists for six points in two games. Replica Air Max . First-half goals by Will Bruin and Oscar Boniek Garcia sucked the life out of the Impact as the Houston Dynamo bounced them from Major League Soccers post-season with a 3-0 victory on Thursday. https://www.airmaxchina.us/ . Webb birdied the 18th hole to take the outright lead, then watched as Choi, who shot a course-record 62 on Saturday to take a share of the third-round lead, pushed a 10-foot putt wide of the hole at 18 to miss the chance for a playoff. Wholesale Air Max . As if he had been rehearsing it, Vasquez looked around with a grimacing stare as he clinched two fists and flexed his muscles. What do you think of DeMar DeRozans face after he hits a big shot, he was asked moments earlier. Cheap Air Max . According to TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger, the Maple Leafs have trade offers on the table for the 26-year-old, but none have been deemed acceptable by the team. FORT WORTH, Texas -- On a day when the weather was more suitable for ducks than racing, the Sprint Cup Series at Texas Motor Speedway became NASCARs first rainout of the season. The Robertson family from "Duck Dynasty" had prominent roles at Sundays race, called the Duck Commander 500, but Uncle Si never got to give the command to start engines. NASCAR pulled the plug after a delay of about four hours. The race will be run Monday, nine hours before the start of the NCAA national championship game in nearby Arlington. Tony Stewart, making a comeback this season after missing the final four months of last year with a broken leg, will start on the pole. Watch the race live, Monday at Noon et/9am pt on TSN2. Its the third time in seven Sprint Cup Series races this season that rain has hampered the event. The season-opening Daytona 500 was stopped for more than six hours, and the race at Bristol Motor Speedway had two delays totalling more than five hours. At least the fans who braved the rain got to enjoy the Robertson family antics. Uncle Si was wearing a sparkly jumpsuit meant to resemble a firesuit. Family patriarch Phil Robertson was supposed to wave the green flag as the honorary starter, his youngest son, Jep, was to ride in a pace car. Jase Robertson introduced the Top 10 starters, and his wife Missy sanng the national anthem.dddddddddddd. Sadie, Willies 16-year-old daughter, delivered the invocation. Korie Robertson, Willies wife, said about 30-40 members of the family were at the race. "And some extras, some bearded people may have slipped in there claiming they were kin," said Willie Robertson, who also sponsored Clint Bowyers car for the race. A steady rain saturated the track Sunday. NASCARs new track drying system requires two hours to dry the 1.5-mile speedway, but the unseasonably cool temperatures made the task more difficult. TMS big screen "Big Hoss TV" alerted fans to pending severe weather at times Sunday. The high-definition LED video board also showed episodes of "Duck Dynasty." Bowyers car had markings for Willie Robertsons diner, Buck Commander and Korie Robertsons clothing boutique. "I tried to talk them into letting me drive a Duck Commander car, but they wont do it," Si said. Willies response to that? "We told him if he could figure out how to open the door well let him drive it," the CEO said. Earlier Sunday, an official from Guinness Book of World Records officially certified "Big Hoss TV" as the worlds largest high-definition LED video board. It is 218 feet wide and about 95 feet high, covering 20,614 square feet. ' ' '