Fragen und Antworten » Jim Palmer. But Fidrychs success on the dia

Aston Villa could be consigned to relegation from the Premier League this weekend as they head to Old Trafford to take on Manchester United. Villa have been all but down for weeks - and relegation would have been confirmed had Norwich avoided defeat last weekend.While an away win at Old Trafford is not as rare event as it used to be, even that might not be enough to save Villa, whose fate could be sealed before they kick off should Norwich avoid defeat. Team news Ander Herrera is set to miss the game due to a foot injury Ander Herrera is set to miss Manchester Uniteds game due to a foot injury. The severity of the problem sustained in Wednesdays FA Cup win at West Ham has yet to be determined, but the Spanish midfielder looks set to join Bastian Schweinsteiger and Luke Shaw on the sidelines.Phil Jones may feature having played for the U21s on Monday and Wayne Rooney could play his first Premier League game since February 13 after coming off the bench at Upton Park. Jordan Lyden could be handed another run out by Eric Black Caretaker boss Eric Black handed a full top-flight debut to Jordan Lyden in last weeks 2-1 defeat to Bournemouth and will be prepared to give youngsters like Andre Green and Keinan Davis their chance if they are ready.Black remains without Gabby Agbonlahor and Jordan Amavi (knee), while Jack Grealish is a doubt with an ankle injury but Alan Hutton is available after suspension.Opta stats George Boateng explains why Villa were wrong hire Remi Garde as their manager Aston Villa have won none of their last 12 Premier League meetings with Manchester United (D3 L9).United have lost just one of their last 40 Premier League matches against Villa (W29 D10).Marouane Fellaini has scored four goals against Villa, more than any other opponent in the Premier League. Villa will be consigned to relegation should they lose Louis van Gaals side have won their last four Premier League games at Old Trafford, keeping three clean sheets in that run, while Aston Villa are without a win in their last 15 Premier League away games (D3 L12).There have been fewer goals scored at Old Trafford than at any other stadium in the Premier League this season (27).Paul Mersons predictionManchester United were outstanding in midweek. They thoroughly deserved their victory at Upton Park. In the first 20 minutes against Tottenham last Sunday I thought they played very well and looked very comfortable. But in the end they lost 3-0 and if youd just watched the opening you would have been left scratching your head and wondering how that happened! Marouane Fellaini has scored four goals against Villa They now have a FA Cup semi-final on the horizon but there will be no resting players from United, who still have a chance of reaching the top four. With Aston Villa the visitors they have a real opportunity to close the gap to Manchester City in fourth and I think they will do it in style.PAUL PREDICTS: 3-0 (Sky Bet odds 5/1) Birmingham manager Gary Rowett is looking forward to taking on Aston Villa next season Betting Marcus Rashford is favourite to net the opener Manchester United are odds-on favourites to secure another three points to keep their top-four hopes alive against relegation certainties Aston Villa, who at 14/1 are the biggest price of all the Premier League sides to secure a win this weekend. United are 3/1 to secure fourth spot ahead of Manchester rivals City (1/4) while Villa will be relegated if Norwich get any sort of a result from their lunchtime kick-off against Sunderland. Marcus Rashford is 11/4 favourite to net the opener and the United sensation and Anthony Martial both to net in 90 minutes is enhanced from 5/2 to 3/1 in Charlie Nicholas Price Boosted tip. 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Evans was a favourite of fans but not coach Jason Kidd, who used him in just 30 of their 51 games.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 sttorm.dddddddddddd. 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. ' ' '