Mark "The Bird" Fidrych

[Don Wassall]

I was glancing through a baseball magazine from 1977 the other day -- I've been reading some old Sports Illustrateds from the '60s and '70s to see how much has changed and how much hasn't as far as the journalism and what players and sports were covered, including comparing the advertisements from then to now, but this particular one was Street & Smith's 1977 Baseball Yearbook -- and there was an article on Mark Fidrych of the Tigers, who had taken the baseball world by storm as a rookie in 1976.

White pro athletes in the 1970s were often characterized by eccentric behavior and flakiness, as has been mentioned in a number of posts through the years on CF, and Fidrych ranked up there with any of them. He was 6' 3" and just 175 pounds and was nicknamed The Bird because of a supposed resemblance to Big Bird. But he was best known for talking to the ball as he pitched and just generally engaging in manic behavior on the field.

He was an amazing one-year wonder as a rookie, going 19-9 and leading the American League in ERA at 2.34 and also in complete games with 24 (out of just 29 starts). He even started the All Star game for the AL that rookie season.

As the season wore on, sellout crowds of over 50,000 became routine for home games in Detroit, with large crowds also for road games. He was a national phenomenon now long forgotten, but alas it only lasted that one season of 1976 as Fidrych only won 10 more games the next four seasons combined, with 1980 being his last year. But anyone who was a baseball fan in the Bicentennial Year of 1976 will always remember Mark Fidrych.

This video gives a taste of Fidrych's eccentricities and popularity. There are others on YouTube.

 

[The Hock]

I spent 1973-77 in Germany so I missed out on some 70's experiences and watching Fydrych was one of them.

 

[Phall]

My mom was in her mid-20's that during that season. When I was a boy and got into baseball cards, Fidrych was one of the few names she could discuss with me. This was pre-internet, so the stories grew in my imagination. She and my dad had moved out of Michigan, so I am guessing this was a fun talking point to see covered in the national newspapers and mention to family during long-distance phone calls back home.

 

[icsept]

Absolutely, Mark Fidrych was a phenom. I have a box of thousands of baseball cards in my storage. Probably have a Fidrych of some sort. I’m pretty sure I have a Hostess Fidrych card from a box of Ding Dongs or Twinkie’s. He died an early death at age 54 from an accident.

 

[Don Wassall]

I had forgotten about his death at such a young age. He lived on his 107 acre farm in his home state of Massachusetts and still maintained his upbeat personality even after his baseball career tanked. From Wikipedia: "According to the Worcester District Attorney's office, a family friend found Fidrych dead beneath his ten-wheel dump truck at his Northborough home around 2:30 p.m. on April 13, 2009. He appeared to have been working on the truck at the time of the accident. Authorities said Fidrych suffocated after his clothes had become entangled with a spinning power takeoff shaft on the truck. The state medical examiner's office ruled the death an accident. . ."

 

[Flint]

Yeah living in Detroit and being a baseball fan in 1976 was crazy. The whole “Bird” mania hit suddenly and lasted the whole year. It was a true community experience that couldn’t happen nowadays.

There is such a saturation of sports coverage now. 24 hours a day in an endless loop. Everyone needing their iPhone fix on a steady basis. The way they pound away at each detail over and over grinding whatever interest you might have into dust. And always looking for some angle on the story.

In 1976 Mark Fidrych was a typical American kid that nearly everyone could identify with. If this happened today there would be complaints about his white privilege, or they would dig something up from his past. A sensitive “tweet” (from the Bird haha) or a time he groped a girl at a party. Anything to piss on the parade.

The whole thing then was surreal. Fidrych was such a phenom and it seemed every game that year that he pitched lived up to the hype.

And as fast as it happened, it went away. The high expectations of years of excitement were gone in less then a year. I went to one of his many comeback attempts. A game hyped as the return of the Bird. But he couldn’t go. His arm was shot. Instead I had to sit through the major league debut of some no name rookie called up from the minors for an emergency start. Wonder what ever happened to that Jack Morris kid that filled in for the Bird?

The great thing about baseball is the continuity, even when you lose there is always another game.