Comments on: Mark Fidrych, 1954-2009

By: bobabooie

bobabooie — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 03:16:51 +0000

Wouldn’t it be my luck…….to be caught without a ticket and be discovered beneath a truck. (Song by Bob Dylan)

By: catfish326

catfish326 — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 00:19:07 +0000

I love the Bird. Everyone does. “All-time single season leader in joy”…. That is the best phrasing I can think of. I am so sad at his passing. He is everything baseball should be. Bird, you were a giant, more than any HOFER I can think of . . .

By: shealives

shealives — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 12:14:17 +0000

I was 11 in ’76 and was enthralled with the “Bird” like all of us. I first heard of his death at a social gathering and I immediately started to tear up. No one else could understand my reaction even though they were all guys in their 40′s and 50′s. It was very difficult to not fully react the way I wanted to at the news. I can’t understand how baseball did not utilize all the personality of Fidrych after his retirement, ie pre-game analysis, Baseball Tonight, etc. Since Fidrych had a BoSox connection, why not NESN. I’m sure he would have been more entertaining than David McCarty, Lou Merloni, or Bob Tewksbury.

By: Josh Wilker

Josh Wilker — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 16:32:48 +0000

Thanks for passing that “bats” piece along, ramblin. The following quote reminded me of something I saw somewhere over the last couple days (I can’t recall where, unfortunately) in which Fidrych talked about how Thurman Munson reacted to his first sighting of the Bird by calling the rookie a showboat (the two men, who would form the ’76 all-star game battery, later became friendly):

“The home run — the first of Milledge’s career — sent the game into the 11th inning, and on his way back out to the outfield, Milledge high-fived and shook hands with fans. I thought then, and I’m sure those fans thought, too, that this was a great, human, spontaneous reaction. Instead, players denounced Milledge as being unprofessional and disrespectful to the opponent and the game.”

By: ramblinpete

ramblinpete — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 16:06:13 +0000

In this day and age, the “out of nowhere” phenomenon really is an anachronism…

There is an interesting post at
http://bats.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/15/fidrych-and-milledge-not-so-different/
comparing the Bird’s guileless enthusiasm with that of the recently demoted Lastings Milledge. Although the comments soon devolve into persnickety race baiting and trivial grumblings, the foundation of the article concerns whether or not there ever can be that sort of fresh breeze of “gee whiz” enthusiasm again in MLB.

By: Josh Wilker

Josh Wilker — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 15:25:57 +0000

“It was like he was still giving, making a point of showing that someone in his situation could be something other than bitter.”

Well put, sthek. I was thinking the very same thing, but it took me a lot more words to say it (see: my post today).

champsummers:
That’s really cool to hear that the Bird brought your dad back to baseball.

pieman1121:
I agree with the idea that there can’t really be an “out of nowhere” story anymore. I was thinking about that in terms of Fidrych not being on a baseball card of any kind in 1976.

By: pieman1121

pieman1121 — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 11:40:37 +0000

Like motherscracther, when I heard the news you were the first person I though of, Josh. I was 16 when Fidrych took the baseball world by storm. These kinds of out-of-nowhere stories don’t happen anymore with all the minor league, college and even high school coverage. He’ll be a once in a lifetime for me. Keep on keeping on, Josh!

By: champsummers

champsummers — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 07:19:12 +0000

April 13th was a sad day for baseball fans. Fidrych is the sole reason that my father regained his interest in baseball and, in turn, passed the love of the game on to me. Growing up, there were three posters taped to my wall that I can still remember. One of Trammel, one of Whitaker, and a signed 8×10 of Fidrych and Randy Jones taken before the 1976 all-star game. A few years ago a purchased a Fidrych jersey that I wear to all of the Tigers games that I attend. I can’t count how many great memories I’ve heard at Nemo’s (an old sportsbar near Tiger Stadium) and Comerica from veteran fans about Fidrych and that summer of joy. That magical season preceded my birth by 3 years, but the stories and memories that have been passed on to me will be passed on to my children.

R.I.P. Bird, the single season leader of joy, first athlete on the cover of “Rolling Stone”

By: sthek

sthek — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 03:18:30 +0000

“All-time single season leader in joy”…In over 40 years of following baseball (to greater and lesser extents), I can’t even think of anyone who would come in a distant second to Fidrych in that category. He GAVE so much, put out so much in that brief period, burned so brightly. I’d always be pleased reading articles about how happy he was in his post-baseball life, how grateful he seemed to be for what he’d accomplished in baseball yet with a perspective and attitude that made him appreciate the pleasures of domesticity and be ok with the kind of work he had to do now to make a living. It was like he was still giving, making a point of showing that someone in his situation could be something other than bitter. However , seeing that 1985 interview above showed glimpses that maybe it was more of an effort not to feel kind of ripped off by circumstance than he usually liked to portray, but, so what? That doesn’t diminish his gift one iota.
He gave so much beyond baseball by the way he played baseball.

By: sb1902

sb1902 — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 20:49:54 +0000

I mentioned in the comments after one of Josh’s other Fidrych entries that I had seen Fidrych with his work truck in Leominster, Mass, in the mid ’90s. I wondered if this was the same truck or if he was working on a personal truck. It had a cartoon of Big Bird on it, that’s how I knew for certain it was him. It would be bitterly ironic if the truck celebrating his fame was the same truck.

I wish I had the MLB network, I’d love to see that ’76 game at Yankee Stadium again.