Mark 'The BIrd' Fidrych

I saw him pitch in Arlington. Truly a colorful character -- I don't think he was playing eccentric; I think he really was.
 
Remember watching him on TV and the crowd going nuts when he came in. He would get down on his knees and fix the mound with his hands. Was pretty funny to watch.
 
He made quite the impression. I didn't recall his baseball career being that long ago and so short.
 
I was 10 when he had the legendary game on Monday Night Baseball against the Yankees. Back then, we didn't have cable TV, so we got most of the Rangers' road games (hard to watch because they were so bad), the Saturday afternoon game of the week, and MNB in the summer.

Even though I didn't like the Tigers, that game against the Yankees is easily the most memorable regular season game of my childhood. Firdrych stomping around on the mound yelling at the ball, the crowd going beserk, him coming out for a curtain call with tears streaming down his face, then the epic interview with Bob Uecker where he went all Nuke LaLoosh and didn't use a single cliche and absolutely spoke from the heart like an excited kid.

The weird thing is, I was lying around with my 10-yo daughter Saturday, flipping channels, and that game was on ESPN Classic. We watched the last three innings.

RIP, Bird.
 
As a lifelong Tiger fan, I was a huge Fidrych fan. When my parents divorced in 1977 (I was 12) and my mother and brothers moved down to Texas, my father and I stayed in New Jersey. I guess I was down about the divorce and everything so he did the one thing that could cheer me up-He took me to Detroit to watch "The Bird" pitch. Never had more fun as a baseball fan than that weekend in Detroit with my father. It, and especially watching Fidrych live in Detroit, picked me up when I needed picking up.

A few years ago I took my family to Tiger Stadium in the last year before it closed. I was walking out of a men's room and there was Fidrych walking down the concourse. I just about accosted the poor guy and made my daughter go run to find my wife and her camera. Not only did Fidrych stop and talk to me and my children, he waited patiently for my wife and was as nice as a person could possibly be. That photo with my family and Fidrych (and another with Al Kaline-along with ones of Ricky and Earl) are among my most prized possessions. Kills me to see he way he died. He deserved better. I am proud to say he was one of my heroes. R.I.P. Bird
 
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