RIP: Mark 'The Bird' Fidrych, 54

Like many others I remember that Monday night game too. I was shocked to hear he was only 10 years older than me.

That SI cover was one of the greats.

RIP to a true baseball original.

 

One of the better ESPN SportsCentury programs was on Fidrych. Nothing besides Fernandomania came close to what he generated.

 

Damn if that Bucky Dent wouldn't just go to town on his crotch in the batters box.

 

clearly, you aren't speaking about Fernando Rodney.

 

I don't think MLB had any one flash-in-the-pan star player on a shit team that caused such a media uproar the way Bird did during that era. Maybe...maybe Joe Charbonneau of the Indians a few seasons later, but even that wasn't close to Birdmania.

 

Great synopsis; just one mistake: Bob Prince, Warner Wolf and Bob Uecker called that Monday night game. I don't think Cosell started doing baseball for ABC until the 1976 playoffs, then became a MNB regular.

Baseball in the 1970s is a truly incredible era -- the Swingin' A's, Aaron's record, the Big Red Machine, the return of the Yankee dynasty, the advent of free agency -- that may be the most underappreciated in sports. For those who have not read "The Long Ball," Tom Adelman's book about the '75 season, I highly, highly recommend it.

 

This is a great synopsis of TV baseball in the mid-'70s, WC. Even if you forgot Dwight Evans in that deep Red Sox roster.

The NBC Saturday "Game of the Week" used to be appointment viewing. I remember going to my aunt's on Saturdays because my dad worked and watching Curt Gowdy and Tony Kubek -- or Kubek and Garagiola -- do the game. It became part of the soundtrack of my youth.

And Fidrych? Even pitching for a not-so-good Tigers team, he was THE story in baseball for a good chunk of that season. You had to see him pitch to appreciate him and fortunately, he became such a compelling story that ABC and NBC HAD to show him in all his eccentric glory: the talking to the baseball, the manicuring of the mound, the bouncing around before he pitched.

He made talking to baseballs cool for more than a few Little Leaguers. And he made the game fun to watch. There hasn't been one like him before or since; there couldn't be another one like him.

Crash Davis summed it up perfectly:

"If you win 20 in the show, you can let the fungus grow back and the press'll think you're colorful. Until you win 20 in the show, however, it means you are a slob."

 

I, too remember that legendary ABC Monday Night Baseball Game of the Week -- because I just watched it Saturday on MLB TV Net and then posted about it on another thread...odd that it was shown so shortly before he died...that broadcast was amazing in how "old" everything seemed. As I said on that thread, I think a good argument can be made that baseball (especially in regards to the broadcasting of it) has changed more since 1977 than any other sport.

 

This guy lived the dream. A tragic and unfair ending but it is hard not to be happy for the ride he got to take.

 

And this was back when pitchers pitched complete games! Wow. Unheard of today.

The Bird was must-see viewing whenever he pitched. Big burst onto the scene his rookie season, started the All-Star game -- and pitched two full innings. Guys today might throw what, a half inning in an Alll-Star game, before they're pulled to let the other 20 guys named throw the same?

It just reminds of a time when baseball was fun and exciting with colorful stars instead of guys you can't stand playing for the $$.

Of course, if the WWL had been around in the 1970s, we'd probably gotten sick of him, too, with their massive overkill of everything. Otherwise, RIP Bird. It was great and all too short of a ride.

 

I just watched the end of the repeat of this game over the weekend on ESPN Classic and I don't believe Howard Cosell was in that booth. Warner Wolf, Bob Prince and Bob Uecker. I remember they had all kinds of network time to kill at the end because the game got over so quickly.

 

Correct. Wolf, Prince and Uecker. Uecker went down to talk to Fidrych afterward.