Mark "The Bird" Fidrych Documentary
The Detroit News has a nice article on an upcoming documentary about Mark "The Bird" Fidrych.
LINK: Harbaugh steals show in Fidrych documentary
I'll never forget that summer. I was in high school in the Detroit area. Fidrych actually came to an interview with high school students, and I was a photographer for our student paper, taking his picture, talking to him, next to him. Not an uber cool, unapproachable guy (maybe the times were different). Anyway, he was a simple, down to earth, happy go lucky, approachable guy. I can see how John and Jim Harbaugh loved him too. I don't have cable or get the MLB network, but I think this is one special I'd like to see.
The producer of the movie, Bruce Cornblatt, loved the project, and loved the interviews with Jim and John. About Jim, the article says,
Jim Harbaugh, in the documentary, called Fidrych his favorite player growing up, and had a touching story about the time he was at Tiger Stadium as a fan and Fidrych came over and said hi. Jim Harbaugh the young boy was speechless. The day after that Monday night game, Jim Harbaugh said he was pitching in Little League — and mimicking all of Fidrych's mound antics.
Can't exactly say why, but my eyes teared up just a bit thinking back to that summer. Where does time go?
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I remember that summer well. It WAS special because HE was special. I got to see two of his games in person. After that it was impossible (financially for me) to get a ticket. I remember Ford decided to get some publicity and gifted Mark a Thunderbird. When he showed up to get his car he was wearing shorts and a dirty t-shirt. The Ford marketing guys panicked and made him wear a suit from within their ranks. Pure Fidrych!
He may not have had a lengthy career, but then how many major leaguers managed to shag their girlfriends on the mound the night before a game? The Bird WAS the word.
I hope you are right about that. I have seen somewhere north of 100 major league games, including dozens of playoff games in SF from 2010 onward. The most commanding pitching performance I have seen was in game 5 of the ALDS in Oakland, when JV pitched the whole game, hitting 97 with crazy movement into the ninth inning. Even (especially?) Oakland fans were in awe.
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Don't correct him Valiant... he knew him well.
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If you wanna see The Bird in his prime, in a complete performance, check this out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHPyX_jowhw
Great stuff here.
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The Yankees went to the Series the year, which thrilled the 9 year old me, since I'd only been a Yankee fan since '73 and they were TERRIBLE in '73. Getting crushed by the Reds sucked, but '77 brought Reggie, and World Series glory.
I do remember the Bird--watching him picthed was a wild and woolly experience.
Just watched the lineup--Billy Martin says, "Born in Berkeley,California, died in New York." Eerie...
Great late movement on his pitches.
I literally just watched the end of this game before logging on here. My brother sent the youtube clip to me - we were huge tigers fans growing up in the 70's. I loved Fidrych - watching this video it is amazing to see how fast he works between pitches.
Also interesting to see such a weak middle infield with Tom Veryzer and Pedro Garcia. Tito Fuentes would take over 2B for 1977 and do a great job before Whitaker and Trammell would take over. I was also a big fan on Ron LeFlore - I loved guys that lead off and could steal bags.
For those who don't know, LeFlore had a problem with stealing bags before the Tigers, and was in prison for it (along with drugs). He played on a prison team where he was discovered. His was a story of redemption and was life changing for him.
He was later arrested multiple times for failure to pay alimony and child support and lost a leg a few years ago from arterial disease associated with smoking since his pre-teen days.
I only took in ONE game in my lifetime at old Tiger Stadium (my Dad took in many more, back when it was Briggs, etc.).
But...I was there for THIS game. I'll never forget it.
http://m.mlb.com/cutfour/2015/07/02/133761410/cecil-fielder-hit-a-hr-on…
...wasn't a long shot. Recall Reggie Jackson hitting the light tower in the '71 All-Star game?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enkfX2-uhYE
I was in the stands another time when Jackson hit a line drive off the facing of the right field upper deck...and the ball was still rising!
of the old Tiger Stadium. Probably the best was seeing Game 4 of the 1968 World Series. You couldn't have asked for a better pitching matchup with Bob Gibson vs. Denny McClain. Unfortunately that day, both the weather and game were pretty awful. The Tigers got bombed 10-1 with Lou Brock pretty much being a one-man wrecking crew. Brock hit 2 HR and was a single short of hitting for the cycle. Gibson was close behind giving up only a solo homer to Jim Northrup and hitting a home run himself.
But, that stadium had a lot of bad views, was pretty dirty, and badly outdated in the later decades. I really love Comerica. It's a MUCH better place to watch a game.
I was 17 and for the life of me cant remember which game but what i do remember is that I could only get obstructed view seating behind one of the poles at Tiger Stadium so I had to lean out to see him ptich. But damn was he fun.
I cant even imagine how big he'd be today via social media. There wouldn't be enough meme generators to keep up with the stuff he'd inspire people to create.
I still remember him patting the dirt on the mound before the game. He was quirky and fun.
THE TIGERS FINALLY BEAT THE INDIANS!!!!!
Some pent-up aggression was taken out today, for sure, as it was a no-doubter most of the way, and ended up pretty lopsided. Yeah, that streak was getting a bit, well....recent Michigan vs. Ohio State-esque, was it not?
Here's hoping that the Indians collapse after the AS break.
Was a great game. The pitchers aren't to blame for most of our losses to them this year. The most we scored prior to today against them was 5.
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And the reason the stadium is empty is because everybody is STILL AT THE NBA CHAMPIONSHIP VICTORY PARTIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Don't worry - we'll make it down to Progressive Field by the playoffs I'm sure.
The Tigers are doing their part, going 7-3 over the last ten, but Cleveland has matched us and took 2 of 3 head to head. We need to continue to win and hope they cool off a bit.
That parade must've been going on since April given they're dead freaking last in attendance.
Marathon, not a sprint.
It's amazing how one title in 60 years has made them so cocky, isn't it?
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RIP 1964. Long live 2016!
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I was in between my junior and senior years of high school in the Detroit suburbs. Fidrych was THE sports story of that year in Detroit. He was such a huge sensation and a big boost for Tigers fans who had to endure mostly bad teams since 1968.
Rusty Staub seemed like a great guy, but if he was on your team your team was going nowhere.
and if he had not gotten hurt, the Mets would have won.
dont be knocking Rusty.
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I don't know where he went to school, but the man was very articulatye. He could really turn a phrase. i think this is more noticeble in baseball than any other sport due to so many going right from high school to a Double or Triple A status, with little reason to return to school with their signing bonuses, and in the case of a Drew Henson, those guaranteed millions in exchange for not being a Buckeye Killer.
Rusty also got a tremendous amount of power for a No. 3 through 5 hitter that choked up like he did. Far more common for those that are paid to make contact and get on base, in fact, I he is the only hitter - with a decent average - I can recall from the middle of the lineup that choked up during that time period. Good overall player.
I'm a Yankee fan--fuck the Mets!
Watch the posted video above if you get a chance. It took me a while but I finally noticed that not one fan was looking at his phone. The pre-smart phone days had far better and more involved fans. At worst, you see people holding transister radios up to their ears during the game to catch Ernie's broadcast.
I was 9 and we were at home playing the Royals. Fidrych wasn't pitching, but he was out in left field before the game during warm-ups. My dad got me a game program and when we saw him we joined the masses that went to the wall to try and get his autograph. He was very gracious and stayed there until he had signed autographs for everyone. He signed my game program.
Oh, and the Tigers won. It was an awesome day.
I was 11 when my dad took my brother and I, along with our two neighbor boys, to one of The Bird's games. As sordid luck would have it, that was the game where his rotator cuff disintegrated just a few batters in. The ~53,000 in attendance were devastated, but the game continued. I want to say the reliever was Jim Campbell, but honestly don't remember. What I do remember was that he went 9 innings to win the game, and got the standing-O and curtain call we had hoped would be for Fidrych. He pitched those 9 innings to the bird calls and wild cheering reserved for the Bird - that crowd wanted to party and was not going to be denied. The only bummer was that Fidrych was out, and very obviously injured, after only one trip to the mound.
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