Mark Fidrych- the Bird is the Word!

It is difficult to imagine that Mark Fidrych will be 52 years old, but that is exactly what he will become this August 14th. Thirty years have flown by since Mark Fidrych captured the nation’s fancy as very few athletes have before or since. His antics on the pitching mound, plus his wonderful ability, enthralled the country, and Mark “The Bird” Fidrych became a household name. For one magical season, “The bird was the word” as Mark Fidrych enjoyed the game of baseball as if it was the reason he was alive, only to have his career succumb to injuries that would cruelly make him have to leave the sport within a couple of years. Fellow free spirit and former Red Sox left hander Bill Lee once described Mark Fidrych thusly. “He’s like a little boy that’s thrown into a pile of horse manure. He’s bobbin’ up and down and they say how can you be so happy? And he says there has to be a pony in here somewhere.”

Mark Fidrych was born on August 14th, 1954 in Worcester, Massachusetts. His father was an assistant school principal, and he taught Mark Fidrych how to pitch. In neighborhood pick up games, Mark Fidrych used to be the pitcher, but when he began playing American Legion ball, he wound up at shortstop. When he lost his shortstop spot to a friend, Mark Fidrych asked his coach, Tom Rolfe, if he could pitch. Rolfe wondered why Mark Fidrych had not told him he was also a pitcher, to which Mark replied, “You didn’t ask.”

Pitching in high school, and then at Worcester Academy, Mark Fidrych was good but even his coaches did not consider him to be a pro prospect. The Detroit Tigers chose him in the tenth round of the amateur draft in 1974. Mark Fidrych, who pumped gas at the local Sunoco station on the weekends while in high school, received a $3,000 signing bonus and spent it on car payments and tuition. Rising rapidly within the Tiger farm system, Mark Fidrych was given the nickname “Bird” by Lakeland coach Jeff Hogan, because Fidrych reminded him of Big Bird from Sesame Street. Long and lanky at six foot three, and with a head full of hair that reminded people of Harpo Marx, Mark Fidrych ended 1975 at Triple A Evansville, where he posted a 4-1 record and 1.59 ERA.

He made the Tigers out of spring training, but found himself in the bullpen as the season started, where he was seldom used. He pitched only a couple of relief stints, but when scheduled starter and roommate Joe Coleman came down with the flu, Detroit skipper Ralph Houk called on Mark Fidrych to pitch. On May 15th, 1976, 175 pound Mark Fidrych took the hill, and baseball in 1976 would not be the same.

Mixing a 93 mile per hour fastball with an effective slider, Mark Fidrych took a no-hitter into the seventh against the Indians in his initial start. This in itself was not what made baseball take notice of Mark Fidrych. For you see, while he was pitching, Mark Fidrych would talk to the ball. He would go through various gyrations on the mound, aim it like a dart player about to throw in a bar, manicure the mound after outs, and even shoo away the groundskeepers so he could get rid of cleat marks himself. If his team made a good play behind him, Mark Fidrych would run up to them as they came off the field and shake their hand vigorously. Playing with what seemed like pure joy, Mark Fidrych seemed like a breath of fresh air to the game, which had begun the free agent era, making the players seem greedy to the public.

Houk kept Mark Fidrych in the rotation, and he kept winning. He became a sensation in the days before sports highlights from every game were available on every other channel. Opposing players soon realized that Mark Fidrych was not trying to show them up while he went through his routine on the mound. The curly haired phenom even went so far as to throw away the ball after it had “given up a hit” to a batter. He wondered aloud if he would have enough money for stamps to answer all the fan mail he was getting. When Mark Fidrych faced off against the New York Yankees, on June 28th, he was 9-1. After a 2-0 loss to Boston, Mark Fidrych had gone on an eight game winning streak of his own. The Tigers’ batters responded to the challenge, winning 4 of his first 5 starts in their last at bat. Mark Fidrych pitched a pair of complete game 11 inning victories during this stretch, back to back. By the time the Yankees made their way to Detroit, Mark Fidrych was the toast of baseball. No less than Howard Cosell was there, along with a national television audience, to see what made this kid special. Mark Fidrych would not disappoint. He went through all his motions, and beat the team that would go on to win the pennant by a score of 5-1.
Now a full blown celebrity, Mark Fidrych was in the spotlight. The Tigers were delighted, as the park was crammed full of fans each and every time he pitched. Mark Fidrych appeared in 18 games at Tiger Stadium in 1976; Detroit drew almost as many fans in those games as in the other 63 home dates combined! Mark Fidrych was on the cover of Sports Illustrated, showing him getting ready to throw a pitch with Big Bird from Sesame Street directly in back of him. Still a bachelor, Mark Fidrych was living in a small apartment in Detroit, driving a small green car, and making the major league minimum salary of $16,500. He would check the coin return in the locker room pay phones for change. The wardrobe of Mark Fidrych consisted almost entirely of tee shirts and old blue jeans.

At the end of the 1976 baseball season, Mark Fidrych had a league leading ERA of 2.34, along with the most complete games in the circuit, 24. He went 19-9, allowing only 217 hits in 250 innings. Mark Fidrych had been named to the All-Star team, and was easily voted the American League’s Rookie of the Year. He finished second to the fabulous Jim Palmer of the Orioles in Cy Young Award balloting. The Tigers gave him a $25,000 bonus, and then signed him to a $250,000 three year deal. They could afford it, having made an estimated million dollars when Mark Fidrych pitched at home.

The following year, Mark Fidrych tore cartilage in his knee while horsing around in the outfield during spring training, keeping him on the disabled list until May 24th. He pitched only 81 innings, going 6-4 but making his second consecutive All-Star team. In July, pitching with an altered motion because of his sore knee, Mark Fidrych hurt his shoulder and was done for the year. With what would be diagnosed as a torn rotator cuff several years late, Mark Fidrych was out of baseball by 1980. His career record was 29-19.

After an unsuccessful comeback attempt with the Red Sox, Mark Fidrych returned to Massachusetts, where he now owns a 107 acre farm with his wife of 20 years, Ann. The couple has a daughter named Jessica. Mark Fidrych runs his farm and works as a contractor, hauling gravel and asphalt. Mark Fidrych remains as effervescent as ever. When a reporter asked him a few years back who he would invite to dinner if he could choose anyone in the world, Mark Fidrych answered, “My buddy and former Tigers’ teammate Mickey Stanley.” The reporter found that odd and Mark Fidrych explained, “Because he’s never been to my house.”