There are certain people, places, things, and ultimately memories from your childhood that are just very important to you. They are special. The Bird was important to me. He was also very special. The Bird always takes me back to a time when all that mattered was playing baseball with my brother and my friends and the world was ours.
Sure there were better players, players I even liked more than Fidrych. Players I would emulate and idolize. However The Bird was where it all began for me. My love of the game started when he came on to the scene in 1976. Perfect timing I guess.
We all would wake up early in the morning on those long summer days, to play baseball. Before we threw the first pitch, we looked at the box score from the night before to see how our Tigers did. We wanted to know if The Bird won or pitched that night. In 1976, The Bird was the word in Motown, and I was a part of that great ride. My friends and I, and most likely every kid in ear shot of WJR in the midwest probably felt the same way.
I'll never forget getting cut out iron ons from the newspaper that had THE BIRD IS THE WORD along with his picture on it. Our moms would iron them on our shirts and we'd wear them to play ball. Not only did we have him on our shirts, we'd act like The Bird. We'd talk to the ball, we fixed the mound with our hands, we were just overly excited at every pitch. The thing is, we didn't have to pretend about being excited. We just were. You see The Bird was a big kid out there on the mound, and we could totally relate. He wasn't an old person playing ball in the big leagues, he was one of us. What could be better? Unprentious, geninue, and real. Perhaps the last of his kind in the world of steroids and free agency baseball.
Mark The Bird Fidrych did more that one season for a generation than probably any player ever if you were a Tigers fan. I remember listening to the radio and hearing the late JP McCarthy discuss The Bird and the game's highlights. It was the most exciting summer. Not as great as the summer of 84, but it was sure fun. People around here still talk about it.
When The Bird got hurt, he was away from baseball for a long period of time. I would always play close attention to his multiple comebacks, but all were short lived. It wasn't until many years later that I heard stories that he was beat up by a man who claimed Fidrych was dealing on his wife. I never heard this to be more than just a rumor, yet I've heard it over and over throughout the years by many sources. I don't know that it's true, and it could just be an urban legend that grew and grew. I wish I knew. It won't take away the summer of 76 no matter what the truth is; but it would have been nice to know what a long career could have become should he played a full career.
http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=4066009
The last game at Tiger Stadium, they paraded all the former popular Tiger players for one last salute. When The Bird came running out, the crowd erupted in cheer. There he was again, smiling and happy, and cheering. His exuberance was still there. He was just happy to be there. To me, he stood out above the rest, even the Hall of Famers on hand. Because I wasn't just looking at an old pitcher, I was looking at my summers as a kid. There was nothing better. He loved the game. I love the game. I love The Bird!
