REMEMBER WHEN …

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The year was 1976 .   The Tigers had very little talent on a team with no expectations.  But they had a rookie who lit up Detroit and lit up Major League Baseball.  Mark Fidrych packed the house at Tiger Stadium almost every time he pitched and plenty of times on the road as well.

So, we have a reader who has one simple request.   Feel free to jump right in with your memories on the topic.

Comments on THIS DAY can be expanded to a maximum of 8 sentences.

From Pat B. 
Let’s have a discussion – talking memories of Mark “The Bird” Fidrych.

Now that MLB is on hold, we are mixing it up a little bit.  Three new interactive blogs that allow you, dear readers, to have more input.  Which means, we need your ideas and questions for several of them.

1. Send us your questions that you’d like to see addressed about baseball and we’ll pick at least 2 each week to answer.

2. What questions do you have specifically for Kurt and Holly?  They can be on anything (nothing political or religious though) so you can get a more complete picture about baseball’s infamous (mostly) odd couple.

Totally Tigers loves your comments!  But please be aware that there are specific rules for posting and that comments may be edited in order to meet our specific requirements.  Responses are only published if they address today’s topic, are respectful and do not exceed the maximum 3-4 sentence response length.  Please become familiar with all of the rules at:  https://totallytigers.wordpress.com/commentsrules/.

22 thoughts on “REMEMBER WHEN …”

  1. I was born in `78 so I never saw “The Bird” pitch. However, back in `91 The Bird, Gates Brown, Jim Northrup and Jim Price came to Patton Park in Detroit to do a free community baseball clinic – to teach us kids (at the time) how to play ball and take tips from the pros. After the clinic they all sat at a table outside and signed autographs for all of us. Almost 30 years and two Tiger Stadium Fantasy Camps later I still have the glove they all signed and the autographs are still very visible. I remember Mark smiling at us kids and thanking us for coming out. It was hot and sunny that day. Memories.

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  2. A most memorable night. Middling Tigers team coming off a 100+ loss season now suddenly on national TV with the prodigal son on the mound facing the most hallowed team in MLB. That was the third most exciting Tigers game in my lifetime, trailing only game seven 1968 World Series, followed by the Magglio HR vs the A’s in 2006 that sent them to a most improbable place following a 119 loss season just 30 months later. Baseball at its very best with Fidrych quickly disposing of a team on its way to the pennant in just 1:51. Good Guys 5, Yankees 1. Following the game, the packed house was going nowhere at Tiger Stadium and I would not walk away from my TV. My dear father was alive for but 18 more months but I never saw a bigger smile from him that night.

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  3. The memories I have of Mark was his unbridled enthusiasm of the game and he didn’t honestly know what the big fuss was about, his every move seemingly being observed and reported about. He was just being Mark.
    The game of baseball benefited greatly from his short career he had.
    Most every ball park owner hoped his turn in the rotation, would come around when the Tigers came into their city. It was sure to be a huge crowd.
    Tiger Stadium was jumping and you could feel the electricity in the air whenever Mark pitched. Similar to opening day or a playoff game.
    I meet him about 25 years ago and he still had that same boyish grin, the blond curls of hair and the enthusiasm he had, when he played.
    This is how I will always remember him.
    Baseball needs someone like him in the game today, and soon!

    Liked by 6 people

  4. I met Mark Fidrych at a baseball memorabilia show in Troy in 1984. I had him autograph a color photo of him which I purchased at the show. I have met a lot of sports personalities in my lifetime. None were more outgoing and friendly than Mark. He also posed for a photo with me. He had the ability to make a person feel that he was genuinely pleased to make their

    acquaintance. I remember the summer of 1976 when Mark won the Rookie of the Year award. When Mark pitched, we didn’t do anything socially until after the game was over.

    Liked by 6 people

  5. I was very lucky, in 1976 I took my family, wife and two children to meet my father. Knowing my passion for the tigers he took us quite often to watch games at Tiger Stadium, had a chance to watch the Bird pitch a few Times and hiding his face behind the big bubble gums. Most fun was wathing him running around the field shaking hands with his teammates.

    Liked by 5 people

  6. One of my first memories was watching the Bird pitch on television. I just remember the joy – he pitched with it and brought it to the fans in abundance. He made the game fun, he was such a wonderful person, and one of the great “what if” stories of all-time. I never heard him complain or lament his short career either, he just was filled with gratitude to have made the show and gain the love of a city.

    Liked by 5 people

  7. I attended the game when he was matched up against Nolan Ryan.
    Seems odd to say this considering the topic but Nolan Ryan was unbelievable!
    I could not see his fastball. He threw so hard. His fastball is reported to have been over 100 mph back then. When I could actually see the ball I assumed it was a breaking ball.
    We won the game though and the hysteria over the bird and the presence of Ryan made that game one of my all time favorites.

    Liked by 5 people

  8. Like others here, the Bird was one of my first In person game experiences at age 8. The excitement was memorable. Talking to the ball. Wild wind up and delivery, and that song! Bird is the word.

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  9. I was working at a bank in Downtown Detroit, Detroit Bank and Trust now ironically Comerica. Mark used to come in the bank with Jsason Thompson. He drew attention to himself because he could not stand still in the bank line. He used to give tickets to the games to one lucky teller. His humility is to be greatly admired.

    Liked by 5 people

  10. I was enrolled at the University of Michigan in 1976, and not doing much that summer, so I went to three or four of his starts, sitting in the centerfield bleachers which, if memory serves, cost 50 cents for admission. I was at the game the following season when Fidrych grabbed his shoulder in pain, when it all tragically ended. Jim Crawford came out of the bullpen and pitched a shutout the rest of the way. While I suppose it is fair to say that the 1976 Tigers “had very little talent”; I’ll take Ron Leflore, Rusty Staub, and Ben Oglivie over just about any of the current Tiger position players.

    Liked by 5 people

  11. Great comments and memories today. When the “kid” comes out in a player, the fans can instantly relate. Mark was just a kid having fun and we loved him for it. Stay safe everyone.

    Liked by 7 people

  12. Readers may remember my story. Mark was at a signing and I brought my collector RC cola can (had his picture and ’76 stats on it). I asked if he would please sign my can. He says: “sure, but you’ll have to bend over”. I love him. He did sign a ball and I have it framed on my man cave wall. Everyone calls it the Ball in the Wall.

    Liked by 5 people

  13. First Ernie mention of the bird I heard was in his second game out of the bullpen. Harwell mentioned one earned run and no outs.’i guess you can say he has a ERA of infinity, let’s hope his possiblities are infinite’. If only Ernie knee how right he would become. But by the Yankees game I’m sure he did. Sixteen years old. Became a die hard baseball fan that summer.

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  14. My wife, son, and I went to see the Tigers play the Red Sox one steamy night with 50,000 people in the stands. It wasn’t one of the Bird’s better nights, but when Ralph Houk went to the mound to yank him, the fans booed him loud and long. Houk thought better of it, went back to the dugout (amid deafening cheers) and the game went on. A lot of people have used the word, but the atmosphere in the ball park was electric. A very memorable game.

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    • And my marriage to my lovely Lesa ! (I was still in the Navy – out in ’77). which reminds me – I didn’t see the Bird vs. Yanks – was in the North Atlantic at the time.

      Liked by 3 people

  16. “The Bird” was the Grand Marshall for our 1977 fourth of July parade here in Marquette. As the convertible approached with him sitting up on the back I yelled out to him, “Hey Bird, hope you win 20 this year”. He looked at me and smiled and with his Boston accent said one word…..”whatever”. I could tell in that one brief exchange that he was still one of us and stardom had not gone to his head. He was actually having great fun going down Third Street in Marquette on July 4th, 1977!!

    Liked by 5 people

  17. It was Memorial Day 1976 and the Tigers were hosting Milwaukee. A relatively unknown pitcher was on the mound for Tigers that evening. My dad decided to head down to the ballpark with any of the neighborhood kids who wanted to go that night. He was interested in seeing this kid pitch, We sat in the upper deck reserved seats (still green then) and proceed to be amazed in what we saw. Mark Fidrych pitched 11 full innings and the Tigers won with two runs in the bottom of the 11th. There was only 17K at the stadium that night, but seeing him out there battling all night, even striking out the great Hank Aaron was a memory I’ll never forget. Bird Mania took off shortly there after, but that night was special in so many ways.

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    • The game he won on June 28th that year against the Yankees was his 8th complete game pitched so far that year. Can you imagine how much longer of a career he may have had if the Tigers hadn’t wore him out that first year! Can you imagine any Rookie now pitching an 11 inning game??

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  18. Stationed at RAB in Thailand that lovely summer. I would wake up at 3 AM, if not on duty, to listen to ML games on AFRTS. I remember they did 2 of Fydrich’s games but I do not recall who they were against. Never saw him pitch in person but always felt he got jobbed in the CY that year. Only thing he didn’t have was a winning (or close to it!!) team but his year was better than Palmer’s in most areas. Great memories via the Stars and Stripes and AFRTS!! 🙂

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