Mark “The Bird” Fidrych
By Mitch Berg
Tigers great Fidrych found dead yesterday:
Fidrych, who won 19 games as a rookie in ’76 but had his pitching career abbreviated by injuries, was found dead by his friend Joseph Amorello beneath his 10-wheel truck at about 2:30 p.m. State police detectives are investigating the circumstances of the accident, said Worcester Country District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr.Fidrych, who worked in trucking and construction since his baseball career ended in 1983, had a job scheduled for this morning, but the site wasn’t ready, so he returned home. Later in the day, Amorello, the owner of the A.F. Amorello & Sons construction company for which Fidrych often worked, stopped by Fidrych’s home to say hello and discuss an upcoming job, only to encounter a gruesome scene.
Neither the district attorney’s office nor the Northborough Police Department would confirm further details of the accident. Reached via cell phone tonight, Amorello said, ‘‘It was obvious there was nothing I could do at that time.’’
Fidrych’s story reads like a B movie. Drafted low in the pecking order, pulled out of the minors more or less as an afterthought, Fidrych got his first start when the scheduled starter was out sick. Fidrych got 19 wins in a rookie season where he was paid – this blew my mind – $16,500.
He became a flash-in-the-pan superstar, got injured, never got near the record of his rookie season, and eventually left the game.
But it was fun while it lasted. And it may have been among the last times I personally followed the Tigers for more than a game at a time…
April 14th, 2009 at 7:41 am
That’s a shame. I remember watching Fidrych start a Monday Night Baseball game for the Tigers that summer. Just a goofy, curly-haired Massachusetts kid who talked to the baseball before throwing it past everybody in the American League. He won the AL Rookie of the Year and came in second for the Cy Young. Then just as fast he washed out and every once in a while you’d see a “Where Are They Now?” piece showing The Bird mucking stalls in Massachusetts or fixing a truck. Here’s one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rm_jU0b5Hgw&feature=PlayList&p=ABEF301A0361890F&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=27
Rest in peace, Bird.
April 14th, 2009 at 7:42 am
The summer of “the Bird” is one of the most vivid memories of my childhood. Maybe because the 70s in Detroit kind of sucked and there just wasn’t that much to get excited about. The thing I remember most about him is what an unassuming aw shucks kind of guy he was even while he was on his super hot streak. He had all these weird quirks but they seemed to be genuine eccentricities and classic player superstitions (if I do this, I’ll pitch a winner), not something he did for the cameras. And the hair! It was like a blond fro! And I was surprised to read in his obit that he was only 21 when he had his major fame. That kind of sudden celebrity followed by a precipitous decline seems to really mess people up. I was glad to see that Mark just went back home, got married, started a business and hung out with the same old crowd. That may have been a bigger achievement than his winning season and says a lot about what kind of human being he was. RIP Bird.