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'The Birdman' Mark Fidrych dies

OG

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"BOSTON -- Mark "the Bird" Fidrych, the fun-loving pitcher who baffled hitters for one All-Star season and entertained fans with his antics, was found dead Monday in an apparent accident at his farm. He was 54.

Worcester County district attorney Joseph D. Early Jr. said a family friend found Fidrych about 2:30 p.m. Monday beneath a dump truck in Northborough, Mass., about 35 miles west of Boston. He appeared to have been working on the truck, Early said.

Joseph Amorello said he had stopped by the farm to chat with Fidrych when he found the body underneath the 10-wheel truck. Amorello owns A.F. Amorello & Sons, a company that does road construction, and said he sometimes hired Fidrych to haul asphalt or gravel in the truck.

"We were just, in general, getting started for the [road building] season this week and it seems as though his truck was going to be needed. It looked like he was doing some maintenance on it," Amorello said in a telephone interview. "I found him under the truck. There's not much more I can say. I dialed 911 and that's all I could do."


The district attorney's office declined to release details of the accident or the discovery of Fidrych.

The curly haired right-hander was the American League Rookie of the Year in 1976 when he went 19-9 with a 2.34 ERA and 24 complete games. But injuries cut short his career, and he ended up spending only five seasons in the major leagues, all with the Detroit Tigers. He was 29-19 with a 3.10 ERA."
- ESPN

The point of this topic, outside of his death, is:

Is he the greatest one year phenomenon in sports history?
 

alkeiper

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There have been better seasons but almost no one was the kind of media sensation that Fidrych was. Fidrych was a legitimate gate attraction. Not the bullshit that was given to Nolan Ryan, but he legitimately drew thousands. Look at July of 1976. Fidrych started July 3, the Tigers drew 51,000 fans. The next day on July 4, a national holiday, they drew less than 15,000. July 9 with Fidrych on the mound, another sellout. A little better than half that figure the next night. 46,000 on July 16, 30,000 the next night. I'd be hard pressed to find another pitcher with that kind of legitimate drawing power.
 

Monty Burns

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They had a good tribute to him on the Tigers tv network today (before they announced today's game was postponed due to rain). He was quite the entertainer....flapping around, talking to the ball and such.
 
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