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When "The Bird" was the word
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Thought someone might enjoy this article....
Going through some old stuff in the basement and came across this old magazine from 1976 called "New Times". It's a neat article written about Mark Fidrych at the peak of his popularity in Detroit (August 20th, 1976). My Dad was in between gigs at the News and Free Press and took the photos on a freelance assignment. After reading it, I wonder if any baseball player has ever captured a city's imagination like The Bird did in Detroit that year. Best line in the article: "Tell me Mark, what are your feelings as you stand here on the eve of your ninth victory?" "Well, to tell you the truth...it's ten thirty, and I'd like to go out and get laid!" Attachment 290300 Attachment 290301 Attachment 290302 Attachment 290303 Attachment 290304 Attachment 290305 Attachment 290306 |
Neat article, you don't really see players with his kind of mindset these days. It's hard to imagine a player not nitpicking over millions of dollars b/c their dad made way less than that in the first place...even cooler dude than I realized
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Thats a cool mock-up of a 1976 in your avatar. But that 1977 with the All-Star designation and rookie trophy is THE card!
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The world was a better place with that guy in it!
RIP - We miss you Mark - & We will always cherish those days! |
Great article -- thanks for posting it!
I was just looking at the Wiki page for Fidrych the other day and it was fun reading about some of the games from his magical '76 season. Strange (and also a bit sad) to think that by the time we pulled our Fidrych RCs from our '77 Topps packs, we had already seen the best of The Bird. It's fun to read these old articles to really see how he captured the hearts of Detroiters and fans across the US. |
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I'm going to buy that card sometime this month. I love that card. The Bird was unique. One of those incredible enigmatic stars that faded out too quickly. |
Sidd Finch was better.
but the Bird was cool too. ;) |
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Aw, Finch never even pitched a complete game* *albeit an irrelevant detail by then |
CW, I have 5 Fidrych's that look just like your ungraded one. If I ever pay PSA 10 money for a card, I think the '77 Fidrych will be the one.
I just always thought he should have had a '76 card since that was his only good, injury-free year. Every Spring Detroiters would get their hopes up that he'd be coming back, and every year he'd get hurt again. Of course later they found out what his injury was (rotator cuff maybe?) and discovered that, today, he would have had surgery and been fine. Imagine a healthy Fidrych with Jack Morris on those great 80's Tiger teams. |
You can never have too many Fidrych RCs, Scott. :) A PSA 10 worthy of the grade would be a fantastic card. The last one I saw sell on eBay was weak for a 10 and it sold for $2K. Finding a nicely centered 9 can be tough enough.
If you have a chance to post your cool custom '76 Fidrych in full size, please share it. Great idea to make one! |
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Photo is from a 35mm slide taken by my dad - one of about 50 he took for the story. Pretty sure Topps also used 35mm slides for their cards in this era so I always thought it had the right "look". It's the font for his name that was tough to match. Oh the time you can waste playing with photoshop....
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Awesome "card that never was", Scott, and the connection to your Dad makes it even cooler! Thanks.
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http://photos.sportscollectors.net/208587.jpg |
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I'm going to read this tonight. Thank you for sharing!
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He sure enjoyed life! ...and I'm glad he got pictured as a lefty...he earned it.
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Pretty decent bio THE BIRD: THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF MARK FIDRYCH by Doug Wilson.
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Mark struck me out 4 times in a game when I was a freshman in high school. He was pitching for Algonquin. We wound up beating him 1-0 on a homer by our pitcher. That year was the end of my baseball career as I sprouted 4 inches and confirmed that they didn't throw curveballs in basketball.
I ran into Mark a few times over the years. He fancied himself a pool player. He wasn't. He financed a few Saturday nights out drinking on money I won from him. He was not a close friend but I knew him well enough to know he was a really nice guy (if more than a bit of a goof). Why he wound up working on city dump trucks/snow-plows for a buck is beyond me. That is a heck of a way to die. |
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I'm all for keeping this thread going! How about some mound grooming? (Boy, that sounds bad when I read it out loud!)
Ken |
Ok, I'll keep the thread alive!
A few photos from the story. Remember how Bruce Kimm was the Bird's personal catcher that year? (By the way, if anyone would like a digital copy of any of the photos here or from the story, just give me a shout. Here's Kimm at glorious Tiger Stadium. One of the last years with the green seats! http://i811.photobucket.com/albums/z...psc8292da4.jpg http://i811.photobucket.com/albums/z...psc7b1d900.jpg You might be able to barely make out the list of names over his right shoulder. On top it says "Hiller bald" I assume the other column was "Hiller hair". Looks to be a serious division of opinion on the topic.... http://i811.photobucket.com/albums/z...psbf05e1bf.jpg http://i811.photobucket.com/albums/z...psb7c212c1.jpg |
Scott, you should never think you wasted one second on making your gorgeous fantasy 1976 Topps Mark Fidrych. That card is a honey. Man, he looks eight feet tall on the mound! Like a great big ....:D
Maybe Mark didn't have the career his fans hoped he would, but at least he had a Giant Condor rookie season that left a lifetime of cherished memories. Whenever people think of him or see his picture Mark still puts a smile on their faces. Not many one-year wonders can say that. Seriously, I wish I could buy a copy of your beautiful card. Nice tribute to a great flake and a great pitcher for a while. Many thanks for sharing, bro. --Brian Powell |
Thank you for sharing that. A beautiful story that reminds me why I love baseball so much!
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Scott,
Very good thread about one great person, who happened to play ball. I was fortunate enough to go to one of his games in 1976. It was magic. I have my Fidrych rookie card and his book of Go Bird Go. Always a good read. Bill Attachment 166004 |
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