So long Bird, We Loved Ya


So many great memories our youth(s) we share with you.


He was such a sweet innocent in every way. (every good way.) Couldn't help but root for him.


I never had the pleasure of meeting him, but he seemed so genuine.
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3 comments:

  1. Tom HagertyApril 14, 2009 at 5:50 AM

    From today's Free Press:

    This is what people don’t remember about the Bird’s career: in 1977, his second season, he pitched even better than he had as a rookie. At the end of June he was 6-2 with a 1.83 earned-run average.

    He was so dominant that Tigers manager Ralph Houk never wanted to take him out. So Houk never did. Fidrych had pitched six straight complete games, including two on three days rest. No manager today would even think of doing that. But in 1977, pitchers were expected to throw complete games.

    Cincinnati manager Sparky Anderson was in the process of creating the modern bullpen, but most managers were skeptics. One of the great, sad what-ifs in Detroit sports history is: What if Sparky had managed the Bird?

    Surely Sparky would not have had Fidrych throw six straight complete games. Maybe then Fidrych’s arm would not have gone numb in his first start of July 1977. Maybe he wouldn’t have torn his rotator cuff. We’ll never know, of course.

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  2. Chuck PiotrowskiApril 16, 2009 at 3:38 AM

    I wish I knew how to do pictures.. The Free Press published a picture of the Bird when he pitched his last complete game. To the right of the Bird in the cheering fans was a much younger Jim Leyland - small world.

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  3. Tom HagertyApril 16, 2009 at 4:52 AM

    Chuck, try doing a right mouse click on the photo and then click on "save as." Save to your hard drive and then when you do a new post click on the image option.

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