June 28, 1976: America -- at least, that part of it outside the Detroit area -- gets its first good look at Mark Fidrych, on ABC Monday Night Baseball.
He took the American League by storm in 1976, and when he pitched, the Detroit Tigers, then an awful team in a suffering city, went from an average attendance of 14,000 at already-creaky Tiger Stadium to 40,000. His start on on June 28, in front of 47,855 paying customers, was a national phenomenon, and he beat the soon-to-be-Pennant-winning New York Yankees, 5-1.
He went the distance, advancing to 8-1 on the season, allowing 1 run on 7 hits. He only struck out 2 batters, but he didn't walk any. The only Yankee run came in the top of the 2nd inning, a home run by Elrod Hendricks, who was catching that day due to an injury to Thurman Munson.
The Tigers scored 2 in the 1st. Their other storybook player, the speedy ex-con Ron LeFlore, led off with a walk, and Rusty Staub hit a home run off Ken Holtzman. It was still only 2-1 Detroit into the 7th, when Aurelio RodrÃguez homered. The Tigers iced the game with 2 runs in the 8th.
Fidrych was just 21 years old, from a small town an hour's drive west of Boston, and he was as amazed by his sudden fame as anyone else. He went 19-9 that year, led the AL in earned run average, and started for it in the All-Star Game at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia, although he ended up as the losing pitcher. But it wasn't just that he was talented. He was also a big character.
He tried to explain that he would talk to himself on the mound, saying things like, "Settle down, you're getting too nervous." But somehow, it got around that he was "talking to the ball," telling it where he wanted it to go. He would smooth out the mound. He would walk over to an infielder who'd made a great play and shake his hand.
You see, in baseball, which has so often been culturally behind the times -- the world's 1970s were baseball's "Sixties" -- this was considered weird. What's wrong with thanking your fielder for making a great play, or fixing the mound the way you want it?
Fidrych finished the season 19-9. In all other games, the Tigers were 53-78. He led the AL with a 2.34 ERA, and was named the American League's Rookie of the Year, but finished 2nd in the Cy Young Award voting to Jim Palmer of the Baltimore Orioles, who went 22-13 with a 2.51 ERA.
In Spring Training the next season, Fidrych, known as "the Bird" because his curly blond hair reminded someone of the Sesame Street character Big Bird -- hurt his knee. Trying to favor it, he hurt his shoulder, tearing his rotator cuff. He wasn't the first pitcher to cause a new injury by favoring an old one, but he may have been the most costly. At least when Dizzy Dean, a great character from an earlier era of baseball, hurt his arm by changing his motion to favor a bad toe, he was at his peak, and had already (if just barely) won enough games to make the Hall of Fame. Fidrych was still near the beginning.
In Spring Training the next season, Fidrych, known as "the Bird" because his curly blond hair reminded someone of the Sesame Street character Big Bird -- hurt his knee. Trying to favor it, he hurt his shoulder, tearing his rotator cuff. He wasn't the first pitcher to cause a new injury by favoring an old one, but he may have been the most costly. At least when Dizzy Dean, a great character from an earlier era of baseball, hurt his arm by changing his motion to favor a bad toe, he was at his peak, and had already (if just barely) won enough games to make the Hall of Fame. Fidrych was still near the beginning.
The amazing thing is -- forgive me if this sounds like a Yogi Berra line -- when he could pitch, he could still pitch. He had a nine-strikeout, no-walk 2-1 win over the Yankees in that 1977 season. But he couldn't pitch without pain often enough, and that was his last season of any productiveness. After 1980, he was done, a nobody at 21, a superstar at 22, a has-been at 24.
The amazing thing about Fidrych is that he didn't look at his career as tragic. Even though he got hurt and left baseball before salaries really took off, he had the attitude of, "So what? It's not the end of the world. I've got another life." And for about 30 years, he did have another life, running a farm and a gas station in his hometown of Northborough, Massachusetts, population 14,155. He thought it was a good life, and who are we to doubt him?
Still, he accepted that baseball fans liked him, and participated in old-timers' games, the Tiger Stadium finale in 1999, things like that. I know this is going to sound like another Yogi-ism -- so what, Yogi was a character, too -- but it was good that the good things that happened to him happened to him.
Fidrych at the Tiger Stadium finale in 1999.
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June 28, 1976 was a Monday. These other games were played in Major League Baseball that day:
* The New York Mets beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 5-4 at Shea Stadium. Tom Seaver started for the Mets, but Skip Lockwood blew the lead. He ended up as the winning pitcher, anyway, on an 8th-inning wild pitch by Al Hrabosky, "the Mad Hungarian." Part of that rally was a pinch-hit single by former Cardinal Joe Torre, and a single by Dave Kingman, who earlier hit a home run. Lou Brock went 1-for-4 with a stolen base.
* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Montreal Expos, 6-2 at Jarry Park in Montreal. Mike Schmidt hit a home run.
* The Boston Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles, 12-8 at Fenway Park in Boston. Jim Palmer, a Hall-of-Famer, started for the O's, but did not figure in the decision. Fergie Jenkins, another Hall-of-Famer, didn't start for the Sox, but was the winning pitcher. For the Sox, Butch Hobson hit a home run, and Carl Yastrzemski went 2-for-4 with an RBI. For the O's, Bobby Grich and Dave Duncan homered, Brooks Robinson went 2-for-4, and Reggie Jackson, in his only season in Baltimore, went 2-for-5 with 2 RBIs.
* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Chicago Cubs, 9-2 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. Al Oliver hit a home run. Willie Stargell went 1-for-5 with 2 RBIs. Bill Madlock hit a home run for the Cubs, and would be a part of the Pirates' 1979 World Series winners.
* The Cleveland Indians beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 5-3 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Indians manager Frank Robinson, in his last season as a player, did not put himself into the game. Hank Aaron, in his last season, went 2-for-4, but did not hit a home run.
* The Minnesota Twins beat the Kansas City Royals, 4-3 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. Rod Carew went 0-for-3 with a walk. George Brett also went 0-for-3, but had an RBI on a sacrifice fly.
* The Texas Rangers beat the Oakland Athletics, 3-2 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. Jeff Burroughs singled home the winning run in the bottom of the 11th inning.
* The Cincinnati Reds beat the San Diego Padres, 7-3 at San Diego Stadium. (It was later renamed Jack Murphy Stadium and Qualcomm Stadium.) Pete Rose went 2-for-5 with an RBI. Johnny Bench went 0-for-3, but did draw 2 walks. Joe Morgan hit a home run.
* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves, 5-2 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
* The Houston Astros beat the San Francisco Giants, 8-2 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.
* And the California Angels and the Chicago White Sox were not scheduled to play.
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