The Bird

Mark Fydrich was born August 14, 1954 in Worcester, Massachusetts.  He played baseball for Algonquin Regional High School in nearby Northborough.  

In 1974, Fydrich was drafted by the Detroit Tigers.  In the minor leagues, one of his coaches dubbed the lanky 6-foot-3 right-handed pitcher "The Bird" because of his resemblance to the "Big Bird" character on the popular Sesame Street television program.

Fidrych joined the Tigers spring training camp in 1976 and made the major league roster.  On May 15, Fidrych made his first start. He held the Cleveland Indians hitless through six innings and ended up with a two-hit, 2–1 complete game victory, with one walk and five strikeouts.

In addition to his pitching, Fidrych attracted attention in his debut for talking to the ball while on the pitcher's mound, strutting in a circle around the mound after every out, patting down the mound, and refusing to allow groundskeepers to fix the mound in the sixth inning.

  

On June 28, 1976, Fidrych pitched before 47,855 fans at Tiger Stadium and a national television audience in the millions, as the Tigers hosted the New York Yankees on ABC's Monday Night Baseball with Bob Prince, Warner Wolf, and Bob Uecker in the broadcast booth. Fidrych earned a 5–1 complete-game victory which took only an hour and 51 minutes. 

Fans would not leave the stadium until The Bird emerged from the dugout for a curtain call.   After the broadcast, which was filled with plenty of "Bird" antics, Fidrych became a national celebrity.

I was there that night at Tiger Stadium quietly rooting for the Yankees.  I remember one key moment when Fidrych struck out Yankee catcher Thurman Munson to end a New York rally.

Fidrych led the major leagues with a 2.34 ERA in 1976, won the American League (AL) Rookie of the Year award, and finished with a 19–9 record. Shortly thereafter, however, injuries derailed his career, which ended after just five seasons in the major leagues.