A genuine eccentric and for one season at least one of the best pitchers in the game. The nickname was due to his resemblance to the Sesame Street character Big Bird, which was fairly strong, although I think he was whackier than the big puppet. Unfortunately, he has just been found dead in an apparent accident at his farm.

If you lived in Detroit while The Bird was playing, you made it a point to go see him pitch, even if you weren’t a fan of baseball.

Have to throw Mark the "5"...if for no other reason, he accomplished more in his short career than anyone that comes to mind. Here's a clip from Wikipedia:

"Fidrych made the Tigers as a non-roster invitee out of the 1976 spring training, not making his major-league debut until April 20, and not making his first start until mid-May. He only made that start because the scheduled starting pitcher had the flu. Fidrych responded by throwing seven no-hit innings, ending the game with a 2-1 victory in which he only gave up two hits. He went on to win a total of 19 games, led the league in ERA (2.34) and complete games (24), was the starting pitcher in that year's All-Star Game, won the American League Rookie of the Year Award, and finished second in voting for the Cy Young Award."

I've always been pissed at the greed of the owners; they went for the short money and allowed him to throw his arm out that year. I saw him pitch that year and he was a phenom...the Beatles-in-a-day. I ran into him at a mall during his first year. Actually, after all of the attention the local media gave to Mark, it was his voice that caught my attention. He was with some friends and they were laughing over something they were eye-balling in a display window. I yelled, "Hey Mark!" and he spun around and aimed both trigger fingers at me and yelled back, "Hey, how yah doin'?" We kinda shook and hugged like old friends and I told him how much I enjoyed him up there.

Think of the worst fuckin', ignorant, piece of shit snob. Now think of the polar opposite. That was Mark. A genuine human being. Born a kid and lived like a kid. "The Bird" was a good nickname and stuck, but after watching this video, "Harpo" woulda worked nicely, too. Mark Steven Fidrych...August 14, 1954 - April 13, 2009

Detroit sure could use a "Bird" right about now...

It was a good nickname because he resembled Big Bird from Sesame Street in a way. Fidrych was a one year wonder with an excellent rookie season for Detroit in 1976 in which he won 19 games. He only won 10 more games in the majors due to various injuries. Fidrych was a real eccentric who talked to the ball and had other odd mannerisms, and at the risk of sounding like an old 'fuckitycrust', it seems to me that in recent times true eccentrics and characters have been almost banished not only from sports but from life in general, replaced by attention seekers, professional train wrecks, and shallow sensationalists. Unfortunately, I heard on a local radio station that Fidrych was discovered dead today at 54 at home in Northborough, MA: it's a town about 30 miles west of Boston, out by Worcester. RIP.

When he first came up with Detroit, he was fun to watch. Sometimes he would have to rearrange the dirt on the mound, on his hands and knees, getting it just right, sometimes taking 2 or 3 tries. He would yell at himself, sometimes behind the mound, sometimes on it. Sometimes, the ball would need explicit and loud instructions, as many balls, from what I have heard, are hard of hearing. Many batters hated to hit against him , his behavior was so eccentric and distracting. But the guy could pitch and there were times he was just un-hittable.