Title/Author:
“The Bird: The Life
and Legacy of Mark Fidrych” by Doug Wilson
Tags:
Baseball,
professional, biography, Tigers
Publish date:
March 26, 2013
Length:
320 pages
Rating:
5 of 5 stars (Outstanding)
Review:
During the 1976 season,
there was one player who took the baseball world by storm. He had a mop of curly hair under his Detroit
Tigers cap, was nicknamed after a character on a children’s TV show, would talk
to the baseball and smooth the dirt on the pitcher’s mound on his hands and
knees. Oh, yeah, he was a pretty good
pitcher that year too, winning the American League Rookie of the Year award.
That pitcher was Mark Fidrych and his story is told in this biography by Doug Wilson. The book does and doesn’t read like many other biographies of baseball players. It does in that the format is chronological from his Little League and high school playing days, to professional success and then life after baseball. It doesn’t follow the typical format in that there is much more on Fidrych on his life after baseball because his time in the major leagues was all too brief.
This latter part is
really what stands out because it portrays Fidrych as genuine – what people saw
in 1976 was not an act, but the true personality of “The Bird.” Even when a celebrity has a certain persona
on camera or on the field, but is a little different off it, that goes away
when the celebrity is no longer in the spotlight. Not Mark Fidrych. Two of the stories Wilson
shares with readers bring this out and are why I believe this book captures Fidrych’s
life after baseball better than most biographies.
One is when a prominent sportswriter visits Fidrych on his farm for a “where are they now” story. Fidrych takes the writer around the farm and introduces him to every animal that is on the farm – whether it was chickens, pigs or goats, each one was introduced. The other is when Wilson writes about Fidrych’s other occupation – hauling asphalt and other such goods on his self-owned truck to construction sites. Down-to-earth work that he enjoyed for a down-to-earth man.
Of course, the
baseball player is not forgotten either and the reader will be whisked away
back to 1976 when the entire country was caught up in watching Fidrych pitch.
The hype was a little different at the time since there was no social media
sites and the writing captures what it was like to know about Fidrych only
through Monday Night Baseball and newspaper accounts. Then when Fidrych had arm
troubles and current treatments and surgical procedures were not performed yet,
the reader will sympathize with Fidrych as he struggles to regain the form that
made him so good in that magical summer.
Written with a passion
for the game, Wilson’s account of Fidrych’s life is one that any baseball fan
will enjoy, especially if one remembers The Bird or was lucky enough to see
Fidrych perform his magic.
Book Format Read:
Hardcover
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