Baseball’s ‘Big Bird’ Dies

The baseball world was saddened by the news that Mark ‘The Bird’ Fidrych passed away the other day at age 54.  Mark burst on the baseball scene in 1976 taking the baseball world by storm!  Mark was a quirky, fun-loving, spontaneous good-natured young man who pitched for the Detroit Tigers.  When Mark would take the mound, his antics of talking to the baseball and patting the dirt on the mound, won the adoration of fans all around the country.  He was different.  He was fun.  He made baseball interesting to watch.  A sportswriter nicknamed Mark, ‘The Bird’, after noticing similarities in Mark’s behavior with the Sesame Street character, ‘Big Bird’.  It stuck!

In 1976 Mark Fidrych won the AL Rookie of the Year Award.  He also went 19-9 that season with an E.R.A. of 2.34!  Mark finished second in the balloting for the Cy Young Award in 1976 and was voted to the AL All-Star team.  Unfortunately, injuries sidelined Mark for the next three years and he never returned to the form that he had in that first season.  After 5 years in the big leagues Mark Fidrych retired.

Mark Fidrych is a wonderful reminder to all of us about being yourself.  Mark never tried to act, pitch, or emulate a particular style, of any other big league pitcher.  Playing ball was all about having fun…using his God-given talents to the maximun…being a great teammate…being himself!  That is a great lesson for all of us to learn.  Just be yourself!  Don’t try to copy someone else.  Don’t try to act like someone else.  Just be yourself and use the talents that God has given you!  Play to your strengths!  You are unique!  Celebrate yourself!