Mark Fidrych, 1954-2009
Probably the most famous person ever to come out of Northborough died yesterday. I don’t remember seeing him pitch, unfortunately; his all-too-brief career was just about the time I was learning to differentiate Tigers from Pirates from Phillies on my baseball cards.
But sometime in the late 80s, during one of my daily hours-long tennis-ball-hucking-against-the-chimney sessions, I was in a groove, practicing my pitching from the stance and my fielding all at the same time, when I noticed Mark’s truck parked across the street, presumably to do some landscaping or concrete pouring either at Mrs. McAllister’s or that mystery mansion up the hill. I threw a little harder, fielded a little flashier, hoping that maybe Northborough’s only pro ballplayer ever would take notice, take interest, and forward my contact information to the Tigers. It didn’t work. Oh well.
Reading the comments in some of the Detroit memorial articles is pretty amazing. We’ll miss ya, Bird.
Nice comments. Fidrych was fun to watch. Too bad his career burned out so quickly.
One of my true baseball heroes, along with Bill Lee, Jim Bouton, and other counter-culture types. Very saddened to hear of his passing.