Bird, Thanks for the Memory!

Early Monday evening, my father informed me of the passing of possibly my biggest, and possibly only, hero in sports, Mark Fidrych.

Since hearing of the news, many of my thoughts have gone back to my years growing up and the way sports became a big part of my life. It all started with "The Bird."

I have hailed from Connecticut my whole life, born to a Yankees fan (my father) and a Red Sox fan (my mother). My maternal grandparents were, and in my grandmother's case still are, die hard Sox fans.

The first item of sports gear I ever got was the red '70s Boston cap, with the blue B, courtesy of my grandparents. I wore it to keep my mom happy, but I was too busy reading Spiderman comics to pay sports any attention at all.

The landscape of sports was so different back then, compared to the over saturation in today's society. Monday Night Baseball and the Saturday game of the week were the two highlights of the week for baseball fans.

One Monday night in 1976, my Dad's beloved Yankees were to play the Detroit Tigers.

I remember my siblings and parents sitting down to watch it, while I was busy playing in the next room. After hearing my parents laughing and saying, "What is he doing?" I went in the room to find out what had happened.

Expecting to find my brothers screwing around, I quickly found out they were responding to the lanky pitcher with the old English D on his uniform.

Whether he was talking to the ball, pacing around the mound between batters, or sweeping the dirt off the pitching rubber, I couldn't look away. Even as my bedtime came and went, I pleaded with my parents to let me stay up and see what this guy did next.

I did fall asleep, but the next day I was thrilled when my dad told me the Tigers had won. Since that day, comic books took a backseat to the Hartford Courant's sports section and Spiderman's hero status, in my mind, was claimed by Mark Fidrych. 

The first thing I'd look for was how Detroit and the Bird did, and if there was a box score from the night before and the standings. That morning ritual has been a staple to this day. 

When my eyes were opened to sports, it made me sit down when my dad watched his other favorites like boxing, the NFL, and college basketball. But I always stayed true to the Tigers and eventually the Lions and Pistons.

Throughout my life, whether it was friends or complete strangers asking me, "Why the Tigers hat?" or "What's with the Lions jersey...they suck. What're you from Detroit?"

My answer has always been the same, "It's because of Mark Fidrych."

RIP Bird