It's been nearly 2 years since Mark Fidrych died and as a baseball fan, it still makes me sad knowing he is no longer around.
We may never see another unlikely and insanely bizarre success story like The Bird ever again, but I truly hope we do.
We need more FUN stars. We need more players on the field who are awesome and cool and that we can point to and say "if I had a decent pitch, that could be me."
I am convinced that is why Fernando Valenzuela is still a God at Chavez Ravine. Every Mexican American who watched him pitch thought "Hey that looks like me!" or "that looks like my buddy!" and felt they were only a screwball away from being a World Series hero.
The Bird was a goof ball from Massachusetts who just happened to have the ability to get batters out.
Gee whiz, I wonder why he is so loved by THIS goofball from Massachusetts!
Watch this video and enjoy the Bird. And while you are at it, baseball... find a new Bird.
I think the closest thing to "The Bird" in the Majors is Dallas Braden. He has some Bird like qualities in the way he talks (or yells) to the baseball in his glove between pitches and we know he isn't afraid to be animated (A-Rod mound incident).
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