Harry Kalas, Mark Fidrych Dead

[WEFFPIM]

In a span of about 4 hours apart, one of the best broadcasters in history and one of the craziest pitchers in history die.

RIP Harry and Mark

[craig01]

I was leaving work a little early and was scanning games on xm radio, saw the Phils/Nats on and figured I'd listen to Harry...........

I know that I will miss him.

[Da Schwab]

Harry Kalas, IMO, had the best voice in the history of baseball. My dad was pretty torn up about this when he called to tell me before.

Bird dying was also quite the shock.

RIP. Condolences to both families.

[SportsWorld]

RIP Harry and Mark.

It was sad coming home and hearing the news Harry passed. One of my favorite announcers in the game. He did NFL Films too.

[Wade2k6]

Harry K is/was the man.

I was listening to the Philly sports radio today and every caller was talking about Harry Kalas

[Luv those Knicks]

I remember the bird.

His rookie year he had 29 starts and 24 complete games and was 2nd in Cy Young voting. (He came up after the start of the season, this was when pitchers pitched every 4th game, not every 5th).

He pitched 2 consecutive 11 inning games.

But it was his personality that made him famous more than his one great season.

http://www.answers.com/topic/mark-fidrych

Fidrych also captured the imagination of fans with his antics on the field. He would crouch down on the pitcher's mound and fix cleat marks, what became known as "manicuring the mound", talk to himself, talk to the ball, aim the ball like a dart, strut around the mound after every out, and throw back balls that "had hits in them," insisting they be removed from the game. On June 28, 1976 he pitched against the New York Yankees in a nationally televised game on ABC; the Tigers won the game 5-1. After a game filled with "Bird" antics in which he and his team handily defeated the Yankees, Fidrych became an instant national celebrity.

Every time he pitched, Tiger Stadium was jam-packed with adoring fans. In his 18 appearances, attendance equalled almost half of the entire season's 81 home games. Teams started asking Detroit to change its pitching rotation so Fidrych could pitch in their ballparks, and he appeared on the cover of numerous magazines, such as Sports Illustrated (twice, including once with Sesame Street character Big Bird), The Sporting News, and became the first athlete to appear on the cover of Rolling Stone. In one week, Fidrych turned away five people who wanted to be his agent, saying, "Only I know my real value and can negotiate it."

Fidrych also drew attention for the simple, bachelor lifestyle he led in spite of his fame, driving a green subcompact car, living in a small Detroit apartment, wondering aloud if he could afford to answer all of his fan mail on his league-minimum $16,500 salary, and telling people that if he hadn't been a pitcher, he'd work pumping gas in Northborough. He fascinated everyone, most especially young girls, with his frizzy blond curls, blue jeans, and devil-may-care manner.

At the end of his rookie season, the Tigers gave him a $25,000 bonus and signed him to a three-year contract worth $255,000. Economists estimated that the extra attendance Fidrych generated around the league in 1976 was worth more than $1 million.

[craig01]

Fidyrich took the sports world by storm his rookie year.

He sold out stadiums, generated national news and was really good for that one season.

That was a great summer of baseball.