My First Crush
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by Kat822
Since baseball is my first love, it would make sense that my first "crush" be a ball player. I was just talking about this the other day...I mentioned to a friend that my first kiss was from an American League Rookie of the Year..no I didn't date a ball player, hardly.
I was 8 years old and I was in Love with a pitcher from the Detroit Tigers, and I mean in love, at least the kind of love that an 8 year old comprehends. In my eyes Mark "The Bird" Fidrych was the cat's meow.
Ok, not only was he cute but he was talented as hell. He joined the team in 1976 but didn't even make his first start until late May, and the only reason he started that day was that the regularly scheduled pitcher had the flu. But Mark seized the moment, threw 7 no hit innings and went on to win 19 games that year, winning the American Leauge Rookie of the Year, and coming in second place in the Cy Young award voting. He was ripped by the way.
The man had charisma, he 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.
Every time he pitched, Tiger Stadium was jam-packed 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 he could pitch in their ballpark, he generated an estimated one million dollars in revenue that summer for the Tigers, while he took home a salary of roughly $16,000.
Anyway, it's a tragic story, he injures himself and never regains his glory as a rookie, but you know what he lived his dream if only for one season.
But back to my first kiss, Dad was head of our Little League Organization and pulled some strings with some friends to get him to speak at our end of season dinner...he of course was a suprise guest...So of course I was in seventh heaven as an 8 year old to be in the presence of this "Man" and of course was not going to let this opportunity get away. Dad snuck my scrapbook I had of Mark into the car before we left and retrieved it so I could get an autograph, and when Mark saw it he was touched and gave me a peck on the cheek. Ok I know totally corny but it is one of my fondest childhood memories.
Not because it was Mark Fidrych, but that my Dad went to such lengths to make that moment happen for me .....Thanks for the memories Dad, Love Kat
Favorite Quote of His: "That ball has a hit in it, so I want to get it back in the ball bag and goof around with the other balls in there. Maybe it'll learn some sense and come out as a pop-up next time."
Feel free to post "The Bird" articles ad nauseum! We need more "the Pre-internet days" Sports Stories around here...
My first punch (not a kiss, but still) - My Dad sucked for the most part, and really wasn't into sports but was a big boxing fan in the 70's (he was a barber, so it was natural to have the boxing talk in the shop nonstop) and knew some people that knew Joe Frazier. My Dad was a big fan of Frazier's.
One day we got to meet him when I was five or so and when I was told he was "The Champ" (former, that is) he reached out to shake my hand and applying my depth of boxing knowledge, I punched him! Right in the junkal region!
Needless to say, Joe wasn't a big fan of mine...