The Summer of 1976 will not be forgotten by any Detroit Tiger fans, nor any baseball fans that watched Monday night baseball at any point that season. Mark Fidrych was an absolute dynamo on the mound and he electrified the city of Detroit as well as baseball parks across the country when he pitched. The Summer of 76 is being remembered by fans across Detroit and across the country right now in fondness and with some regret as the man who was “The Bird” passed away in an accident at his home on Monday-13th April, 2009.
He will be remembered as the man who smoothed out the mound before each inning he pitched, as the man who talked to the ball, and as an energetic and wild guy on the field with the crazy hair from the 70’s. Mark Fidrych brought a lot of fun and excitement back to Detroit and back to baseball in 1976. When people were not going to the ball park because games seemed boring, and the American Leauge was beginning the designated hitter rule to make the games higher scoring Mark Fidrych made the game interesting not simply because of his quirks on the mound, but because of his energy and his talent. His rookie season he went 19-9 and pitched 24 complete games. I dare you to name the last time any pitcher did that in a season let alone find one who’s had 24 complete games in his career. He pitched like there was no tomorrow and in some ways that is exactly what he had. In 1976 he was the starter for the AL in the All Star game and was rookie of the year. He had the lowest ERA of any starter that year.
He brought a lot of excitement to the game and the city. I recall the year after there was even a song that circulated on the radio about “The Bird” that I have at home. It’s a small “45” style disc that my aunt and uncle got for me from a local radio station. I can remember the last game he started as well in 1980. I listened to it one fall evening as I threw my own ball against the steps of our house and wondered if this would be the start of his comeback. I didn’t know it then but I was listening to his last game, and he didn’t pitch well either-giving up 5 runs in less than an inning. It was a dissapointing outting and more so it was dissapointing that he was never able to regain the effectiveness and strength that he had in 1976.
Mark “The Bird” Fidrych will be missed, but more so he will be remembered by all of us here in the southeastern Michigan area for what he did for baseball and what he gave us in the season of 1976.
Mark Fidrych Passes-April 13th, 2009
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=caple/090414&sportCat=mlb
Tigers manager Jim Leyland comments on Fidrych's passing
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090414&content_id=4263994&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb
Tigers Article on Fidrych's Career
http://detroit.tigers.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090413&content_id=4252328&vkey=news_det&fext=.jsp&c_id=det
1976-The Year of The Bird.
http://detroit.tigers.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090413&content_id=4257396&vkey=news_det&fext=.jsp&c_id=det
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Batman-the Dark Knight [2008]
I’ve seen the latest version of Batman-the Dark Knight six times now and each time keeps getting better and more enjoyable for me. From the beginning where this film picks up virtually where the last left us-through an obvious explanation of how DA Harvey Dent becomes Two-Face as well as the explanation of the title itself-the Dark Knight this movie leaves wanting more despite that it gives us so much in the two plus hours that it runs!
Aaron Eckhart plays a convincing role as the DA who wants to put away Gotham’s bad guys and later as the physically and more so emotionally scarred man who has lost what was most important to him-his beloved Rachel Dawes. Batman-Christian Bale-returns as the ever stoic and technically savvy crime-fighter. He manages to find and put away the “Scarecrow” who was the main scourge in the last movie. He also is literally hours away from putting the mob out of business when a stealthy accountant is able to transfer the money out of town and get away himself to a secure and posh hide-a-way in Hong Kong! But in a scenario that presents quite a bit of problems from a physics stand point, at least in my opinion-from shooting C4 across from one high-rise to another at what must be 1500+ feet in high winds from ¼ mile or more away and hitting a target less than 10 square feet in diameter let alone sky diving into the correct floor of the building! But putting those questions aside and viewing the film as a fast paced action film makes it much more enjoyable!
Bruce Wayne appears to be nearly out of a job when high energy DA Harvey Dent is able to arrest a majority of the city’s mob criminals and put them behind bars! But just as it appears we might see some benefit to Batman’s work with the police in steps the Joker and everything goes haywire! “Introduce a little Anarchy!” says the Joker-played by Heath Ledger-and everything goes Ka-Blooey! I wasn’t fond of Ledger’s portrayal of the Joker the first time I say the movie, but his interpretation of the character has grown on me and I find that he had a great deal of insight in to a crazed mind who wants to harm everyone and anyone and plays by no rules what-so-ever. His vocal techniques remind me of when I was in undergrad school studying music. The hard pronunciations and annunciation of the consonants make Ledger sound so much more interesting and scary simultaneously. This movie is worth seeing multiply times if simply for Ledger’s performance and I would not be surprised if he wins an Oscar for his work.
Michael Caine and Gary Oldman also play very good supporting roles as Alfred and the soon to be Commissioner Gordon. But do not be surprised that Eckhart, Bale and Ledger are the main stars of this film. They carry each scene they are in and when they’re in a scene together it’s like a shouting match between them to see whose force of will is stronger and who will come out on top.
This is a film to see over and over, and with its recent release to DVD you can enjoy it multiple times this holiday season.
Batman-dark knight on imdb.com
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0468569/
The Dark Knight [2008]
http://thedarkknight.warnerbros.com/dvdsite/
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Aaron Eckhart plays a convincing role as the DA who wants to put away Gotham’s bad guys and later as the physically and more so emotionally scarred man who has lost what was most important to him-his beloved Rachel Dawes. Batman-Christian Bale-returns as the ever stoic and technically savvy crime-fighter. He manages to find and put away the “Scarecrow” who was the main scourge in the last movie. He also is literally hours away from putting the mob out of business when a stealthy accountant is able to transfer the money out of town and get away himself to a secure and posh hide-a-way in Hong Kong! But in a scenario that presents quite a bit of problems from a physics stand point, at least in my opinion-from shooting C4 across from one high-rise to another at what must be 1500+ feet in high winds from ¼ mile or more away and hitting a target less than 10 square feet in diameter let alone sky diving into the correct floor of the building! But putting those questions aside and viewing the film as a fast paced action film makes it much more enjoyable!
Bruce Wayne appears to be nearly out of a job when high energy DA Harvey Dent is able to arrest a majority of the city’s mob criminals and put them behind bars! But just as it appears we might see some benefit to Batman’s work with the police in steps the Joker and everything goes haywire! “Introduce a little Anarchy!” says the Joker-played by Heath Ledger-and everything goes Ka-Blooey! I wasn’t fond of Ledger’s portrayal of the Joker the first time I say the movie, but his interpretation of the character has grown on me and I find that he had a great deal of insight in to a crazed mind who wants to harm everyone and anyone and plays by no rules what-so-ever. His vocal techniques remind me of when I was in undergrad school studying music. The hard pronunciations and annunciation of the consonants make Ledger sound so much more interesting and scary simultaneously. This movie is worth seeing multiply times if simply for Ledger’s performance and I would not be surprised if he wins an Oscar for his work.
Michael Caine and Gary Oldman also play very good supporting roles as Alfred and the soon to be Commissioner Gordon. But do not be surprised that Eckhart, Bale and Ledger are the main stars of this film. They carry each scene they are in and when they’re in a scene together it’s like a shouting match between them to see whose force of will is stronger and who will come out on top.
This is a film to see over and over, and with its recent release to DVD you can enjoy it multiple times this holiday season.
Batman-dark knight on imdb.com
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0468569/
The Dark Knight [2008]
http://thedarkknight.warnerbros.com/dvdsite/
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
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