In Memory of Tigers Pitcher Mark Fidrych

As we pulled into our driveway tonight we heard some sad news. Northborough native and retired major league pitcher Mark Fridrych, age 54, died this afternoon. A family friend found him under his dump truck this afternoon. It sounds like he was making repairs and something happened.

Mike grew up watching Mark pitch games, as many kids did here in town. He was a well known athlete and well loved across the country. People in Detroit knew him and his career years after it ended. He did nice things in the town of Northborough, including paying for lights for Memorial Field in town.

After baseball he worked doing trucking and development in the area. We often take walks by his 107 acre farm. His wife runs a diner in town and his brother in law is on the board of selectman.

We saw him at town meeting a few years back when he got up to speak about a matter close to his heart. He was genuine, had strong opinions, and was honestly pretty goofy. He really was "The Bird." We even bought the song written about him (aptly called Bird is the Word by the Trashmen).

We have embedded a video below, shot 23 years ago when he was 31. He will be missed by many.









You'll find a great blog entry written about Mark a month ago at Cards in the Attic. The Detroit Free Press has republished an article they wrote about the bird in 2006. There is also a 2002 interview with NECN, two years before the Red Sox broke the curse.