Bruce Kimm remembers 'The Bird'

Bruce Kimm said he found out late Monday afternoon that Mark Fidrych had died at 54 in an apparent accident on his farm in Massachusetts.

That brought back instant memories of what might best be called "The Summer of The Bird."

"It's just really sad," Kimm said Tuesday. "As far as my playing career, and as far as my coaching career, I was in the big leagues for 17 years, and I'm probably best known for being his personal catcher in 1976."

Yes, 1976, the year Fidrych was, by most estimations, the best pitcher in baseball. He won the American League Rookie of the Year award after going 19-9 with a 2.34 earned run average in 29 starts.

An amazing 24 of them were complete games, which may have eventually led to the arm troubles that short-circuited Fidrych's career. He pitched in parts of only five big-league seasons.

Oh, but the first of those seasons was amazing, and not just becasuse of Fidrych's results.

"It was incredible what he brought to our ballclub," Kimm said. "We were not very good, but every time he pitched, it was a playoff atmosphere. He drew something like 970,000 fans to his starts that season."

Nicknamed "The Bird" because of his lanky frame and curly hair-do (a la Sesame Street's "Big Bird," Fidrych had some eccentricities. Probably the best remembered was constantly talking to the baseball while he was on the mound.

"People always talk about him talking to the ball, and all that," Kimm said. "I think it was just him reminding himself to stay on top of the ball.

"He was such an excitable guy and a good guy, a genuine guy. I remember Chuck Scrivener made a good play behind him at shortstop, and he immediately went over and shook his hand, while the inning was still going. He told him 'They don't make plays like that in Double-A.'"

Kimm made his major-league debut on May 4 that season, two weeks after Fidrych made his, and they quickly became  regular battery mates.

"We were both rookies, and it was the day after a night game," Kimm said. "(Manager) Ralph Houk just said 'We just called him up, we just called you up. You've caught him in Triple-A, so why don't you catch (today).'

"He was the best pitcher in Major League Baseball in 1976. There's no doubt about it in my mind."

 And there's no doubt Kimm will always remember "The Bird."

"He'd go to a salon to get his hair cut, and the beauticians would scoop up his hair in bundles and ask him to autograph it," Kimm said. "I remember seeing him in a car that was just surrounded by people.

"This is just a tremendous loss for everybody. You want people around like him."