Former Detroit Tigers pitcher Mark "The Bird" Fidrych dies in apparent accident...

[Dennis Donovan]

http://wbztv.com/local/mark.Fidrych.dies.2.983934.html

'The Bird' Mark Fidrych Dies At Age 54

BOSTON (WBZ) ―

Former Major League pitcher Mark Fidrych has died, the Worcester District Attorney's office announced on Monday.

The D.A.'s office said Fidrych was found by a family friend underneath a dump truck at his Northboro home around 2:30 p.m. He appeared to have been working on the truck at the time of the accident.

Fidrych was known as "The Bird" for his colorful antics on the mound. He was also famous for talking to himself and to the baseball.

Fidrych was a Northboro native and played his high school ball at Algonquin Regional and Worcester Academy.

Rest in peace, Bird...:(

[SalmonChantedEvening]

1. Oh no

Harry and the Bird on the same day. :cry:

They both brought joy to my most treasured of games.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

2. WHAT????????

Is it me, or does it seem like everyone's dying these past few days?

I'll always think of this kid as, well, yeah, a kid. He was a joy to watch ..........

[Midlodemocrat]

3. How awful. One of my favorites. Quite an entertaining character.

I hope he didn't suffer.

[JVS]

4. There must be some kind of anti-pitcher conspiracy

[lisa58]

5. I remeber watching him pitch - he was only 4 years older than me?

Rest in Peace, Mark - you made me smile.

[leftchick]

6. god I loved him so much

RIP Mark, :cry:

[joeybee12]

7. Oh does this suck...I remember him fondly....

...certainly made the game interesting...R.I.P.

[taterguy]

8. Kudos to someone who didn't take himself too seriously

We could all learn a lot from the Bird

[Old and In the Way]

9. A true character in the game.

He reminded me of Bill Lee. Truely sad....his time was short, but what a ride in the majors. Awful way to go.

[spartan61]

10. Oh how very sad.

I loved watching him when he pitched for the Tigers. He made baseball so much fun to watch.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

11. How sad. He was lots of fun. :) Peace be with you Mark.

[TheDebbieDee]

12. RIP, Bird.........

I remember watching him pitch on TV. His was one of the many baseball personalities of the 70s that made baseball interesting whether your favorite team was having a winning season or not.

[Rhiannon12866]

13. What a sad day for baseball... ;(

The Bird, the perpetual kid, about to be inducted into National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame, and Harry Kalas, the voice of the Phillies... Both beloved legends who entertained millions. ;(

[Norquist Nemesis]

14. Weird, weird, strange stuff

Just this past Saturday, hubby and I were discussing him! He was watching the MLB channel or sumth'n and they were doing a highlight of him. I was telling hubby how the first I'd heard of the guy was when I was re-shelving SI in the school library (I'm not big baseball follower and certainly wasn't in HS), and then he just disappeared from the scene. Sorry...it's just weird that after this conversation he's up and died.

RIP Bird.

[Blue_Tires]

15. r.i.p.