Quote:
Originally Posted by actionjackson
Wish I could've seen Fidrych (your avatar) in 1976, but I was only 6 going on 7, and the Blue Jays hadn't woken me up from my hockey dreams yet so I missed that incredible season. Must've been amazing. I've seen old footage, and it looks like it was an electric atmosphere for every one of his starts down at Michigan and Trumbull.
\
|
I was fortunate enough to see Fidrych pitch at Tiger Stadium that year. It was against the Angels and my father and I saw both Fidrych and Nolan Ryan in that series. I was thinking that Fidrych and Ryan pitched in the same game, but it was actually (if I have found the correct game, which I think I have, played on August 17th) Frank Tanana, still a great young fire-baller at that stage of his career, who Fidrych faced off against in the 3-2 victory. My father and I spent the night in a hotel and went to see Ryan pitch the next day, when the Tigers lost a narrow 5-4 decision.
My father took me to Tiger Stadium, if I remember correctly, at least a few more times that summer. So there is a good chance I saw Fidrych pitch at least one other time, but this is the series I remember. I was only 11 at the time and don't have crystal clear memories of this. But I do remember it was a high-point in my life up to then and an electric memory to share with my old man (who now is, in fact, an old man and still an avid Tiger fan.)
Should probably add that I also saw Mr. Kaline play a few years prior- in his final season of 1974. Don't remember much about that except that he did play that day and we did see him hit one of his only 13 homeruns that season. So, in other words, one of the last of his career 399.