9. Mark Fidrych – Bird
One of the more colorful characters in MLB history, Mark Fidrych took the American League by storm during his rookie year. He would talk to the baseball, imploring it to be a strike. He smoothed out the mound with his hands, and would shake hands with his infielders after they made a play. He quickly became a draw for a woeful Detroit Tigers team.
With those antics, it would make sense that Fidrych would earn a nickname that would involve having one’s head in the clouds. Another colorful character, Bill Lee, had the nickname of Spaceman for his own eccentricities. Fidrych, given his resemblence to Big Bird from Sesame Street, became know as Bird, giving the name a fun double meaning.
An immediate star with his actions and performance, Fidrych went 19-9 with a 2.34 ERA and 24 complete games, both of which led the American League. He finished second in the Cy Young vote, and won the Rookie of the Year award. However, injuries would derail his career, as he suffered torn cartiledge in his knee and had an undiagnosed torn rotator cuff, ending his career at age 26.
Mark Fidrych may have had a short career, possibly ruined by his former manager Raph Houk, but he packed quite a bit of notoriety in those few seasons.
Next: A strange mental image