ABSTRACT
Mark Fidrych enjoyed only one successful season in the big leagues, but oh what a season! In 1976, as a rookie pitcher for the Detroit Tigers, he recorded the following accomplishments:
He went 19–9 on a next-to-last-place team while leading all major league starters in Earned Run Average (2.34).
He became the second rookie in history to start in an All-Star game.
He was voted Man of the Year by the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues.
He singlehandedly boosted Tiger attendance by more than 400,000 over the previous years.
He became the centerpiece of Bird T-shirts, buttons, and records.
He was greeted by helicopters circling Tiger Stadium.
At least one man named his baby after him.
A resolution was introduced in the Michigan state legislature demanding that the Tigers raise his pay, then at the major league minimum of $16,500.
One competing team, the California Angels, were afraid to disappoint a packed house when he missed a start, so they placed him in a cage in the stadium concourse to sign autographs.
He was courted by the William Morris Agency, which assisted him in earning $125,000 in endorsements, speaking engagements, and a book.
He was forced to move into another apartment equipped with a twenty-four-hour security patrol in order to escape his fans.
