In celebration of the 65th anniversary of Topps baseball cards, my collection is going to be the subject of this year-long series.
Shortly after starting my obsession in 1971, the goal was to have at least one Topps card from every year.
Although the 1952 set is considered to be the first released by Topps, the company issued two series that was a part of the game a year earlier.
One of favorite cards of any Topps set appeared in 1977. The Mark Fidrych card represents one of the most memorable seasons by an individual during the 1970s.
In addition to being the first card for the Detroit Tigers right-hander, it had the Topps All-Star Rookie trophy as well as an American League All-Star label.
Unfortunately, the 1977 season for Fidrych began with an injury in spring training. He lost his first two decisions of the year before winning six straight from June 6 to June 29. All six of those victorious starts were complete games and included a shutout of the California Angels.
He was named to the AL All-Star team but didn’t play. His final game was on July 12 as he finished the year 6-4 with an ERA of 2.89 in 11 games.
The Year of the Bird
After posting an 11-10 mark in three levels in the minors with Detroit, “The Bird” made his first appearance with the big league club in relief on April 20. Fidrych faced just one batter as he gave up a walk-off single to Don Baylor in a 6-5 loss at Oakland.
Fidrych made one more relief outing and then came his first start. The 21-year old went the distance during a 2-1 win in Tiger Stadium as he held Cleveland to two hits in the victory on May 15.
By the all-star break, Fidrych was 9-1. He had a pair of 11-inning complete game wins to go with a four-hit shutout of Baltimore on July 3.
Selected as the starting pitcher for the AL, Fidrych suffered the loss in the 7-1 affair as he worked two innings in the Mid-Summer Classic in Philadelphia.
As the season resumed, Fidrych was on both sides of 1-0 decisions in his next two starts. On July 9, he lost a complete game effort to Kansas City, which was followed by an 11-inning shutout of the A’s five days later.
Fidrych would continue to entertain fans with his antics on the mound that including “talking” to the baseball, but more importantly for the Tigers, Fidrych won games.
He was selected as the Al Rookie of the Year and finished second in the voting for the Cy Young Award to Baltimore’s Jim Palmer. He was 19-9 as he led the league with an ERA of 2.34 and 24 complete games.
The End of a Career
Fidrych was able to pitch for the Tigers from 1978 to 1980. He was 4-6 in 16 games during that stretch.
His final win came in his last major league game on Oct. 1, 1980. Detroit won 11-7 in Toronto as Fidrych pitched five innings against the Blue Jays.
After another year with Evansville in the Tigers organization, Fidrych was signed by the Boston Red Sox and he spent 1982 and 1983 with Pawtucket as he tried a final comeback.