Mark The Bird Fidrych #2

Raw interview footage with Mark--the Bird--Fidrych, former pitcher for the Detroit Tigers, for the TNT special Once a Star. Includes footage of him revealing for the first time publicly that he received arthroscopic surgery for a shoulder injury.

00:05Copy video clip URL Color bars and audio of production introducing segment. They’re with Fidrych on his farm in Northborough.

00:36Copy video clip URL Tom Weinberg asks him about player changes.

1:00Copy video clip URL Shot of Fidrych on his farm talking about the end of his career.

1:45Copy video clip URL Fidrych describes his general manager giving him a second change, thinking he might have “Triple A” Syndrome.

2:12Copy video clip URL Fidrych says that he was no longer the pitcher he was, which is why he never went back to the major leagues, in addition to the fact that he didn’t want to join an already-filled 40-man roster, which would mean dropping another player.

3:28Copy video clip URL He talks about the psychological change of “losing my enthusiasm for pitching….”

4:52Copy video clip URL “I would go back today if I thought I really had it, but when you don’t have what you used to have…hey, you had a great time when the season was there…you gotta let go of the candy…”

6:02Copy video clip URL Fidrych gives an anecdote about going to play in a charity game with John Hiller and having a blast.

7:18Copy video clip URL He talks about his life after baseball–he hustles for dinners and talks, and is building/flipping property while keeping his land.

8:48Copy video clip URL He describes buying the farm they’re on and getting financial advice from older players.

12:06Copy video clip URL Interviewer asks Fidrych about his injury in Baltimore: “All of a sudden [my arm] started getting tight…” He then talks about the various medical treatments he received.

16:17Copy video clip URL Fidrych reveals (it had been a secret) that he had arthroscopic surgery to correct his injury very recently, because he wanted to know for himself why he had to leave baseball.

18:26Copy video clip URL “Do I want to get back into that rat race?” He describes finding out about the surgery and how his former teammates  and team doctor suggested he receive it.

20:13Copy video clip URL End of tape.