Munson Was Inspired to Go and Give the Word to the Bird

Joe Gergen of Newsday recently looked back at the career of Mark (the Bird) Fidrych, the free-spirited right-hander who went 19-9 for the Detroit Tigers as a rookie in 1976 but was finished in 1980 with a 29-19 record because of arm problems.

Detailing Fidrych’s childlike energy and sense of wonder, Gergen recalled the Bird’s starting role in the 1976 All-Star game at Philadelphia.

Said Fidrych, now 36: “I remember doing a 360 on the mound. There are 70,000 people there, and I’m thinking if I don’t pitch, there’s no game. Finally, Thurman Munson comes out and I say: ‘Thurman, check this out. This is awesome.’

“And he says: ‘Yeah, great, but let’s throw the ball.’ ”

Add Fidrych: He owns a farm in Northboro, Mass., and also earns $8,000 a month hauling asphalt and gravel for local contractors in his 10-wheel truck.

He told Gergen he reminisces about baseball when he’s driving the truck, and that sometimes, while he’s dreaming of baseball in the middle of the night, his wife will shake him awake.

Said Fidrych: “I’ll say, ‘Geez, I was in the eighth inning. Why did you wake me up? I was going to win.’ ”

Trivia time: Who was the last Dodger to win the National League batting title?

Promotional coup: In the wake of the computer malfunction that cost Los Alamitos $26,000 in Pick Six overpayments Friday, track publicist Dick Feinberg found some consolation.

Said Feinberg: “Every track in the country has a tote bag giveaway. But how many of them give away tote money ?”

Now it can be told: In a recent “Sports Profile,” Lacy J. Banks of the Chicago Sun-Times asked Dennis Hopson of the Chicago Bulls to name the craziest thing he ever did.

Said Hopson: “When I was 10 years old, I set fire to the garbage in one of those big trash dumpsters and ran home. I was scared for days because I felt people would find out what I did.”

No penalty: Oakland Tribune columnist Monte Poole provided his readers with detailed coverage of the recent news conference at which University of California Athletic Director Dave Maggard announced he was leaving to become athletic director at the University of Miami.

Poole wrote: “Maggard’s eyes grew moist. He wiped. He paused. The pause lasted 48 seconds--a quick lap around (Cal’s) Edwards Stadium track--and was interrupted only by four clearings of a throat with a golf-ball sized lump.”

Dialing for details: Rick Bozich of the Louisville Courier-Journal recently wrote about entrepreneurs with 900 numbers that you, the recruiting junkie, can call for updates that cost $1.50 a minute:

“Is your brother-in-law’s cousin’s son really being recruited by Michigan, or is he making the whole thing up? Can life get any more exhilarating? Doesn’t anybody play checkers, build model airplanes, read books or talk to their children anymore?”

Trivia answer: Tommy Davis, who hit .326 in 1963. (Davis also won the batting title in 1962 with a .346 average.)

Quotebook: New Jersey Coach Bill Fitch, after Net forward Chris Morris scored 32 points recently against the Atlanta Hawks: “When he does that 82 nights a year, I’ll quit coaching and become his agent.”