The Bird-Peter

Jenn:
Yes, I pretty much agree with you on the Beckett toss. If you're a hurler, you don't suddenly come to a stone wall stop of your motion. If you do, you could be stonewalling your year,possibly career. Which brings me to someone you don't know and may never have heard of, but whose career effectively was over early in his 2d MLB season. Mark "The Bird" Fidrych exploded on the MLB scene in 1976 (you were only two) after being a non-roster invitee to spring training for the Detroit Tigers. He quickly became a sensation, winning the AL Rookie of the Year award, leading the league in ERA and finishing second in the voting for the Cy. He even threw a complete game win over the Yankees at Yankee Stadium as part of the year.Finished 19-9 with 2.34 ERA for the year.His first start was a 2 hitter complete game win.He earned the start that year in the All-Star game. The next year the world woke up and the dream ended--starting with a torn knee cartilige in spring training, he went DL until May, then due to changing his motion, he screwed up his pitching shoulder. After the 19-9 start, the remaining four years in the Show was a 10-10 record.He tried a few years later to return for the Sox (he's from Mass.),but never got beyond the Pawsox.

The thing about Bird was when he first arrived, he'd talk, I mean real live conversations with the ball on the mound between pitches. He had a weird delivery and was just a kick to watch. Because of his stature and nickname, not to mention the antics, SI even had him on the cover with Big Bird--yes, THAT Big Bird.
Today the Bird died, working on his Massachusetts farm in an accident while repairing his truck.

RIP, Bird, even though the show only lasted a year, it was fabulous. We could use many more like you.