| − | The Bird retired to his hometown of Foxboro, Massachusetts, working on a farm and business he owned, happily married to his wife Ann, and raising his daughter Jessica. In a 1985 interview [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rm_jU0b5Hgw Interview with Fidrych, from 1985] he explained what he did on the ballfield and why: his adjusting the mound had more to do with maintaining his own stance and position while pitching; he didn't like stepping in some other pitcher's hole, he explained. His "talking to the ball" was, in reality, a verbal set of instructions to himself, helping him maintain focus just before he sent fastball across the plate. | + | The Bird retired to his hometown of Foxboro, Massachusetts, working on a farm and business he owned, happily married to his wife Ann, and raising his daughter Jessica. In a 1985 interview [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rm_jU0b5Hgw] he explained what he did on the ballfield and why: his adjusting the mound had more to do with maintaining his own stance and position while pitching; he didn't like stepping in some other pitcher's hole, he explained. His "talking to the ball" was, in reality, a verbal set of instructions to himself, helping him maintain focus just before he sent fastballs across the plate. |
| | Mark Fidrych died April 13, 2009, apparently the victim of an accident while working under a dump truck on his farm. | | Mark Fidrych died April 13, 2009, apparently the victim of an accident while working under a dump truck on his farm. |