In 1976 "The Bird" Fidrych WAS the Word! -- Jimmy Rod's Best Shot
One of the most irritating songs of the last century was based in the sentence, "The bird, the bird, the bird is the word..." It was designed to scrape a fingernail against the universal musical blackboard. Today, it somehow has a profound ring to it. I remember coming in from playing Oakland, sandlot baseball one day back in 1976. My dad who was not prone to getting really excited about anything, began to tell me about this rookie pitcher for the Detroit Tigers who had just beaten the Yankees.... Sign in to see full entry.