This Day in Red Wings History: Red Wings get best of “The Bird”

By CHUCKIE MAGGIO

Mark Fidrych’s 1976 season was one of the great one-hit wonder years in sports history. The Worcester, Mass. native went from non-roster invitee to American League Rookie of the Year with Detroit, drawing sellout crowds, talking to the ball and landing a Sports Illustrated cover with nickname namesake Big Bird.

Arm injuries plagued Fidrych, however, and on June 9, 1982 he was a former phenom facing long odds to make it back to the big leagues. The Rochester Red Wings were not impressed by the Pawtucket Red Sox .

“To me, he did not have that much,” Red Wings left fielder Mike Young told the Democrat and Chronicle.

Pitching with a torn rotator cuff that went undiagnosed until a 1985 visit with Dr. James Andrews, Fidrych pitched eight strong innings in the fourth start of his comeback attempt. Rochester rallied in the ninth, however, chasing Fidrych in a 4-2 victory at McCoy Stadium.

Fidrych allowed eight hits and three runs in eight innings, striking out two Red Wing batters. He outlasted Allan Ramirez, who pitched six four-hit innings for Rochester and allowed two runs before being replaced by Don Stanhouse.

Young led off the ninth with a double, his second hit of the day after homering off Fidrych in the fourth inning. “I’ve seen him on TV and I’ve seen him in person,” Young remarked. “He went out there and got guys out, but we still hit him pretty hard.”

Bill Mooney entered the game for the Sox and retired the first two batters he faced before intentionally walking Rick Lisi. John Valle pinch-hit for Dan Logan and lined a bases-clearing double to the left-center field wall off Dave Schoppee, saddling Fidrych with the loss.

Valle, a spot starter on the ’82 Wings, was overjoyed to be the hero. “When you’re not playing every day,” he said, “the littlest things can make you feel good. I felt pretty good tonight.”

Valle played two more seasons with the Wings, smashing 20 home runs and 52 RBI in 1983. He now owns Valle Sports, an indoor baseball and golf store and training facility in Parma, where athletes can rent time in batting cages and golf simulators to stay sharp during the cold Rochester winters.

Rochester batting

Batter	ab	r	h	rbi
John Shelby	4	1	1	0
Glenn Gulliver	4	0	2	1
Mike Young	4	2	2	1
Tim Derryberry	3	0	0	0
Rick Lisi	3	1	0	0
Dan Logan	3	0	2	0
John Valle	1	0	1	2
Vic Rodriguez	3	1	0	0
Ricky Jones	4	0	0	0

Pawtucket batting

Batter	ab	r	h	rbi
Lee Graham	5	0	3	0
Marty Barrett	4	0	1	1
Chico Walker	4	0	0	0
Dave Koza	4	0	1	0
Garry Hancock	4	1	1	1
Ed Jurak	1	0	0	0
Sam Bowen	4	0	0	0
Juan Bustabad	3	1	0	0
John Lickert	3	0	0	0
Gino Gentile	1	0	0	0

Rochester  1   0   0   1   0   0   0   0   2- 4

Pawtucket  0   0   0   0   1   1   0   0   0- 2

E- Jones  DP- Pawtucket 2  LOB- Rochester 5, Pawtucket 8  2B- Barrett, Young, Valle  3B- Shelby  HR- Young (6), Hancock (9)  SB- Gulliver

Rochester pitching

Pitcher	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
Allan Ramirez	6	4	2	2	4	3
Don Stanhouse	1	0	0	0	0	1
John Flinn (W, 3-2)	2	2	0	0	1	3

Pawtucket pitching

Pitcher	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
Mark Fidrych (0-2)	8	8	3	3	0	2
Bill Moloney	0.2	0	1	1	1	1
Tom Schoppee	0.1	2	0	0	0	0

PB- Graham  Time: 2:39  Attendance: 2,310

Also on this day: Mike Hart’s three-run home run in the top of the eighth inning propelled Rochester to a 4-3 win at Columbus in 1986… Tim Dulin’s first Triple-A home run after being called up from Double-A Charlotte sparked a three-run eighth as Rochester topped Denver 4-3 at Mile High Stadium… Rochester batted around in the second and seventh innings in a 14-5 rout of Indianapolis at Silver Stadium in 1991… Joel Bennett became the first Red Wings pitcher to open the season with seven straight victories since Mickey Weston eight years prior as the Red Wings beat the Norfolk Tides 5-3 at Frontier Field in 1998… Justin Morneau was called up to Minnesota in 2003… Jason Pridie recorded his first hit in six tries with a two-out walkoff double in the 10th inning as the Red Wings got past the Syracuse Chiefs 9-8 in 2009.