How people flocked to see him pitch. <br />He was tall and lanky, fidgety, a Detroit Tiger was known as the ‘Bird’. <br />How sorely he will be missed. <br />He was often described as eccentric, crazy, de-de-de and in fact weird. <br />I often would see him on the TV on Tiger Baseball with Al Kaline, <br />- or listen WJR-760’s Ernie Harwell for a switch, <br />My dad seemed to be amused by you, <br />His viewpoint was shared by a lot; more than a few. <br />Call it superstition, not to be confused with another Detroit superstar, <br />Little Stevie Wonder, <br />He talked to with the baseball, he did not step on the baseline <br />He would crouch down on the pitcher's mound and fix cleat marks, what became known as 'manicuring the mound', talk to himself, talk to the ball, aim the ball like a dart, strut around the mound after every out, and throw back balls that 'had hits in them, ' insisting they be removed from the game. <br />Somehow baseball would never be the same, <br />He was born in the same year as I was, <br />For him fame was fleeting after five years at which point he ran out of luck, <br />Injuries kept from the game, <br />he wound up in Massachusetts, <br />On a farm right next the place he grew up in, <br />Last Monday, April 13th,2009, <br />--he was found dead lying beneath his 10 wheel dump truck. <br />He’ll be missed, <br />For the five years he gave entertaining us and to top it off being Rookie of the Year, <br />So sad, the Spirit of Detroit shed more than a tear. <br />4-16-09<br /><br />Joe Rosochacki<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/ode-to-the-bird/
