Remembering Doug Bird

Doug Bird, one of the Royals’ first closers, passed away recently at the age of 74. Closer wasn’t even the appropriate term for a pitcher like Bird. They were called “firemen.” These were hurlers who could throw multiple innings or start a game when needed. Closers are cool. Firemen were awesome.

Bird was drafted four times, the first time by the Indians out of high school. Cleveland took him in the 29^th round of the 1968 draft. The Seattle Pilots took high twice, first in the 8^th round of the 1969 January secondary draft, then again in the 8^th round of the regular June 1969 draft. The Royals selected him in the 3^rd round of the June 1969 secondary draft and convinced him to sign.

There was a lot of drafting going on in those days. Bird almost ended up being sent to Vietnam. Bird was close to being sent to Vietnam when someone set fire to the South Pasadena draft board office, which destroyed all the records, including Bird’s. By the time the local draft board got up and running again, the country had instituted a lottery system, under which Bird’s number came out in the 280s. Had he been sent to Vietnam, he was certain his baseball career would have never gotten off the ground.

Bird spent the summer of love in Winnipeg and Rookie League Arizona, where he went 9-6 in 160 innings of work. In 1970 he played for the Waterloo Royals, where despite a 11-9 record, he had a sparkling 1.84 ERA.

Bird quickly worked his way through the Royals minor league system, spending time in San Jose, Jacksonville, and Omaha before making his major league debut in 1973.

I first saw Bird pitch on August 9, 1973, when the Royals defeated the Red Sox. Bird came on with two outs in the eighth after Steve Busby tired. Bird got all four batters he faced with the last being a punch out of Bob Montgomery who got caught looking. Montgomery’s claim to fame was he was the last hitter to not wear a batting helmet. Bird saved a then-rookie club record 20 games in 1973 while finishing 41 games.

Whitey Herzog tried converting Bird to a starter in 1976 and Doug responded admirably, throwing a career-high 197 innings. He appeared in 39 games, making 27 starts with a very respectable 3.37 ERA. Bird went back to his swing role in 1977 and 1978, his final two years with the club. During this time Bird shared bullpen duties with Steve Mingori, Al Hrabosky and Marty Pattin, a group that Herzog dubbed: Mungo, Hungo, Duck and the Bird. Bird also had the marvelous nickname “Fidrych”.

His last appearance for the Royals was memorable for a couple of reasons. It came during the 1978 playoffs in Game Three against the Yankees in Yankee Stadium. The Series was tied at one game apiece and the Royals were clinging to a 5 to 4 lead in the bottom of the eighth.

With one out, Paul Splittorff gave up a single to Roy White, which prompted Herzog to call on Bird to face Thurman Munson. It made sense. It was a righty-righty matchup and Munson had been slumping, finally beaten down by years behind the plate. Bird fell behind 2-0. The next pitch caught too much plate and Munson got all of it. The ball ended up in Monument Park. The distance has been thoroughly debated. I’ve seen 420 and I’ve seen 475. Several people called it the longest home run of Munson’s career. Regardless of the distance, it was Munson’s final home run in Yankee Stadium as he tragically lost his life the next summer in a plane accident. It also gave the Yankees the margin of victory in a 6-to-5 win. New York clinched the series the next day with a 2-to-1 win. It was the last pitch thrown by Bird in a Royals uniform.

Herzog, frustrated by his staff’s inability to get past the Yankees, signed off on trading Bird to the Phillies for shortstop prospect Todd Cruz. He spent 1979 in Philadelphia before signing with the Yankees. The Yanks traded him to the Cubs in June of 1981. The Cubs converted him back to a starter and he made 33 starts for the 1982 team. A collision at home plate left him with a bum shoulder and after considering and declining surgery, he retired after a 22-game stint with the Red Sox in 1983.

Over his 11-year career, Bird appeared in 432 games, made exactly 100 starts and saved another 60 games while throwing 1,213 innings.

Bird’s name still dots the Royals’ top ten career leaders in several categories, including saves and games finished (fifth), and FIP (third). That alone tells you how good the guy was considering his Kansas City career ended 46 years ago.

Doug Bird passed away on September 24 at the age of 74 at his home in Asheville, North Carolina. From the Royals Review community, we pass on our condolences to the Bird family.