The New York Yankees, led by new manager Billy Martin, made the playoffs for the first time since 1964. The Kansas City Royals, managed by Whitey Herzog, made the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. The league playoffs were as close as it gets, but the Yankees prevailed. They then got swept in the World Series by the Big Red Machine from Cincinnati.
        But for baseball fans, this year will always be remembered as the Year Of The Bird. Mark "Bird" Fidrych exploded onto the scene, won 19 games for Detroit and was the Rookie Of The Year.

         Jim Palmer won his third Cy Young Award. He was a good choice; Palmer led the AL in wins and innings pitched, and his ERA was about as good as anyone else's. But it wasn't a clear choice; Fidrych had a brilliant rookie year at age 22, leading the league in ERA and creating a sensation around the league. He got his nickname because of his curly blonde hair, which made him resemble Sesame Street's Big Bird. Fidrych threw a two-hitter in his first start, and started the All-Star Game for the AL.
        The Bird was a bona fide flake; he quickly became famous for his conversations with the ball, urging it to avoid the hitter's bat. He also bent down to sculpt the dirt around the mound. The fans loved him. But almost as quickly as he arrived, the Bird was gone. He started 1977 brilliantly, but hurt his arm early in the year. Fidrych was unable to make a successful comeback, and won only 29 games in his career. He left behind the following classic quotation: "When you're a winner you're always happy, but if you're happy as a loser you'll always be a loser."
        Two left-handed pitchers also had outstanding seasons. Frank Tanana, one of the hardest throwing pitchers in baseball, won 19 games for the Angels. Tanana had developed excellent control to complement his great stuff; but he would have only one more big year before he lost his hard fastball. Another hard thrower, Vida Blue, had a fine year, the last big one he would have in an Oakland uniform.
        Fidrych was not the only one-year wonder in the league. Wayne Garland was only 25, and got his first regular starting assignment with the Orioles. He was good, and won 20 games; a year later he lost 19 games, and his career went into a downhill spiral after that.
        Bill Campbell had a remarkable year in relief. A solid, hard-working reliever, Campbell had a pair of remarkable seasons in 1976-77; in that time he won 30 games in relief and saved 51 others. He was unable to handle the heavy workload, however; he pitched another 10 years in the majors, but they were not very good ones.
        Luis Tiant was 35 years old, and won 20+ games for the fourth and final time. The previous year, Tiant pitched very well in the World Series for the Red Sox, though the impression was that he didn't have good stuff left, and was winning with only guts and guile. Well, he must have had something more than that; he kept winning this year (and threw 279 innings!), and for three more years afterwards.
         Tiant retired with 229 wins, more than Catfish Hunter or Jim Bunning or Don Drysdale, and he had as many big seasons as any of those guys. He won two ERA titles, led the AL in shutouts three times, and had a fine career winning percentage. He seems to be a solid candidate for the Hall Of Fame... and he even made a guest appearance on Cheers once.