Michael Cramer Shares the Story Behind Dear Mr. Fidrych During Kiner's Korner SABR Event

Before we dimmed the lights for our latest Kiner's Korner Long Island Ralph Kiner Chapter of SABR Movie Night, I posed a simple question to the audience.

"How many of you remember where you were when Mark Fidrych burst onto the baseball scene in 1976?"

Nearly every hand went up.

That's baseball.

One magical summer. One unforgettable player. One memory that somehow survives for half a century.

As Mets fans, we understand baseball's unlikely love stories. Before 2012, R.A. Dickey was the definition of a baseball journeyman. Over parts of 10 major league seasons, he'd gone just 41-50. Even after arriving in New York, he was a respectable 19-22 during his first two seasons as a Met. Then came one magical summer. Dickey suddenly became unhittable, went 20-6, won the National League Cy Young Award and, every fifth day, gave Mets fans the feeling that they were about to witness something extraordinary. Mark Fidrych created that same electricity in Detroit in 1976. His story burned even brighter—but far more briefly. Baseball has a funny way of freezing those magical seasons in time, preserving them like baseball cards tucked safely into a shoebox.

That's exactly why *Dear Mr. Fidrych* resonated with everyone who joined us.

Our chapter recently screened Michael Cramer's award-winning independent film before welcoming Cramer via Zoom for a fascinating Q&A that lasted nearly an hour. It quickly became clear that this wasn't simply a movie about Mark "The Bird" Fidrych. It was a movie about why we fall in love with baseball in the first place.

Ironically, our Long Island Ralph Kiner Chapter of SABR is currently conducting a nationwide research study asking one deceptively simple question: Why do we root for the teams we root for? Is fandom inherited? Inspired by a favorite player? Or sparked by one unforgettable season? Watching Dear Mr. Fidrych, it was impossible not to think about that very question. For Michael Cramer, Mark Fidrych was the answer. For Mets fans, it might have been Tom Seaver, the Miracle Mets, the '86 championship, R.A. Dickey's magical Cy Young season, or any number of unforgettable moments.

We'd love for you to be part of our study. Please take a few minutes to complete our survey here and help us better understand what creates baseball fans for life. Every response helps us paint a clearer picture of the passion that connects generations of fans.

For Michael Cramer, the answer came on June 28, 1976.

As a 12-year-old sitting in the last row of Tiger Stadium, he watched Fidrych outduel the first-place Yankees on ABC's Monday Night Baseball. The electric atmosphere transformed a quirky rookie into a national phenomenon almost overnight.

During our discussion, Cramer admitted that after all these years, nothing has topped that night.

"I've been to NCAA championships. I've seen the Cubs clinch the pennant," he told us. "Nothing has compared to that night and the energy The Bird brought to Detroit."

That single evening stayed with him for decades.

By day, Cramer became a successful Chicago attorney. But the kid who fell in love with baseball that summer never really left. Eventually, he decided to write a screenplay inspired by his childhood hero, creating a deeply personal story that blended autobiography with fiction. The result was "Dear Mr. Fidrych", a labor of love made on a shoestring budget of roughly $30,000, featuring his own children, local actors, and ultimately, Mark Fidrych himself.

One of the most touching revelations of the evening was how genuine Fidrych remained long after his brief baseball stardom had ended.

"He could have been bitter," Cramer said. "Instead, his attitude was, 'I got to play in the major leagues! How cool is that?'"

That's the Bird in a nutshell.

Our audience also learned that much of the movie was filmed almost documentary-style when Cramer visited Fidrych's Massachusetts farm. There were no scripts for Fidrych's scenes because, as Cramer laughed, "You can't script Mark Fidrych."

Sometimes reality writes better dialogue than Hollywood ever could.

Perhaps the evening's most emotional moment came when Cramer described receiving the devastating news that Fidrych had died in April 2009, just days after they had discussed sending him the finished DVD and preparing for the film festival circuit.

Fidrych never got to see the completed movie.

Cramer shared the unforgettable story of the film's premiere at the Detroit Windsor International Film Festival, where Fidrych's wife, Ann, and daughter, Jessica, attended just weeks after his passing. The packed theater gave the film a standing ovation, and when Cramer introduced Jessica to the audience, the entire theater spontaneously sang "Happy Birthday" to her on her 21st birthday.

"There wasn't a dry eye in the theater," Cramer recalled.

Neither was there in our meeting room.

The conversation wandered through filmmaking, baseball history, Little League memories, Ron LeFlore, Bob Seger granting music rights, Sid Finch's surprise cameo, and even the frustrations of editing an independent film while working full-time as an attorney. But every answer kept circling back to one theme.

Baseball isn't always about statistics.

Sometimes it's about hope.

Sometimes it's about a kid sitting in the last row of a stadium believing anything is possible.

And sometimes it's about a pitcher whose career lasted only 29 victories but whose impact has lasted nearly 50 years.

Every fan base has its "what if?" guy. Mets fans remember Mike Vail before that broken ankle. Cleveland remembers Joe Charboneau. Yankee fans still talk about Kevin Maas launching baseballs into the Bronx night. Dodgers fans remember Billy Grabarkewitz. For one magical stretch, they weren't just playing baseball—they were making people rearrange their schedules to watch them. Fidrych did that on a national scale.

Because every fan has a moment when baseball stopped being just a game and became something personal.

That's why Dear Mr. Fidrych works so beautifully. It isn't really about Mark Fidrych.

It's about all of us.

Here is the full conversation with Mike :

If you're interested in joining the Kiner's Korner Long Island Ralph Kiner Chapter of SABR, we'd love to have you. Baseball fans of every level—from lifelong historians to casual fans who simply love the game—are welcome.

For information about upcoming meetings, movie nights, guest speakers, and research projects, email me at kinerskorner.com@gmail.com. We promise great baseball conversations—and maybe a few stories that will remind you why you fell in love with the game in the first place.