He was quite a character. I've never seen one player create such excitement in a town. Detroit was a crappy team and he had that town going wild. I remember a nationally televised Monday night game against the Yankees in 1976. He beat the Yankees on a complete game. I think he threw a three hitter or something. He was talking to the ball and telling it where to go. He was a novelty. he brought a tremendous amount of energy to the game. After the game, no one left Tiger stadium until he came out of the clubhouse to acknowledge the crowd. When he came out to greet the crowd, he was like a giddy schoolboy. There was nothing contrived about him. He was completely genuine and childlike. He had no idea who he was pitching to. After that game, the MFer Yankees were complaining that he had showed up Munson, because he showed Munson the ball after he caught Munson's come backer. When the writers told the Bird that he Munson felt that he had showed him up, Friedrich looked puzzled and said "which one is Munson?" He wasn't being snide. He just didn't know anyone's name. He was special --- a bright star that burned out way too quickly.