Mr. Fick goes to Washington
Not that anyone was asking me where Robert Fick is these days, but he’s resurfaced with the Nationals, where he’s landed in some sort of bizarro world. It seems Frank Robinson, baseball’s former disciplinarian who used to hand out Fick’s punishment for his antics in Detroit as well as in the Arizona Fall League, is a big fan of his.
"A lot of guys said he was off the wall, he’s crazy," Robinson said. "Ifound him to be a guy with a lot of energy. He played the game hard. He
just wanted to go out and play. Sometimes his emotion got in the way.
He would lose control and tear things. I talked to him and reasoned
with him. I listened to him. We developed a fondness for each other. I
admire him for the way he goes about his work."
This is the third time since Fick left the Tigers that we’ve read about a manager who loves the way Fick plays the game hard and wanted to bring him in. Fick wore out his welcome with Bobby Cox in Atlanta and Lou Piniella in Tampa Bay after a year apiece. He was very much in danger of flushing his career before he salvaged it in San Diego.
"I got into a couple of [incidents]," Fick said. "I didn’t start them.
I should have stayed out of them. I speak my mind. That’s another
problem of mine — I can’t keep my mouth shut sometimes. I’ve learned
some lessons in my career. I’ve learned to deal with situations when
it’s not going my way."
When Fick was in Detroit with the Padres last year, he swore he had changed from his wild days and had grown up. Hopefully for his sake, he can stay that way. It’s a little more boring, because he’s had some unbelievable run-ins to write about, but it’s better for his career.
By the way, it seems like the Nationals are a new landing spot for ex-Tigers turned journeyman. Joining Fick in Nats camp are Damian Jackson, Mike DiFelice, Andrew Good, George Lombard and Brandon Harper. My most vivid Tigers memory among them is Jackson being miscast as a center fielder one day in 2002 and missing a fly ball by about 20 feet or so. Why I remember that, I don’t know.
Jason Beck
I think most Tiger fans will always hold a soft spot for Rob Fick for a certain home run he hit on Sept. 27, 1999. Lots of Tiger fans still remember the Cheech & Chong act that he and Matt Anderson pulled one year in the Arizona Fall League…
I would argue that at least Jackson and DiFelice were already journeymen when the Tigers acquired them.
Mr. Beck what the tigers have is a pretty good team, I think even better than last year. I would like to see Curtis Granderson start on the opening day for the tigers, he has a great future ahead in Major League Baseball, I really think he could be the next Ken Griffey Jr. when he was with the Seattle Mariners. He is my favorite player and I think I’m going to buy his jersey pretty soon! What do you think about him?
I should have edited myself before I posted. When I said Jackson’s miss was my most vivid Tigers memory among those players, I was not including Fick. I only covered Fick for a year or so, but I still remember a ton of Fick moments.