Ray Lyle Fisher (October 4, 1887 – November 3, 1982) was an American professional baseball pitcher and college coach. He pitched all or part of ten seasons in Major League Baseball. His debut game took place on July 2, 1910. His final game took place on October 2, 1920. During his early professional career he played for the New York Yankees and Cincinnati Reds.
From 1921 to 1958, he coached the University of Michigan Wolverines baseball team, and served as assistant coach for basketball and football. In 1929 and 1932 he took the baseball team to Japan for a month each time at the invitation of Meiji University, where they played several games against Japanese university teams around the nation.
Early life Nicknamed "Pick" (short for the freshwater fish pickerel), Fisher's nickname was for years listed in baseball reference books as "Chic", though Fisher himself stated that this had never been his nickname and that "Pick" had been used since his days in college. His given name at birth was simply "Ray". Fisher was an all-around athlete who played football, basketball, baseball, and competed in track events, though his father permitted sports only if the farm work was done. He played on Vermont's 1904 State Championship football team and was offered multiple college scholarships in football, but his real love was baseball. He stayed on in his hometown, attending Middlebury College.Simon, Tom ed. Green Mountain Boys of Summer: Vermonters in the Major Leagues, 1882–1993. (2000). pp. 86-87. The New England Press, Shelburne, Vermont. .
Professional career
Semi-pro and minor leagues After stellar performances on the college mound,In his starting game as a pitcher with the Middlebury Panthers (Freshman, 1907), Fisher struck out 18 Colgate batters, which still stands as a single-game record at Middlebury. Fisher came to Middlebury as a catcher, but his coach wanted to try him out as a pitcher. http://www.vermontsportshall.com/2013fisher.html See also http://sites.middlebury.edu/pttp/ray-fisher/ he was offered a position pitching with a semi-pro team in Valleyfield, Quebec in the summer of 1907.Simon. p.87. In 1908 and 1909 he pitched in the minor leagues for Hartford in the Connecticut League, going 12–1 in his first partial season (batting .304) and 25–4 the following year with 243 strikeouts.The National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues. (1953) The Story of Minor League Baseball. See pp. 262, 345. The Stoneman Press. Because of his contract with Hartford, Fisher was no longer eligible to play on the Middlebury team, but he served as Middlebury's coach in 1910 during his senior year. Fisher jumped at the first major league opportunity to come his way, thinking it might be the only offer he would get, and his contract was sold to the New York Highlanders (Yankees). He soon learned, however, that the New York Giants and Boston Red Sox were also interested in signing him. He reported to the Highlanders in 1910 following his graduation from Middlebury, bringing along—to the amusement of his new teammates—his homemade bat from off the farm.Simon, p. 88. Fisher stated that he had never seen a game of major league baseball until he joined the Highlanders.
New York Yankees Dubbed the "Vermont Schoolmaster" because he taught Latin at Newton Academy in New Jersey during his first offseason,Fisher related that he took the position so that he would not have to go home and tell his father he did not have a job. Proctor, Donald J. Ann Arbor Scene Magazine. Summer 1980. Fisher pitched for New York from 1910 to 1917,Istorico, Ray (2008) Greatness in Waiting: An Illustrated History of the Early New York Yankees, 1903-1919. pp. 184-188. McFarland & Co.Jones, David (2008) Deadball Stars of the American League. pp. 272-273. Potomac Books spending 1918 in the Army stationed at Fort Slocum off New Rochelle.Simon. p. 91. Fisher was assistant to the athletic director of the Army training camp's athletics program which was run in cooperation with the YMCA. As a rookie, the newspapers were frequently comparing Fisher to Highlander's spitball pitcher Jack Chesbro,Jones. p. 722. "He [Fisher] laughs, talks, acts, and pitches with the same motion as the North Adams farmer [Chesbro]. He has a spit ball which, according to Ed Sweeney, is just as dangerous as the one Chesbro exhibited." and early in his tenure with the Yankees Fisher was also cited by Ty Cobb and Nap Lajoie as one of the 12 best pitchers in the American League, both players also listing Ed Walsh, Russ Ford, Walter Johnson and Smoky Joe Wood.As reported in the November 18, 1911 Philadelphia Inquirer, "Tyrus Cobb and Napolean Lajoie, the greatest batsmen in the American League, if not in the country, were recently given twenty four hours to study the work of the American league pitchers and name the best ones as they appear to them. Cobb named as the best 12: Russell Ford, Joe Wood, Walter Johnson, Cy Young, Ed Walsh, Eddie Karger, Bob Groom, Dolly Gray, Vean Gregg, Harry Krause, Ray Fisher and Jimmy Scott. Larry's selections were: Ed Walsh, Walter Johnson, Russell Ford, Jack Coombs, Chief Bender, Eddie Plank, Joe Wood, Barney Pelty, George Mullin, Bill Donovan, Ray Fisher and Frank Lange." One reporter's reaction to Fisher being selected by both heavy hitters was, "Fisher is often overlooked when the fans are studying the stars. But he is a star and belongs right in the Ford-Wood-Walsh class. His fastball is a beauty, and he has a curve that few others can boast of." Quoted in Jones, p. 723. In October 1910, at the end of his rookie season, Fisher pitched against Christy Mathewson in game five of the New York Inter-League Series, a precursor to the Subway Series, losing to Mathewson 5-1. News accounts of the game indicate that Fisher did not do badly, allowing no runs and but one hit after the first two innings. His earned run average ranked fifth in the league in 1915.Jones. p. 723.Fisher's earned run average ranked in the top 20 in his league in five of his ten playing seasons, three of those in the top 10: 1914, 1915, 1919. Fisher ranks 9th among Yankees in earned run average and 20th in innings pitched. See and For a recent rating of Fisher's performance with the Yankees, see Fisher was known for his stamina as a pitcher, considered a "workhorse" for the Yankees,Jones. p. 723. but the following year, 1916, a bout of pleurisy resulted in crippling his effectiveness, and causing him to miss about a month of the season. (Doctors later thought that Fisher had probably had tuberculosis.)Jones. p. 723. In the first game after his return, however, Fisher pitched a shutout against Walter Johnson. From 1911 to 1915, during the offseason, Fisher was also employed as Middlebury College's first "Physical Director".Simon., pp. 90-91"In 1910, [President] Thomas convinced the board to appoint an athletic director, and he found the man he wanted- Ray Fisher '10, a local farmboy whose strong right arm had made him an outstanding baseball pitcher at Middlebury (and would later see him through ten creditable years in the big leagues)." Stameshkin, David M. The Town's College: Middlebury College, 1800-1915. (1985). Middlebury College Press, Middlebury, Vermont. p.268.
In 1915 he was hired as athletic director at Sewanee: The University of the South, in which capacity he coached the baseball and basketball teams, and assisted with the football team. However, he soon had to resign due to the prolonged illness of his mother.
Cincinnati Reds About the time of his discharge from the Army, Fisher was selected off waivers by the Cincinnati Reds, taking a $3,100 cut in pay from his $6,700 with the Yankees.Jones. p. 723. The Yankees may have let Fisher go due to the effects of his pleurisy, but his year in the Army had given him time to build up his strength.Jones. p. 723. Pat Moran, Fisher's manager at Cincinnati noted that, "Fisher's speed is fine, his curves are all that could be desired. But, beyond all is his headwork. Fisher knows a lot of baseball, far more than the average pitcher."Jones. p. 723. Fisher pitched for the Reds in 1919 and 1920. He went 14–5 in 1919 and pitched Game 3 in the infamous 1919 World Series, a game in which the Reds were shut out by Chicago's Dickie Kerr., In one segment Kerr (L) and Fisher (R) can be seen shaking hands prior to Game 3.Proctor, Donald J. Ann Arbor Scene Magazine. Summer 1980, Fall 1980. "Ray L. Fisher: Michigan's Captive Coach". See Summer issue p. 34. In the spring of 1920 the American and National Leagues agreed to outlaw use of the spitball, though 22 spitball pitchers were exempted from the ban for the season. The following year a permanent ban went into effect, with 17 pitchers "grandfathered" for the remainder of their pitching careers. Though he had largely discontinued use of the spitter by 1914,Jones. p. 722. Fisher told umpire and Harper's Weekly columnist Billy Evans in 1914 that he feared the spitball would cause the premature loss of his pitching arm: "I quit the spit-ball before the spit-ball made me quit. When I stopped using that style of delivery, I had not suffered any inconvenience because of its use. I knew a number of other pitchers who had been put out of business by it. I figured that I was only human and that it would get me sooner or later, if I persisted in its use. I made up my mind to try to get by with the old style assortment. I am succeeding pretty well, and I feel positive I have prolonged my career as a pitcher a number of years." Harper's Weekly, June 13, 1914. Fisher was one of those allowed to continue to use the pitch.See Faber, Charles F. and Faber, Richard B. (2006) Spitballers: The Last Legal Hurlers of the Wet One. pp. 129-136. McFarland & Co.
"Lifetime" ban Fisher is one of the few players to be re-instated into professional baseball during their lifespan after being banned for life.See Proctor for a detailed study of Fisher's blacklisting Prior to the 1921 season, the Reds offered him a contract in which his salary was $1,000 less than that of the previous season.Proctor. Summer 1980. p. 36. After making his objections known in a letter to Reds president August Herrmann, Fisher signed the contract. Before the season began, however, Fisher learned that the position of head baseball coach had again become available at the University of Michigan, a position for which he had belatedly applied the previous year on the recommendation of Branch Rickey.Proctor. Summer 1980. pp. 36-37. See also Quoting Fred Wilpon, "And when [Rickey] was leaving [University of Michigan], he recommended Ray Fisher, who was the coach for (38) years. [Rickey] liked Ray Fisher a lot, and he was my coach. I liked him a lot, too, and all of our players loved Ray Fisher. Mr. Rickey also had a real affinity for Michigan." Fisher requested, and was apparently given by manager Pat Moran, permission to go and look into the job.Cincinnati Enquirer, April 6, 1921: "Fisher received a wire this morning from the Athletic Director at Ann Arbor asking him to come up there for a conference in regards to terms. He requested permission from Moran and asked if he could obtain his release from the Cincinnati club. Pat told him that he had no authority to give releases, but would allow him to go to Michigan to look the ground over. Fisher will leave Indianapolis tomorrow night for Ann Arbor and may not return. If the outlook and the terms are satisfactory he probably will decide to take up college work at once and give up professional baseball. He is in the best condition of any of the Red right-handers and has shown the best form in the exhibition games played to date, so his loss will be felt if he decides to leave the team." Fisher's wife, Middlebury native Alice Seeley, had given birth to their only child in 1919, and Alice was urging Ray to settle into a job that would involve less travel away from home. Proctor, Summer 1980, p. 32.