#46 Jack Fisher

Jack Fisher  Baltimore Orioles

Career: Fisher was a member of the Orioles 'Kiddie Corps' when he broke in. He, Steve Barber, Chuck Estrada, and Milt Pappas, all 22 or younger, made up a starting staff that nearly carried the Orioles to their first pennant in 1960.  He pitched two effective seasons for the Birds before bouncing between the Giants, Mets, White Sox and Reds until he retired with an 86-139 career W/L mark following the 1969 season. 


In 1960: He won 12 games for the Orioles including a stretch of nearly 30 consecutive scoreless innings in August/September. It was his best year in the majors. He also hit his only career homer. It came off Bobby Locke who's card was the previous one posted on this blog.

Off The Charts: Fisher served up three memorable homers during his career:

• 9/28/1960-- Ted Williams' final career at-bat dinger 
• 9/26/1961--Roger Maris' 60th homer of the season
• 4/17/1964--Willie Stargell's homer is first ever hit in Shea Stadium

In 2014 The New Yorker had a short piece in which they interviewed Fisher on that Ted Williams homer. Interesting stuff.

The Card: I was settling in as an Orioles fan about the time Fisher was emerging with the Orioles and he was a favorite of mine back then. That makes this one of my favorite cards in the set. It's one of the few that have a season's highlights list with just two highlights. It has one of the better 'action' photos ...at least as far as being clear and decently cropped and pasted on the solid background goes. The cartoon, with those cheering high school girls, a nice ballpark portrait, and the color scheme makes this one a keeper.

#44 Bobby Locke

Bobby Locke   Cleveland Indians

Career: Over the course of nearly a decade Locke pitched for five clubs but the majority of his career came with the Indians from 1959 to 1961. He was a spot starter with Cleveland and strictly a reliever everywhere else. He amassed a 16-15 record with an ERA of about 4.00 for his career.

In 1960: This was his busiest year as he made 11 starts and pitched 123 innings with a respectable 3.37 ERA and a couple of saves.

Off The Charts: Here's an interview that Locke's grandsons did with him last fall:

The Card: This is Locke's rookie card, at least as far as mainstream sets go. That's Municipal Stadium behind him. I have a small Locke collection that was inspired by pulling a nice signed '68 from a Heritage pack a couple of years ago. I posted that PC on my 5 Tool Collector blog.