Eddie Gene Fisher (July 16, 1936 – February 17, 2025) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Francisco Giants, Chicago White Sox, Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians, California Angels, and St. Louis Cardinals between 1959 and 1973. He was an All-Star in 1965 and at the time of his retirement was the all-time American League leader in relief appearances. He was known for throwing a knuckleball.
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Early life
Fisher was born on July 16, 1936, in Shreveport, Louisiana to J.T. and Louise Fisher. At a young age, Fisher moved with his family to Oklahoma, where he attended Friendship High School in Friendship, Oklahoma. He had a high school graduating class of 15 students. He played on Friendship's baseball team, and was an all-state pitcher on the school's 1954 state Class C championship team. Fisher was the winning pitching in the state championship game. His future wife Betty also attended Friendship, and they married the year after graduation.
Fisher also played American Legion baseball in Jackson County, Oklahoma. From 1952 to 1954 between his play for Friendship and in American Legion baseball, Fisher won 80 games and pitched six no-hitters. It has also been reported he won 76 games at Friendship. In 1953, he pitched a perfect game in American Legion play. He played first base when not pitching, and had a combined .350 batting average over the same period. One of his American Legion teammates was fellow future major league relief pitcher Lindy McDaniel.
Fisher also played two or three years of semiprofessional baseball for the Roy Deal Gassers of Oklahoma City. Deal subsequently helped Fisher obtain a scholarship to the University of Oklahoma.
College
Fisher attended Oklahoma on a basketball and baseball scholarship. Fisher played collegiate baseball for three seasons for the Oklahoma Sooners (1956-58). In 1958, he was named to the All-Big Seven conference team as a pitcher. He played in the Basin League during his college years, in Mitchell, South Dakota. In 1957, he pitched a three-hit shutout in Basin League play.
Pitching career
Roy Deal once again helped Fisher, in connection with Fisher signing as a free agent with the National League (NL) San Francisco Giants to play for their Double-A Texas League affiliate, the Corpus Christi Giants.
Minor leagues
In 1958, Fisher pitched in 22 games for Corpus Christi, starting 16. He had an 11–7 win–loss record, with a 3.43 earned run average (ERA). He was promoted to the Triple-A Phoenix Giants of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) in 1959. He won nine of his first ten decisions to begin the season, with a 2.37 ERA; ending his Phoenix season 10–4 with a 2.97 ERA. He was a knuckleball pitcher with good control, who also threw a variety of curveballs and a slider.
He was called up to pitch for the San Francisco Giants that season, and was the winning pitcher in his first major league appearance on June 22. He had a 2–6 record with a 7.88 ERA in 17 games with the Giants, including five starting appearances.
Fisher played the majority of the 1960 season with the PCL's Tacoma Giants. He led all Pacific Coast League pitchers with 239 innings pitched. He was 17–12 with a 3.31 ERA, starting 32 of the 38 games in which he pitched. In September, he was again called up to the San Francisco Giants, but pitched in only three games.
Fisher began the 1961 season with the San Francisco Giants. He pitched in 17 games, all but one in relief. He was 0–2, with a 5.35 ERA in 33.2 innings and was sent back to Tacoma. In Tacoma, Fisher pitched in 17 games, all as a starting pitcher. He was 9–5, with a 3.01 ERA. This was his last season as a minor league pitcher.
His minor league record from 1958 to 1961 was 47–28 (.627) with a 3.23 ERA in 93 games (632 innings pitched).
Major leagues
On November 30, 1961, the Giants traded Fisher, Dom Zanni, Bob Farley and a player to be named later (Verle Tiefenthaler) to the American League (AL) Chicago White Sox in exchange for pitchers Billy Pierce and Don Larsen. In 1962, Fisher pitched in 57 games for the White Sox, starting 12. He was 9–5, with five saves and a 3.10 ERA. Fisher was used as a starter during the second half of the season.
After going to the World Series in 1959, the White Sox had steadily declined. In January 1963, they traded future Hall of Fame shortstop Luis Aparicio and Al Smith to the Baltimore Orioles for future Hall of Fame relief pitcher Hoyt Wilhelm, Dave Nicholson, Pete Ward and Ron Hansen. Wilhelm is considered one in the very top tier of knuckleball pitchers in major league baseball history. Although 39-years old, the White Sox considered Wilhelm the premier relief pitcher in baseball, who had a 1.94 ERA in 1962 for the Orioles, with a 7–10 record and 15 saves.
This gave the White Sox two knuckleballers. Fisher recognized that his knuckleball, though good, paled in comparison to Wilhelm's. Fisher came under Wilhelm's tutelage, both by Wilhelm actively teaching Fisher how to better throw the knuckleball, and by Fisher observing Wilhelm's example in throwing the knuckleball himself.
In 1963, while Wilhelm was the team's closer, Fisher split his time between starting and relief pitching, with a 9–8 record and 3.95 ERA. The team finished 94–68, in second place behind the New York Yankees. The White Sox led the AL in team ERA (2.97). He pitched almost exclusively in relief in 1964 (57 of 59 games), with a 3.02 ERA, 6–3 record and nine saves; the 40-year old Wilhelm being 12–3, with a 1.99 ERA and 27 saves. Fisher "bloomed" as a relief pitcher during the second half of the season, with six saves and 21 games finished. The White Sox again finished in second place, this time only one game behind the Yankees. The White Sox again led the AL in team ERA (2.72).
In Fisher's 15-year career, 1965 stands out as his best season. He had a 15–7 won–loss record with 24 saves and a 2.40 ERA. He pitched 165.1 innings, all in relief, in a then American League record 82 games, while also finishing an AL leading 60 games as the White Sox closer. Although Wilhelm had a lower ERA (1.81), he closed 15 fewer games. Fisher became the third pitcher in American League history to have at least 15 wins and 15 saves in a season (along with Luis Arroyo in 1961 and Dick Radatz in 1963). He today remains the only Chicago White Sox pitcher to accomplish this pitching feat.
Honors
Fisher was selected the 1965 Sporting News Reliever of the Year.
He was inducted into the University of Oklahoma Baseball Hall of Fame in 2007, and the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame in 2008. The University of Oklahoma honored Fisher in 2007 at its Diamond Dinner.
In 1965, he was honored by American Legion Baseball as its Man of the Year.
Personal life
During his baseball career, Fisher owned and operated Eddie Fisher’s Southwest Oklahoma Baseball Camp. After retiring, Fisher returned to Oklahoma. He served as president of First Federal Savings and Loan. He also owned a sporting goods shop. He later joined the Oklahoma Tourism & Recreation Department, serving as state director of golf operations. Fisher was also active in the Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association.
Death
Fisher died in Altus, Oklahoma, on February 17, 2025, at the age of 88. He was survived by Betty Fisher, dying just two months before their 70th wedding anniversary, four children, eight grandchildren and seven great grandchildren.