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Post by inger on Oct 31, 2019 19:49:41 GMT -5
Fairly passed away yesterday. He spent most of his long career as a platoon player with a bat that was appropriately, a pretty fair one. I as impressed when he set a career high with 19 HR at age 38, just one season before he retired. His previous high had been 17...
Fairly lived to be 81. Another of my baseball cards. Gosh, he and I were both kids back then...now that I look back...
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Post by sierchio on Oct 31, 2019 20:17:41 GMT -5
How do you get notified of these obscure deaths?
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Post by inger on Oct 31, 2019 20:31:16 GMT -5
How do you get notified of these obscure deaths? As the devil, I get a list sent out to me on a daily basis. Sadly, I have no input on destination until after Saint Peter does his sham “investigation”. Even if I do get to burn the souls, I have to sign a non-disclosure. Come to think of it, I also signed a non-disclosure to not tell that I’m the devil, too... Uh-oh. I sense a demotion back to the human race. I’ll have to start looking at Baseball Reference on a daily basis again. The deaths are a first page feature called “In Memorium” a little ways down the page... Birthdays and MLB debuts are on there, too... |
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Post by inger on Oct 31, 2019 22:03:04 GMT -5
How do you get notified of these obscure deaths? I got to thinking about your comment and realized that Fairly had a 21- year MLB playing career. You regard Fairly as an obscure player (and his death as obscure as well). One man’s obscurity is not necessarily obscure to another. That’s not meant as a criticism of you or your opinion, by the way. It’s just a basic truth of humanity. Millions die every day in complete obscurity to me, yet none are more or less important in their own way... |
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Post by pippsheadache on Nov 1, 2019 6:21:59 GMT -5
I remember having one of those "rookie star" cards for Ron Fairly. It seemed like he played forever, like Lindy McDaniel or Julio Franco. He was a solid, steady player -- he holds the record for home runs (215) by a player who never hit as many as 20 in a season.
He was on a lot of good Dodgers teams in the 1960s, so he was showing up in enough World Series to become a familiar, if background, fixture. Anyone who was even a casual baseball fan in the 60s and 70s would have known Ron Fairly, although most wouldn't have had much to say about him. Part of the scenery.
Between his baseball and broadcasting careers, he was associated with the major leagues for about 50 years. That's a nice gig. RIP Ron Fairly.
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Post by inger on Nov 1, 2019 11:07:51 GMT -5
I always felt like Fairly had the misfortune of being just the slightest twitch short of real stardom. Not quite a high enough BA, and just a few HR short of the 20 it took to get you attention in those days...
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Post by pippsheadache on Nov 1, 2019 13:44:07 GMT -5
I always felt like Fairly had the misfortune of being just the slightest twitch short of real stardom. Not quite a high enough BA, and just a few HR short of the 20 it took to get you attention in those days... He was one of those "highly touted" products of Rod Dedeaux's baseball machine at USC. He did make the All Star team a few times. He was always overshadowed by other Dodger outfielders, initially by Duke Snider, then Frank Howard, Tommy Davis, Willie Davis, etc. And at first base he collided first with Gil Hodges, then Wes Parker. But he always found a way to make. significant contributions. |
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Post by inger on Nov 1, 2019 14:03:12 GMT -5
I always felt like Fairly had the misfortune of being just the slightest twitch short of real stardom. Not quite a high enough BA, and just a few HR short of the 20 it took to get you attention in those days... He was one of those "highly touted" products of Rod Dedeaux's baseball machine at USC. He did make the All Star team a few times. He was always overshadowed by other Dodger outfielders, initially by Duke Snider, then Frank Howard, Tommy Davis, Willie Davis, etc. And at first base he collided first with Gil Hodges, then Wes Parker. But he always found a way to make. significant contributions. I’m sure Casey would have found a way to use him back in the day. Earl Weaver was another smart platoonist. (Did I just create a new word? Platoonist, platoonier, platooner)... |
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Post by noetsi on Nov 1, 2019 18:49:37 GMT -5
How can you be an average player and play 21 years?
They forgot he was on the roster?
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Post by inger on Nov 1, 2019 19:20:30 GMT -5
How can you be an average player and play 21 years? They forgot he was on the roster? Fairly was a better than average hitter, with a career OPS + of 117. He was a role player, therefore didn’t get to play every day. There are many ways to provide value to a team... |
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Post by sierchio on Nov 1, 2019 19:32:36 GMT -5
What player from the 90s-10s would you compare to Fairly??? Not so much statistically but long career of semi-above averageness... (see, we're both skilled enough to create now words)
Side note: Auto-correct tried to change that to savageness... must know I'm on a message board about the Yankees
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Post by inger on Nov 1, 2019 19:57:03 GMT -5
What player from the 90s-10s would you compare to Fairly??? Not so much statistically but long career of semi-above averageness... (see, we're both skilled enough to create now words) Side note: Auto-correct tried to change that to savageness... must know I'm on a message board about the Yankees Probably Julio Franco...His OPS+ was a bit lower, and he may have peaked a bit higher and been a tad less consistent...Of course one was a 1B-OF, the other a 1B-INF. One was a RHH, the other LHH. One white, one black. Other than that, they were perfect twins... |
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