Harry Fisher

Who was Harry Fisher?

Harry Devereaux Fisher was a Canadian baseball player. Primarily a right-handed pitcher, his skill as a batter also enabled him to play outfield in minor league baseball and pinch hit at both the minor and Major League levels. Born in Newbury, Ontario, he batted left-handed, stood 6 feet tall and weighed 180 pounds.

Fisher's professional career lasted for 12 seasons. In 1949–1950, with the New Orleans Pelicans of the Double-A Southern Association, Fisher batted .397 and .423 in successive seasons, although, as a pitcher, he was well short of enough at bats or plate appearances to win the SA batting championship.

He appeared in 18 Major League games with the 1951–1952 Pittsburgh Pirates — ten as a pinch hitter and eight as a pitcher. In his first trial with the 1951 Bucs, Fisher was used exclusively in a pinch hitting role, going hitless in three at bats. In 1952, he began the season with the Hollywood Stars of the Open-Classification Pacific Coast League until his recall by the Pirates. In his first game back with them, on June 21, he got his first Major League hit, a pinch single of Carl Erskine of the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field. He would pinch hit three more times until he took the mound July 2 for his first MLB pitching assignment; in relief of Ron Kline, he allowed no runs and two hits in two innings of work in a 3–0 Pittsburgh defeat at the hands of the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. Two days later, on July 4 at Crosley Field, Fisher got his first starting assignment in the Majors, and he defeated the Cincinnati Reds 5–2 for his only big league victory. Fisher worked six innings and scattered five hits, allowing two earned runs, and left the game with the lead, 3–2.