Sunday, July 6, 2014

RANDOM QUICKIE: 1970 JACK FISHER #684

Here's a card worth looking into a bit: Topps 1970 Jack Fisher (#684).
Take a look:


Couple of things here.
First off Jack Fisher never ended up playing for the Angels. 
As a matter of fact, Fisher never played in the Majors again after 1969, a year he spent with the Cincinnati Reds, posting a 5-5 record with a 5.50 earned run average over 34 appearances.
After being traded by the Reds to California in January of 1970, he was eventually released by the Angels in April of that year.
And while he managed to pitch in the minors that year for both the Cardinals and the Orioles, he never made it back up to the "big show", leaving the game after the season for good.
Another thing worth mentioning is that Fisher appears to be in a New York Mets uniform that was crudely airbrushed, with no attempt to "draw in" an Angels logo, as Topps was prone to do in the late-60's/early-70's.
If that is the case, then Topps went and used an image at least three years old since Fisher was in Cincinnati in 1969 and in Chicago with the White Sox in 1968.
I guess there's a chance it could be a White Sox uniform, no?
I can't be too sure, but it sure looks like a Mets uni. 
Fisher had some hard luck years with the expansion Mets between 1964 and 1967, leading the league in losses twice, with 24 in 1965 and 18 in 1967.
He had a nice year back in 1960 at the age of 21, going 12-11 with a 3.41 E.R.A., eight complete games and three shutouts for the Baltimore Orioles.
But after four mediocre years there he was sent to San Francisco, where he posted a 6-10 record with the Giants before moving on to Queens, NY.
All told, he'd put in an 86-139 record in the Majors between 1959 and 1969, with a 4.06 E.R.A., 62 complete games and nine shutouts.