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 One
of the AL's premier catchers for
almost two decades, Carlton Fisk
overcame a series of serious
injuries early in his career to
establish himself as a marvel of
durability at baseball's most taxing
position. A ten-time All-Star and
the all-time leader in home runs by
a catcher (351) and in games caught
(2,226), Fisk was elected to the
Hall of Fame in 2000.....
Book Carlton Fisk for Your Event
A true
New
Englander,
Fisk was
born in
Vermont,
attended
the
University
of New
Hampshire,
and in
January
1967 was
the
first-round
draft
choice
of the
Boston
Red Sox,
the
fourth
player
chosen
in the
nation.
When he
arrived
in the
big
leagues
in 1972,
he
already
had a
nickname
(Pudge,
from his
childhood),
and a
trademark
wad of
tobacco
that
bulged
inside
one
cheek.
At the
age of
21, he
beat out
Duane
Josephson
and Bob
Montomery
for the
full-time
job and
never
looked
back.
Fisk was
an
immediate
star. He
hit .293
with 22
homers
and a
league-leading
nine
triples
in '72,
won a
Gold
Glove,
and
became
the
first
player
ever to
win the
Rookie
of the
Year
award
unanimously.
But he
proved
to be a
magnet
for
injuries
over the
next few
seasons.
His
average
slipped
to .246
in 1973
and he
missed
the
first
three
weeks of
the 1974
season
after a
foul tip
off the
bat of
Joe
Torre
struck
his
groin in
spring
training.
His
season
ended
early
when his
knee was
seriously
injured
in a
home-plate
collision
with
Cleveland's
Leron
Lee on
June 28.
As it
turned
out,
Fisk
missed
nearly a
full
year. An
errant
pitch
from
Detroit's
Fred
Holdsworth
in
spring
training
1975
sidelined
him
until
June.
But less
than a
week
after he
returned,
Boston
moved
into
first
and Fisk
hit .331
in 79
games to
help the
Red Sox
reach
the
World
Series.
Fisk
found
himself
in the
spotlight
twice in
the
World
Series.
In the
10th
inning
of Game
Three,
he
collided
with
Reds
pinch-hitter
Ed
Armbrister
while
chasing
a bunt
in front
of home
plate,
but no
interference
was
called,
and the
Reds
rallied
for the
winning
run. In
Game
Six,
Fisk got
his
revenge,
drilling
a Pat
Darcy
sinker
off the
left-field
foul
pole for
a
12th-inning,
game-winning
home run
in what
many
consider
the most
dramatic
game in
World
Series
history.
Fisk's
leaping
gyrations
down the
first
base
line as
he urged
the ball
to stay
fair
were
recorded
by NBC's
television
cameras,
and
placed
the
"reaction
shot"
into the
vocabulary
of
baseball
TV
producers.
Fisk's
relationship
with
White
Sox was
marred
by
regular
skirmishes
with
team
management.
The
Yankees
reportedly
tried to
sign
Fisk to
a
contract
in 1985,
but the
offer
was
pulled
after
White
Sox
owner
Jerry
Reinsdorf
pressured
Yankee
boss
George
Steinbrenner
-- an
accusation
that
later
was used
as a
cornerstone
of the
players'
successful
battle
against
collusion.
Even
though
thirty-three
of his
37
homers
came as
a
catcher,
eclipsing
Lance
Parrish's
year-old
AL
record
for the
position,
the
White
Sox
tried to
move
Pudge to
left
field in
1986 to
make
room for
young
backstop
Joel
Skinner.
Fisk
never
felt
comfortable
in his
new
position
and the
ill-fated
experiment
lasted
little
more
than a
month.
Fisk was
notorious
for
taking
excruciatingly
slow
walks to
the
mound.
After
one
particularly
tedious
"Pudge
Trudge,"
opposing
manager
Bobby
Valentine
wondered
aloud if
the
White
Sox were
being
paid by
the
hour. It
was once
asserted
that
games
Fisk
caught
ran
twenty
minutes
longer
than the
average
AL game.
As a
40-year-old
in 1988,
Fisk hit
.277
with 19
homers
in only
76
games.
After
missing
much of
the
first
half of
1989
with a
broken
hand he
rebounded
with a
.293
average,
13 home
runs and
68 RBI
in 103
games.
Fisk
continued
to put
up solid
power
numbers
in 1990,
but in
'91 his
average
dropped
to .241
and his
on-base
average
dropped
below
.300 for
only the
third
time in
21
years.
1992
proved
to be
another
difficult
year as
Fisk
missed
the
first 55
games of
the year
with
foot
problems.
When he
returned,
he was
unproductive,
hitting
just
three
home
runs.
The
unusually
low
total
broke
his
streak
of ten
straight
seasons
with a
dozen or
more
homers. de,"
Fisk
scoffed.
"I'm
playing
for the
other
team,
and it
offended
me."
Sanders
apologized
the next
day.
In the
early
'90s,
Fisk
began to
yield
playing
time to
Ron
Karkovice,
a solid
defensive
catcher
who, at
age 29,
seemed
young
compared
to his
44
year-old
mentor.
In 1993,
Fisk
only
played
25 games
as age
finally
took
hold of
him.
Less
than a
week
after
surpassing
Bob
Boone
for most
games
caught,
Fisk was
released
by the
White
Sox.
Incredibly,
Fisk was
barred
from
joining
his
teammates
in the
White
Sox
clubhouse
when the
team
reached
the
playoffs.
Enraged,
Fisk
refused
to
participate
in any
promotion
of his
farewell
ceremony
-- even
though
he
eventually
appeared
at the
event.
He had
often
joked he
would
design a
special
"dual-Sox"
cap for
his Hall
of Fame
plaque,
but when
he was
elected
to the
Hall in
2000, it
didn't
take
long for
Fisk to
announce
his
likeness
would
feature
a Red
Sox hat.
>>> Book Carlton Fisk for Your Event
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