TWINS TRIVIA is hopefully a fun and informative site that will help you to better enjoy the Minnesota Twins and their wonderful history. “History never looks like history when you are living through it” – John Gardner, former Secretary of Health
As we start a new year in 2019 I wanted to share a list of former Minnesota Twins players that passed away in 2018. We lost some great ones.
RIP gentlemen and thank you for the great memories, you are a part of Minnesota Twins history forever.
A complete list of deceased former Minnesota Twins players can be found on our “Deceased Twins” page.
Bill Fischer was born in Wausau, Wisconsin on October 11, 1930 and passed away at his home in Council Bluffs, Iowa on October 30, 2018 at the age of 88. A baseball and basketball player at Marathon High School, Fischer was taken by his high school principal and baseball coach to a Chicago White Sox tryout camp and quickly signed the right-handed pitcher to a $150 a month contract to pitch in Class D Wisconsin Rapids in 1948. The 17-year-old Fischer won his first 10 starts, the first three being a two-hitter, a three-hit shutout, and a two-hit shutout. He had a streak of 26 scoreless innings and finished 14-3 with a 2.63 ERA.
According to his SABR Bio written by Bob LeMoine –
Fischer was drafted into the US Marine Corps in 1951, at the height of the Korean War, and served as a drill sergeant. “I hated it, but I had a job to do,” he said. “I was in charge of a platoon of 75 men. When I wanted my boots shined, I hollered for my personal shoeshine boy to do it, on the double. Everything was on the double. … I had those platoons sick of looking at me, I guess.” Wryly, he recalled that “The only two-year contract I ever had in my life was when I was drafted into the Marines.” His baseball talents kept him in stateside while the war was waging. His San Diego team won the Marine Corps championship and played in Wichita, Kansas, at the National Baseball Congress Tournament.
According to Fischer, he never saw a big league ball game until he pitched in one during spring training. In 1956 Fischer was invited to spring training by the White Sox and pitched well enough to make the team. In his major league debut against the Kansas City A’s on April 21, 1956 Fischer had the misfortune of being called in to relieve White Sox starter Sandy Consuegra in the second inning and promptly gave up a single, triple, single, single before being pulled himself before retiring a single Athletic in what turned out to be a 13 run inning for the home-town Kansas City ballclub. Fischer’s White Sox lost the game 15 to 1 when A’s starter Art Ditmar pitched a complete game with Earl Battey getting the only hit for the Mighty Whitey’s.
In 1958 the White Sox traded Fischer to the Detroit Tigers where he struggled and was picked up on waivers by the Washington Senators late in the season. Fischer credited Senators pitching coach Walter “Boom-Boom” Beck and manager Cookie Lavagetto with helping him find rhythm and relax. “I learned more about pitching in three weeks with Washington than I had learned in all my other years in baseball,” In 1960 Fischer struggled and the Senators traded him to the Tigers who moved him to the KC A’s the following season (1961).
In 1962 Bill Fischer set a record that stands to this day of pitching a record-breaking 84 1/3 consecutive innings without allowing a walk shattering Christy Mathewson’s record of 68 innings. His streak began on August 3rd when he walked Cleveland third baseman Bubba Phillips and ended on the last day of the season on September 30th when Fischer walked Detroit center fielder Bubba Morton, so the streak began and ended with two guys named Bubba.
In December of 1963 the #MNTwins selected Fischer who already had spent parts or all of 8 seasons in the major leagues in the Rule 5 Draft which operated differently than the Rule 5 Draft operates today. The move by Minnesota move reunited Fischer with manager Sam Mele, who was on the Washington coaching staff when Fischer was with the Washington Senators a few years earlier. Fischer struggled in nine appearances out of the Twins bullpen in 1964 and his final major league pitch was hit for a walk-off home run by Oriole catcher John Orsino in a 6-5 win over the Twins giving Fischer the loss in his only decision as a Minnesota Twin. Shortly there-after he was returned to Kansas City and then placed on the retirement list.
Fischer then hooked up with his original team, The Chicago White and pitched for their AAA teams through 1968 before retiring as an active player. He retired from playing in 1968 and moved into coaching with stops in Cincinnati, Boston, Tampa Bay, Atlanta and Kansas City, where he spent the past eight seasons as a senior adviser.
Fischer is survived by his wife, Val, and children, Mike and Melissa. Funeral arrangements are pending.
Thank you for the memories Bill Fischer.
Bill Fischer SABR Bio
Bill Fischer, Royals’ senior pitching adviser and former KC A’s pitcher, dies at 88
Former MLB player and Royals coach Bill Fischer of Council Bluffs dies at 88
Apparently back in 1964 the Twins were tougher on the players that they felt were no longer of service. The clipping on the left appeared in the May 25, 1964 Star Tribune and stated that former Twins pitcher Bill Fischer, just 33 years old, will be “disposed of” and I found that interesting so I looked up Mr. Fischer and come to find out, he never pitched in the big leagues again. What did “disposed of” really mean back then? The guy did have a bad leg. First thought in my mind was what they do to horses with bad legs. It is a good thing that MLB teams don’t let pitchers with 7.31 ERA’s bother them any more.
Turns out being disposed of was not as bad as I thought, Fischer pitched in AAA for the White Sox for the next four years before hanging up his spikes for good. What about Garland Shifflett you ask? He appeared in 10 games for Minnesota in June of 1964 and he too never pitched in the big leagues again spending his next 8 season in the minors waiting for his call-up that never came. Baseball can be a wicked game!
Everyday is a good day to thank a Veteran for his service but Veterans Day is even more meaningful. With the national election behind us and a new President waiting his turn to sit in the Oval office we should all be thankful to the Veterans who have made this possible. It makes no difference if you voted for the President-elect or not, it is now time to respect the wishes of the people and the laws of this country and to roll up our sleeves and move on to make it even better than what is already is.
Here is a list of former Minnesota Twins players that have served their country. Please take a few moments to thank them for their service.
Courtesy of Hans Van Slooten and B-R.