Highlighted Year: Ron Fairly, 1977

First Baseman/Designated Hitter/Outfielder, Toronto Blue Jays

Age:  39 (July 12)

1^st season with Blue Jays

Bats – Left, Throws – Left

Height: 5’10” Weight: 175 

Prior to 1977:

The son of career minor-leaguer Carl Fairly, Fairly was born in Georgia while his father was playing for the Macon Peaches. Living in southern California from the age of three months, Fairly played basketball as well as baseball at Jordan High School in Long Beach but concentrated on baseball once he entered USC in 1956. He played center field for the 1958 squad that won the College World Series. Having long drawn the interest of major league scouts, Fairly signed with the newly-relocated Los Angeles Dodgers in 1958 for $75,000. He played for two teams at the Class A and AAA levels in ’58 and batted a combined .297 with a .419 on-base percentage, 14 home runs, and 49 RBIs. Called up to the Dodgers in September, he hit .283 in 15 games and slugged his first two major league home runs. Mentored by veteran right fielder Carl Furillo, he got off to a strong start in 1959 while Furillo was recovering from an injury, but a severe slump knocked him out of the starting lineup. For the year he hit .238 with 17 extra-base hits, 23 RBIs, and a .324 OBP. The Dodgers won the NL pennant and Fairly went hitless in three World Series plate appearances against the Chicago White Sox. Following a six-month stint in the Army Reserves, the Dodgers sent Fairly to Spokane of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League in 1960. He batted .303 with 27 home runs, 100 RBIs, 100 walks drawn, a .418 OBP, and a .547 slugging percentage. Fairly made it back to the Dodgers in 1961 and was used in a utility role, seeing most of his action in the outfield, first base, and as a pinch-hitter. He hit .322 with a .434 OBP, and .522 slugging percentage in 111 games in which he further accounted for 15 doubles, 10 home runs, and 48 RBIs. Playing primarily at first base in 1962, he hit .278 with a .379 OBP, 15 doubles, 7 triples, 14 home runs, and 71 RBIs. The Dodgers, who barely missed the pennant in 1962, topped the NL in 1963 and Fairly, regularly appearing at first base, contributed 21 doubles, 12 home runs, 77 RBIs, a .271 batting average, and a .347 OBP. He went hitless in the four-game sweep of the Yankees in the World Series where he was used as a late-inning pinch-hitter and outfield reserve while veteran Bill Skowron started at first base. The consistent Fairly was back at first base in 1964 and hit .256 with 10 home runs, 74 RBIs, and a .349 OBP. Ousted at first base by Wes Parker in 1965, Fairly became the regular right fielder where his defense was appreciated and he batted .274 with 28 doubles, 9 home runs, a team-leading 70 RBIs, and a .361 OBP. The Dodgers won the NL pennant following a down year and in the seven-game World Series victory over the Minnesota Twins Fairly batted .379 with two homers and 6 RBIs. The club again won the pennant in 1966 and the right fielder/first baseman hit .288 with 14 home runs, 61 RBIs, and a .380 OBP. Like the rest of the team, he was shut down by Baltimore Orioles pitching in the World Series, which ended up being a four-game Baltimore sweep. Fairly’s hitting dropped off significantly in 1967 and he ended up batting .220 with 10 home runs, 55 RBIs, and a .295 OBP. Bothered by injuries in 1968 he continued to slump at the plate, hitting .234 with 20 extra-base hits, 43 RBIs, and a .301 OBP. The end of Fairly’s career with the Dodgers came in 1969 when he was traded to the expansion Montreal Expos in June as part of the deal that brought shortstop Maury Wills back to Los Angeles. Batting only .219 as a part-time player at the time of the trade, he took over at first base for the Expos, his bat came alive and he hit .289 in 70 games with 12 home runs, 39 RBIs, and a .358 OBP. Furthermore, he brought a steadying veteran presence to the infield. In 1970 injuries limited Fairly to 119 games but he still hit .288 with 15 home runs, 61 RBIs, and a .402 OBP. While his average dropped to .257 in 1971, Fairly contributed 13 home runs, 71 RBIs, and a .373 OBP. The arrival of young first-baseman Mike Jorgensen from the Mets in 1972 initially dislodged Fairly from the starting lineup and caused him to be viewed as trade bait until he reclaimed his spot at midseason and went on to bat .278 with 17 home runs, 68 RBIs, and a .348 OBP. In 1973 Fairly was an All-Star for the first time while playing regularly in left field for the fourth-place Expos. He hit .298 with 17 home runs, 49 RBIs, and a .422 OBP thanks to drawing 86 walks. In 1974 he platooned with Jorgensen at first base while still seeing some action in the outfield and batted .245 with 12 home runs, 43 RBIs, and a .372 OBP. In the offseason, the 35-year-old Fairly was dealt to the St. Louis Cardinals where, in 1975 he performed well in a part-time role, hitting .301 with 13 doubles, 7 home runs, 37 RBIs, and a .421 OBP. Replaced at first base by the up-and-coming Keith Hernandez in 1976, Fairly was dealt to the Oakland Athletics in September and for the year batted a combined .256 with eight extra-base hits, 31 RBIs, and a .379 OBP in 88 games. In the offseason he was traded to the expansion Blue Jays.  

1977 Season Summary

Appeared in 132 games

DH – 58, 1B – 40, RF – 24, LF – 9, PH – 7

[Bracketed numbers indicate AL rank in Top 20]

Batting

Plate Appearances – 528

At Bats – 458

Runs – 60

Hits – 128

Doubles – 24

Triples – 2

Home Runs – 19

RBI – 64

Bases on Balls – 58

Int. BB – 11 [3, tied with Jim Spencer]

Strikeouts – 58

Stolen Bases – 0

Caught Stealing – 4

Average - .279

OBP - .362 [18]

Slugging Pct. - .465

Total Bases – 213

GDP – 12

Hit by Pitches – 2

Sac Hits – 8

Sac Flies – 2

Midseason snapshot: 2B – 17, HR - 13, RBI - 45, AVG - .307, OBP - .396, SLG – .502

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Most hits, game – 4 (in 5 AB) vs. Cleveland 6/20 – 11 innings, (in 6 AB) at NY Yankees 9/10

Longest hitting streak – 14 games

HR at home – 10

HR on road – 9

Most home runs, game – 1 on nineteen occasions

Multi-HR games – 0

Most RBIs, game – 3 vs. Detroit 7/17 – 11 innings, vs. Milwaukee 8/1

Pinch-hitting – 2 for 5 (.400) with 2 RBI & 2 BB

Fielding (1B)

Chances – 347

Put Outs – 312

Assists – 30

Errors – 5

DP – 28

Pct. - .986

Awards & Honors:

All-Star

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In their inaugural season, the Blue Jays went 54-107 to finish seventh (last) in the AL Eastern Division, 45.5 games behind the division-winning New York Yankees while leading the league in fewest runs scored (605, tied with Oakland) and fewest home runs (100, tied with Cleveland). The Blue Jays got off to a somewhat surprising 20-30 start (which unsurprisingly still had them in the AL East cellar). They languished in last place the rest of the way, although they drew 1,701,052 fans to Exhibition Stadium. Fairly proved to be a valuable player for the first-year club.

Aftermath of 1977:

Fairly was traded to the California Angels in the offseason, where he finished his long career with an undistinguished season in 1978. For his major league career, Fairly batted .266 with 1913 hits that included 307 doubles, 33 triples, and 215 home runs. He scored 931 runs and compiled 1044 RBIs, drew 1052 walks, and generated a .360 OBP and .408 slugging percentage. Appearing in 20 World Series games, he hit .300 with 2 home runs and 6 RBIs. A two-time All-Star, he was a steady player and useful both at first base and in the outfield. Following his retirement, he accepted an offer from Angels owner Gene Autrey to become the sports anchor at Autrey’s television station (KTLA) and also worked as a broadcaster on Angels games until 1987 when he began broadcasting San Francisco Giants games. He moved on to Seattle a few years later to broadcast Mariners games until retiring in 2006. He died in 2019 at the age of 81.

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Highlighted Years feature players who led a major league in one of the following categories: batting average, home runs (with a minimum of 10), runs batted in, or stolen bases (with a minimum of 20); or pitchers who led a major league in wins, strikeouts, earned run average, or saves (with a minimum of 10). Also included are participants in annual All-Star Games between the National and American Leagues since 1933. This category also includes Misc. players who received award votes, were contributors to teams that reached the postseason, or had notable seasons in non-award years.