FRED FITZSIMMONS

The first thing to understand about Fat Freddie Fitzsimmons is that he was not fat. He was square, solid, built like a linebacker in an era before football coaches had invented linebackers. (Oddly, Fitzsimmons became a GM in the NFL). Freddie was also quick and nimble, widely acknowledged the best fielding pitcher of his generation. Although he was not exclusively a knuckleball pitcher, he probably had the best flutterball of the era.

Why then was he called Fat Freddie? Well, unlike most of his contemporaries, it did actually look as though he had been poured into his Giants uniform. Maybe he always wore a size too small. Moreover, the thickset righthander had a unique delivery, pivoting on his right foot until he was virtually facing center field before reversing the spin to deliver the pitch. The delivery had the effect of making Fitz look a bit like a child's wooden top, and that may have contributed o the impression of rotundity. Most important, his name was Fred Fitzsimmons and the baseball writers of the time had a notorious weakness for alliteration. If is name had been Charles Chalmers, the writers probably would have tagged him Chunky Charley.

Although Fitzsimmons had a deserved reputation for being a hard luck pitcher, for almost twenty years he was a steady journeyman starter in the NL, twice leading the league in winning percentage. He lifetime 217 and 146 record computes to .598, just short of the distinguished .600 mark. Like a significant number of pitchers of his generation, Freddie was also a pretty good hitter. He had 14 lifetime homers.