Fisk, Carlton E.
Baseball
b. Dec. 26, 1947, Bellows Falls, VT
Nicknamed "Pudge" as a youngster, Fisk grew to be 6-foot-2 and 220 pounds and he was one of the best catchers in baseball for more than twenty years.
After brief stints with the AL's Boston Red Sox in 1969 and 1971, Fisk became the team's starting catcher in 1972, when he led the league in triples with 9, batted .293, and was named rookie of the year.
He missed much of the 1974 season and the early part of the 1975 season with an injury, but he came back to help lead the Red Sox to a pennant, batting .331 with 10 home runs and 52 RBI in just 79 games. His winning home run in the 12th inning of Game 6 in the World Series has been often replayed, because Fisk watched the ball and used body English to try to keep it inside the foul pole. However, Boston lost to the Cincinnati Reds in the seventh game.
Fisk became a free agent after the 1980 season and signed with the Chicago White Sox, where he changed his number from 27 to 72 because, he said, "it represents a turn-around in my career." After a slow start in 1983, he came on strong in the second half of the season and ended with 26 home runs and 86 RBI as Chicago won the AL's West Division title, only to lose to the Baltimore Orioles in the league championship season.
A torn abdominal muscle bothered him in 1984, when he appeared in only 102 games. He came back to have his most productive season in 1985, hitting 37 home runs and driving in 107 runs despite a .238 batting average.
After he had appeared in just 25 games in 1993, the White Sox abruptly released Fisk. The move brought much criticism from fans and sportswriters, who felt he should at least have been given the chance to retire gracefully.
In 2,499 major league games, Fisk had 2,356 hits, including 421 doubles, 47 triples, and 376 home runs. He scored 1,276 runs and drove in 1,330. He hit 350 of his home runs as a catcher, an AL record, and he holds AL catching records for most years, 24; most games, 2,201; most putouts, 11,612, and most chances accepted, 12,676.