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Edward Raymond FitzGerald
Washington Nationals
Catcher
Born: May 21, 1924, Santa Ynez, CA
Acquired: Traded by Sacramento (PCL) to the Pittsburgh Pirates for a player to be named later, plus cash, plus 3 players, plus 2 players on option, September 7, 1947
Major League Teams: Pittsburgh Pirates 1948-1953; Washington Senators 1953-1959; Cleveland Indians 1959
Died: June 14, 2020, Folsom, CA (age 96)
Ed FitzGerald began his professional baseball career after serving in the U.S. Army in Europe during World War II. A hot prospect for the Sacramento Solons in the Pacific Coast League, the Pirates acquired FitzGerald following the 1947 season. With new partial owner Bing Crosby providing extra cash, the Pirates acquired FitzGerald for a reported $65,000 and three additional players. FitzGerald and Clyde Kluttz split catching duties for the Pirates in 1948, and FitzGerald would settle in as Pittsburgh's back-up backstop for four more seasons. He caught the no-hitter thrown by Pirates' pitcher Cliff Chambers on May 6, 1951. In May 1953, he was sold to the Senators and he'd put together his best season the following year. In 1954, FitzGerald appeared in a career-high 115 games, batting .289 with four home runs and 40 doubles.
He'd revert to a back-up role for the remaining years of his career, playing through the 1959 season. On June 27, 1958, FitzGerald broke up White Sox pitcher Billy Pierce's (#160) perfect game with a two-out double in the ninth inning. FitzGerald played in 807 big league games, batting .260 with 19 home runs and 217 RBIs. He coached for the Indians (1960), Athletics (1961) and Twins (1962-1964) and managed the Single-A Fresno Giants in 1965 and 1966.
The Card / Nationals Team Set
As a youngster, looking at this card for the first time, I distinctly remember thinking, "This guy has an almost perfectly oval face." I'm using the Baseball Reference spelling of his name (FitzGerald) for this post, as opposed to the Wikipedia spelling (Fitz Gerald) or the spelling used by Topps (Fitzgerald). His facsimile autograph would seem to show he preferred the Fitz Gerald spelling. In what I believe to be a first for this set, the action shot completely obscures FitzGerald. Unless he's the batter here, he's being completely blocked from the shot by the home plate umpire. My guess? That could be anyone. Topps needed an action shot for the card and someone opted to get creative and hope collectors didn't question the photo choice. This is FitzGerald's first appearance in a Topps set since their 1952 release.
Building the Set
Summer of 1983 or 1984 in Millville, NJ - Card #22
This was one of the Original 44, and I re-told the story of how my Dad and I started collecting this set with the Early Wynn (#187) post, back in January. Seven of the Original 44 came from series one, with 11 coming from series two, and this is the fourth of 16 from series three. The first card from series three was the Billy Martin (#181) card, recently covered in last week's post.
This was one of the Original 44, and I re-told the story of how my Dad and I started collecting this set with the Early Wynn (#187) post, back in January. Seven of the Original 44 came from series one, with 11 coming from series two, and this is the fourth of 16 from series three. The first card from series three was the Billy Martin (#181) card, recently covered in last week's post.
The Card / Nationals Team Set
As a youngster, looking at this card for the first time, I distinctly remember thinking, "This guy has an almost perfectly oval face." I'm using the Baseball Reference spelling of his name (FitzGerald) for this post, as opposed to the Wikipedia spelling (Fitz Gerald) or the spelling used by Topps (Fitzgerald). His facsimile autograph would seem to show he preferred the Fitz Gerald spelling. In what I believe to be a first for this set, the action shot completely obscures FitzGerald. Unless he's the batter here, he's being completely blocked from the shot by the home plate umpire. My guess? That could be anyone. Topps needed an action shot for the card and someone opted to get creative and hope collectors didn't question the photo choice. This is FitzGerald's first appearance in a Topps set since their 1952 release.
The Topps cartoonist should be given credit here for coming up with three panels' worth of semi-interesting facts on the back of the card about FitzGerald's career.
1956 Season
FitzGerald was once of three catchers used by the Senators throughout the 1956 season, with both Clint Courtney (#159 - 66 starts) and Lou Berberet (#329 - 54 starts), receiving more playing time than him (35 starts). FitzGerald appeared in 64 games overall, batting .304 with a pair of home runs and 12 RBIs. He made 18 pinch-hit appearances, batting .188 (3 for 16) in that role.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1949 Bowman #109
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (6): 1952, 1956-1960
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1983 Topps 1952 Reprint Series #236
29 - FitzGerald non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 4/14/22.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
1956 Season
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First Mainstream Card: 1949 Bowman #109
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (6): 1952, 1956-1960
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1983 Topps 1952 Reprint Series #236
29 - FitzGerald non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 4/14/22.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
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