Jerry Fry

Jerry Ray Fry

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 185 lb.
• High School Springfield (IL) High School
• Debut September 4, 1978
• Final Game September 9, 1978
• Born February 29, 1956 in Salinas, CA USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Catcher Jerry Fry played four games for the Montreal Expos in September of 1978, going 0 for 9; he injured his shoulder and the Expos called up Bobby Ramos to take his place as the team's third-string catcher the rest of the way. His only offensive highlight was drawing a walk from the Chicago Cubs' Bruce Sutter. Fry never really recovered from the injury. He played only 2 more games as a catcher in the minors afterwards, getting into only 20 games overall for the AAA Denver Bears in 1979 and 5 for the AA Memphis Chicks in 1980. Healthy again in 1981, he played a full season as a 3B/DH for Memphis, hitting a solid .303 with 18 doubles, 24 homers and 72 RBI in 120 games, but he was no longer considered a prospect and it was his last season in professional baseball.

He was originally a 2nd round choice by the Expos in the 1974 amateur draft out of Springfield (IL) High School. For years, he was wrongly listed as having been born in Springfield, IL, while he had in fact been born in Salinas, CA. In the minors, before his injury, he was an infielder turned catcher who could hit a little. He hit .286 in 49 games with the GCL Expos as a third baseman in his first season in 1974. In 1975, he played 125 games at 3B for the West Palm Beach Expos, hitting .221 with 14 homers and 67 RBI. He was converted to catcher with the AA Quebec Metros in 1976, where he hit .237 in 100 games. He then improved to .267 in 86 games the next year as a utility player while Bobby Goodman, another former top draft pick, was the primary catcher. In 1978, prior to being called up to Montreal, he hit .294 with 19 doubles and 6 homers as the principal catcher for Denver, although those numbers were achieved in a very favorable offensive context. The two other catchers at Denver that year, Ramos and Bob Reece also played for the Expos during the season. Ramos went on to play a few years as a backup, but Reece and Fry had only very brief careers in the show, limited to that season.