John Fitzgerald (fitzgjo04)

John Francis Fitzgerald

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 3", Weight 190 lb.

• Debut September 28, 1958
• Final Game September 28, 1958
• Born September 15, 1933 in Brooklyn, NY USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Personal Remembrance

I played on the same Class C St. Cloud Rox baseball team (Northern League 1954) with John Fitzgerald ("Fitz"). He was a tall blond lefthanded pitcher with good velocity and movement on his fastball. Even though still in the minor leagues, we other players could see that Fitz had a "major league arm." He had a good sense of humor and also could do vocal impressions, his best being the old movie actor Walter Brennan. Fitz played the harmonica, too. He seemed well-liked by the other players. Our manager that year was Charlie Fox. By chance I met Charlie again in the early 1990s when he was in spring training in Florida as a scout for the Houston Astros. I was vacationing at the time. In a brief conversation with him about some of my old St. Cloud teammates from 1954, he told me that Fitz had been in military service in Korea and had been wounded with shrapnel. He said that this hurt Fitz's pitching ability and he was never the same pitcher he used to be before he was injured in the war. He further said that Fitz had only recently retired from a career as a police officer in New York City, perhaps in his native Brooklyn.

Submitted as a personal remembrance by Bill O'Donnell

Related Sites

• 6/5/57 TSN