Mike Fyhrie

Michael Edwin Fyhrie

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 2", Weight 190 lb.
• School University of California, Los Angeles
• High School Ocean View High School
• Debut September 14, 1996
• Final Game September 28, 2002
• Born December 9, 1969 in Long Beach, CA USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Mike Fyhrie pitched five years in the big leagues, perhaps most notably with the 2000 Anaheim Angels when he posted an ERA of 2.39 in 32 games. Primarily a reliever at the major league level, he was mostly a starter in the minors, with a record of 83-66 over twelve seasons.

He was at UCLA at the same time as Mike Magnante. The two later played together several seasons in the majors. After graduating, he was drafted in the 12th round of the 1991 amateur draft by the Kansas City Royals. He had been drafted once before, in 1987 by the Pittsburgh Pirates as he was coming out of high school, but he chose to attend college instead of turning professional.

Fyhrie had a great season in the minor leagues in 1996 when he went 15-6, 3.04 in 27 starts and 169 innings for the Norfolk Tides. He was named the International League Pitcher of the Year at the end of the season and earned his first taste of major league action with the New York Mets that September. Prior to that breakthrough, he had sent five seasons in the Royals organization with some success, including a combined record of 14-6, 3.60 between A and AA in 1993. He was sold to the Mets before the 1996 season, and they then cashed in on his success in the upper minor leagues by selling his contract to the a Japanese team after the season. Fyhrie played in Japan in 1997 for Lotte. He returned to the Far East in 2004 when he played in Korea for Hyundai.

He returned to North America in 1998, again with Norfolk, but was ineffective, going 3-7, 6.64 in 24 games. He then had surgery for a bone chip in his elbow. Moving to the Angels' organization, he was solid with the Edmonton Trappers of the Pacific Coast League at the start of the 1999 season (9-5, 3.47 in 18 starts) and earned a second look at the majors, during which he was 0-4. He had his best season in the majors for the Angels in 2000 (a 2.39 ERA in 52 innings of relief) then was traded to the Chicago Cubs for infielder José Nieves at the end of spring training in 2001. In May of that year, his arm was broken by a drive off the bat of Santiago Perez; after he recovered, he was dealt again in September, this time to the Oakland Athletics in return for a minor leaguer. He finally earned his first major league victory with the A's in 2002 when he 2-4, 4.44 in 16 games; he was outstanding in AAA that year, going 7-2, 2.33 for the Sacramento RiverCats. He played one more year in AAA in 2003 before trying his luck in Korea in 2004. He won game one of the 2004 Korean Series, the first American to win a Korean Series game (Balvino Galvez and Ravelo Manzanillo were the only other foreign players not of Korean descent to register wins).

Notable Achievements

• 1996 Pitcher of the Year International League Norfolk Tides

Related Sites

• BR Minors page