Ron Fairly: The Dodgers Other Red Head

                          Vin Scully is far and away the most famous red head in Dodger history. Probably in the history of baseball. But before Justin Turner ever pulled on a Dodger uniform, the Dodgers had another red head who spent 12 of his 21 years in the majors with the Dodgers.  Ronald Ray Fairly. He was born in Macon Georgia on the 12th of July 1938. He was born to be a ballplayer. His dad, Carl, had a 10-year minor league career and reached AA in the International League with Toronto, and the American Association with Indianapolis. His best season was the year Ron was born when he hit .302 and slugged .406 for the Class-B, Macon Peaches. He played SS, 2nd and 3rd base. 

                         Like all dads, he played catch with his boys. Fairly would later say that his dad taught him all the fundamentals of the game. He also took home movies of Ron’s games and used them as training tools to improve. Ron’s older brother by five years, Rusty, was also an excellent athlete. He was an All-American quarterback at the University of Denver and played in the Canadian Football League before injuries forced him into coaching.

                         After his dad’s baseball career ended, he became a dispatcher and delivery manager for 300 Thrifty drug stores in Southern California. His mom raised the two boys and worked part-time at May Company selling draperies. His family moved to Southern California when Ron was three months old. He played basketball and baseball, center field and pitcher at Long Beach Jordan High School. He was good enough at basketball to be offered a full scholarship by UCLA coach, John Wooden.

(Original Caption) 8/22/1956-New York, NY: Ron Fairly (L), of Long Beach, California, centerfielder for the U.S. All Stars, and Mike McCormick (R), pitcher for the U.S. All Stars are shown getting a few tips from New York Yankee slugger Mickey Mantle before the 11th annual Hearst All Star Classic at the Polo Grounds.

                          Before he could actually make it to Westwood, his father suggested that he check out USC and legendary coach, Rod Dedeaux. Himself a former Dodger. Dedeaux played 2 games for Brooklyn in 1935. One look at the short RF fence at Bovard Field, USCs home park at the time, and the open field where UCLA played, Fairly made up his mind right then and there. Besides, Dedeaux had a much better personality than UCLA coach, Art Reichel.

                       Ron played freshman basketball at SC, but practices interfered with the baseball training table, and he felt he had little chance of starting for USC, so he concentrated on baseball. ” Baseball was clearly my best sport.” He was the varsity CF when USC won the College World Series in 1958. Scouts had been following him since the 9th grade. In 1958, the offers became to large to ignore. The White Sox reportedly offered 100,000$, but they did not verify the offer to Ron’s dad. The Yankees made a substantial offer, but it was the Dodgers 75,000$ offer, made through scout “Lefty” Phillips, that won his signature. That and the chance to stay in Southern California and play at home. ” I definitely took less to stay home and play.” he said. 

                      There was no rule in 1958 that players with large bonus’s had to stay in the majors, so Fairly’s rapid rise to LA was made on merit. He split 69 games between Des Moines in the Class-A Western League and AAA, St. Paul in the American Association. He hit .297 with 14 homers and a .528 slugging percentage. He arrived in LA in September and continued his hot hitting with a team destined to finish 7th in the NL. He hit .283 with 2 homers in 58 at bats. In a period of four months, he won the college World Series, signed a 75,000$ contract, succeeded in the minors and was introduced to major league baseball. 

                     Hall of Famer, Robin Roberts gave up Fairly’s first hit, a single on September 10th. A few minutes later he scored his first run on Frank Howard’s first major league homer. Fairly hit his first homer two days later off of Ron Kline at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. When he first arrived in LA, he asked Alston where he wanted him to work out. Alston told him to go to right field, where he was greeted, none to kindly by the way, by Carl Furillo. “I am the right fielder on this team, you can have it when I am finished, and I am not finished yet.” Furillo was playing his last productive season for the Dodgers. He was one of the few who adapted to the West coast.  He hit .290/.343/.482 was good enough for a .823 OPS and got him 23rd on the MVP vote. Carl would have some big hits in 59 during the playoff with the Braves and the World Series. 

                     After a while, Furillo realized that the youngster did not act like a threat to his position. He took him under his wing and began to teach him the nuances of playing right field in the National League. “Carl showed me how to play the corrugated wall at Connie Mack Stadium and other ball parks in the majors. He also told the young player what to expect from pitchers when he came to bat. Fairly played in 118 games in 1959, hitting .238 with 4 homers and 23 driven in. He went 0-3 in the World Series win over the White Sox.

                    He had three days off after the World Series and then went into the Army Reserve for six months. Spring training in 1960 consisted of one day and then he was sent to AAA Spokane to play himself into shape. He hit .303 at Spokane with 23 homers and 100 RBI’s. He played 14 games in LA that year batting just .103 with a homer and 3 driven in. He had started out wearing #55.  He wore #8 for a while and then 44. But when he returned in 1960, he took Furillo’s #6 as a tribute to his mentor. Furillo was a little upset about that until Sandy Koufax called him and explained that he was honoring Carl. 

                      When he arrived at spring training in Vero Beach in 1961, there was plenty of competition for the outfield jobs. Moon, Larker, Snider, the Davis boys, Willie and Tommy, Howard, Demeter, were all in the mix. Demeter was traded on May 4th. Despite a poor spring, Fairly made the team but spent most of April pinch-hitting. He played some right field in May and hit well, but his break came at a familiar position in June. 

                        Gil Hodges did not like to take infield practice, so Larker and Fairly would take a round there every day. By June, Hodges thumb was bad, and he could barely grip a bat. Alston asked Fairly if he could play there, and he replied yes. Walt told him, you’re playing there today. On June 12th, 1961, in San Francisco he was the starting first baseman behind pitcher, Roger Craig. It was about five games before he had to make a difficult play on a ball hit to him, but he did it, and management decided he could easily play the position. That opened up opportunities for him.

                        First base would be his primary position until Wes Parker came along in 1965. He played in 111 games in 61, batting .322 with 10 homers and 48 driven in. He walked more than he struck out, 48-22. That would be a theme throughout his entire career. LA went nowhere in 61, their last year in the coliseum. Hodges left in the 61-expansion draft after the season and so did Larker. Ron Fairly became the starting first baseman for the Dodgers in 1962. 

                      The teams first year at their new home. Fairly would play in 147 games, a career high to that point. He had a better BA at Dodger Stadium than on the road, .286-.269. But he hit for more power on the road, 12 homers to 2 at Dodger Stadium. He finished the year with a .278 BA, 14 homers and 71 driven in. The team lost a 3-game playoff to the Giants, the heartbreaking 6-4 loss in game 3 when they led 4-2 going into the ninth. “We lost Sandy for the entire second half. Anyone not think he could have won us at least one more game?” Also, he lamented the fact that coach Leo Durocher had moved 2nd baseman, Larry Burright, into the hole. Burright was out of position, and it cost LA a double play in the 9th when Kuenn hit a grounder to Wills. Instead of two outs, no one on, there was one out. Alston was chided for not having Drysdale in the pen for just such an emergency. But he was convinced they would win and he needed Don to open the World Series. Forgetting you have to get there first. 

                      Duke Snider was sold just before the 1963 season began. The Dodger outfield was Tommy and Willie Davis, and Frank Howard in right. Ron played 152 games in 63, 119 of those games he played 1st base. He was in left in 26 games, center in 22 games and 10 games in right. He hit .271 with 12 homers and 77 driven in. That would be his career high. He also for one of the few times in his career, struck out more than he walked, 69-58. He also stole 5 bases. He had 4 plate appearances in the World Series, he was 0-1 with three walks. Alston opted to play former Yankee, Bill Skowron, preferring the experience of Skowron who had won four rings with the Yankees. Skowron rewarded him with a .385 BA in four games, with a homer and 3 driven in. But Fairly had a part in preserving Drysdales game 3, 1-0 win. He caught Pepitone’s drive to right for the last out right in front of the bullpen gate. 

                     Koufax got injured again in 64, and the team dropped to 80-82 and fell to sixth place. Ron played in 150 games, mostly at 1st base. He hit just .256 with 10 homers and 71 RBI’s. Even though he made just 29 starts, Koufax was 19-5 with a NL best 1.74 ERA. He and Drysdale were the only pitchers in the starting rotation above .500. LA made a big trade with the Senators that winter, bringing SS, John Kennedy and LH starting pitcher, Claude Osteen, to the Dodgers for 4 players including Frank Howard and Pete Richert.

                    The 65 Dodgers would win the NL pennant by 2 games over the Giants. They went to the World Series to face the former Senators who were now in Minnesota as the Twins. Minnesota was led by sluggers Don Mincher, Bob Allison, Harmon Killebrew and Jimmie Hall. They had solid pitching with Jim Kaat, Mudcat Grant and Camilo Pasqual their front three starters. Al Worthington, a former Giant as their closer. The biggest controversy of that series was Koufax’s refusal to pitch the first game because it fell on Yom Kippur, the Jewish high holy day. So, Drysdale started game 1 and the Twins and got tagged for 7 runs, 6 of them coming in the 3rd inning.  He gave up homers to Mincher and Versailles. Fairly, playing eight field with the trade of Howard and the emergence of Gold Glover, Wes Parker, homered in the second inning off of Grant for one of the two Dodger runs. 

               With Koufax starting game 2 against Kaat, Fairly had 2 hits and scored the Dodgers only run in a 5-1 loss. Roseboro drove him in with a single in 7th inning. The teams headed back to LA with the Twins up, 2-0. Osteen, who won 15 games his first season as a Dodger, threw a 5 hit complete game shutout as the Dodgers won, 4-0. Fairly was 1-4 and scored a run. Drysdale followed Osteen’s complete game with one of his own, a 7-2 win to even the series. He again allowed 2 homers, 1 to Killebrew and the other to Tony Oliva. Fairly was 1-4, scoring a run and driving in 3 in the seventh inning. 

                 Koufax threw a 4-hit complete game shutout in game five, putting the Dodgers up, 3-2 heading back to Minneapolis. Ron was 3-5 with a run scoring double off of Kaat and he also scored a run. Game 6 brought Osteen back against Grant, who was pitching his 3rd game of the series. Grant held the Dodgers in check as LA lost 5-1. Fairly was 2-4 and now hitting .400 for the series. He scored the only run of the game for LA on a 7th inning homer, his second of the series and second off of Grant. 

              Minnesota decided to pitch Kaat for the third time in the series. It was Drysdale’s turn, but Alston made the decision to pitch Koufax on two days’ rest. Koufax would pitch a 3 hit, 3 walk shutout, but the game was not without drama. Koufax walked 2 batters in the first inning but got out of the jam. He was having trouble landing his curveball. Then in the third, Versailles stole second but was sent back to first when Joe Nossek was ruled out for interference.  

            Koufax essentially gave up on his curveball and threw fastballs almost exclusively in the later innings. In the top of the fourth, Lou Johnson told Koufax he would get him the only run he needed and promptly hit a homer off of the left field foul pole. Fairly doubled on the next pitch from Kaat, and then Parker, singled him home on the very next pitch. Sam Mele pulled Kaat and replaced him with Al Worthington. He and three other relievers would shut LA down the rest of the way, but Koufax kept baffling the Twins with his fast ball, and LA won, 2-0 to win the Championship. 

            Koufax won the MVP of the series, but Fairly was 11-29 with 3 doubles, 2 homers and 6 driven in. Maury Wills also had 11 hits. Fairly hit .379 for the series. Wills, .367. Ron only played in 117 games in 66. LA won the pennant by 1.5 games over the Giants. Ron hit .288/14/61. They then lost a very forgettable four straight games to the Orioles in the World Series. Fairly was 1-7 in the series. He did not know it at the time, but it would be his last post season. 

          Koufax retired after the season, and Drysdale told Bavasi that they should lengthen the grass to slow down ground balls. Ron thought that was crazy, the Dodgers were a ground ball-line drive team, they did not hit a lot of fly balls. Bavasi lengthened the grass, and it killed Fairly. He wasn’t fast enough to beat out those ground balls, so his stats suffered. In 67 he hit just .220 with 10 homers and 55 driven in, LA finished 8th. In 68 he hit .234 with 4 homers and 43 RBI’s. 

          After 30 games in 1969, he was traded to the expansion Expos with SS Paul Popovich for Manny Mota and Maury Wills. LA would move up to 4th place, Ron would hit .289 as an Expo after hitting just .219 in LA. He finished .274/12/47. The Expos finished 6th with Fairly posting the 4th highest WAR on the team. Fairly would play six years in Montreal, posting a .276/86/331 line. His 17.5 WAR with Montreal was higher than the 12.9 he put up in 12 years as a Dodger. 

        In 1975, he played for the Cardinals and hit .301. In 1976, now 37 years old, he played for the Cardinals and the A’s, appearing in 88 games overall. He played for the Blue Jays in 1977, playing 132 games, hitting .279 with 19 homers, a career high, and 64 driven in. His last year, 1978, was spent with the Angels. He hit just .217 with 10 homers and 40 driven in. He retired after the season. His final line was .266/215/1044. 

           He made his first All-Star team in 1973 with the Expos. The time in Montreal added several years to his career, but he later admitted that he hated the trade. He disliked the weather and playing for a last place team. When he showed his son where he would be playing after the trade, he looked at him and said, does this mean I don’t have a daddy anymore? It would take five years, but the Cardinals rescued him from his Canadian purgatory. The Expos got 2 minor leaguers in the deal. 

         He was sent to the A’s during their failed attempt to win the AL West for the sixth straight year. Charlie Finley sold him to Toronto over the winter, and he became the first player in history to make the All-Star team for both Canadian franchises. Just before spring training in 1979, Gene Autry, in the unusual position of owning both a television station and a baseball team, offered him a 3-year contract to be the sports anchor on KTLA and do 35 Angel games with Dick Enberg and Don Drysdale. He still had one year on his players contract, but a 3-year deal, even for less money seemed like a better deal. 

         Ron worked for the Angels until 1987. He then moved to San Francisco, replacing Hank Greenwald as the voice of the Giants. Though competent as an announcer, Fairly was unpopular with Giants fans. #1, he took over for Greenwald, #2, he was from So-Cal, strike two, #3, he was a Dodger. Strike three! Greenwald returned two years later, and he and Ron worked together until 1993 when Ron moved up the coast a little further and went to work for the Seattle Mariners. 

        He retired from broadcasting in 2006 at the age of 68. He did return and fill in for a while in 2011 after Hall of Famer, Dave Niehaus, died suddenly after the 2010 season. After retirement, he played a lot of golf and just hung around the house enjoying life in Palm Desert. He and his wife Mary had three sons, Mike, Steve and Patrick and seven grandchildren. Ron died October 30th, 2019, after a long battle with cancer at the age of 81. He was a steady player for most of his career. And one of the Dodgers who many fans simply do not talk much about. 

                                                                                                                                                         Last Night’s Game

                       For all the world, it looked like the Dodgers were going to lose last night’s game. Blake Snell was betrayed by his defense, Muncy’s two errors, a ball off the wall in center that Pages should have caught. Dodgers ended up making three errors in the game. But Snell settled down after the second inning and the bullpen did the rest. Edman’s two run homer, and then a solo shot, the first of the year for Conforto. Going into the bottom of the 8th, they still trailed 5-3. Teo flied out. Conforto walked and Smith singled. Edman then hit a grounder to Olson with Conforto and Smith moving up 90 feet. Muncy then came up. He was 0-3 using the torpedo bat. He went back to his old bat. The Braves brought in Iglesias. With two strikes on him, Muncy hit a line drive into the right center gap to score 2 and tie the game. Dreyer went back out to pitch the 9th inning. He shut the Braves down 1-2-3. Pages leading off the 9th, struck out. Ohtani stepped to the plate and on the first pitch by Iglesias, he hit a ball over the left-center field fence for the walk off win. Dreyer got the win. LA starts 8-0. Best start ever for a defending World Champ and the best start ever for a Dodger team in LA. The 55 Dodgers started 10-0.