help: Fitzsimmons a Yankees coach?

[RobertHConner]

I need your help. Freddie Fitzsimmons played for the Giants & Dodgers. He managed the Phillies. I know he coached for the Giants, Braves, Cubs, Red Sox. I believe he coached for the Kansas City A's. I'm writing a book and need to be accurate on, among other things, who Fitzsimmons coached, managed & played for. My problem is this...there is a signed 8x10 of Fitzsimmons on ebay. He is obviously in the latter stages of his life (died in 1979). He's wearing a 1960's or 70's Yankees road uniform & Yankees cap. I can find no mention on any site regarding Fitz serving as a coach for the Yankees. Can someone shed some light on this? The MLB.com Yankees page lists their coaches through the years and he is not among the recognized. Thanks for the help. I know that trivia questions should have answers known by the asker, but this is one mystery I can't seem to unravel alone.

[RobertHConner]

c'mon...are you telling me that no one can help me out here?

[Brian McKenna]

i checked proquest for you - nothing - probably a spring training thing

[KingSwisher]

Have you tried www.ultimateyankees.com ?

They have a list of every player, manager and coach to wear a Yankee uniform and the number that they wore. I didn't see him listed there, however.


Frederick Landis Fitzsimmons (July 28, 1901 - November 18, 1979) was an American right-handed pitcher, coach and manager in Major League Baseball who played from 1925-1943, twelve and a half seasons with the New York Giants and six and a half with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Born in Mishawaka, Indiana, he compiled a 217-146 win-loss record with an ERA of 3.51, and was a member of the 1933 Giants team that won the World Series.

After his playing career ended, Fitzsimmons had a long career as a coach and manager. The Dodgers traded him to the tailending Philadelphia Phillies in the middle of the 1943 season and he immediately was tabbed the Phils' playing manager. He ran the team through the middle of the 1945 season, compiling only 105 wins against 181 losses (.367). Fitzsimmons then became a coach with the Boston Braves (1948), Giants (1949-55), Chicago Cubs (1957-59; 1966) and Kansas City Athletics (1960). During his seven years as a Giants coach, he collaborated with Baseball Hall of Fame manager Leo Durocher.

Fitzsimmons died at age 78 in Yucca Valley, California.

[RobertHConner]

thanks for trying. (both of you...that 2nd response came in while I was typing my 1st thanks)

[Utter Chaos]

i checked proquest for you - nothing - probably a spring training thing

I thought it might be a spring training thing too but what doesn't make sense is he died in California and the Yankees train in Florida. It seems strange that somebody with no previous ties to the Yankees would travel across the country to help them with Spring Training but you never know. I bet Mel Stottlemyre would know!

[RobertHConner]

there's now another seller on Ebay w/ the same photo. He said he began collecting autographs in 1976 & bought that player/address book in '78. He doesn't say when it was signed. I'm going to e-mail the seller after this post. Fitz may have just been sending this photo out to people who wrote asking for an autograph, but maybe the guy actually got it signed in person or at least received some letter explaining why he's in a Yankees uni. If I get a response that clarifyies anything I'll post it here.

[KingSwisher]

Maybe, just maybe, that's not really Fitz.

Did you ever see that Seinfeld episode about a parallel universe?

[RobertHConner]

I'm waiting for a response from the seller. In the meantime, I've just noticed there are two signed copies of this picture on there right now. He had to have been sending this particular shot out to people who wrote him.

[RobertHConner]

Maybe, just maybe, that's not really Fitz.

Did you ever see that Seinfeld episode about a parallel universe?

Funny you should mention that. I looked at the first photo to see if it had been manipulated by a Yankkes fan or something like that. But now that there re three of them from three different parts of the country I think we can exonorate Jerry & his crew of fools.

[RobertHConner]

I thought it might be a spring training thing too but what doesn't make sense is he died in California and the Yankees train in Florida. It seems strange that somebody with no previous ties to the Yankees would travel across the country to help them with Spring Training but you never know. I bet Mel Stottlemyre would know!

He did have some connection to the Yankees...poor Freddie was pitching a shutout against them in the World Series when a Yankees hitter lined a ball off of his knee. His knee cap was shattered, Series over. That's not the sort of connection that would make you go out of your way to work for someone, but he did play for the other two New York teams, He would have had a connection to the city & both of his NY teams were in California. It's also possible that the money he would be paid was in some way vital at that point in his life. Maybe that was his only offer. We still don't know exactly when the photo was taken.

[johnny]

He did have some connection to the Yankees...poor Freddie was pitching a shutout against them in the World Series when a Yankees hitter lined a ball off of his knee. His knee cap was shattered, Series over. That's not the sort of connection that would make you go out of your way to work for someone, but he did play for the other two New York teams, He would have had a connection to the city & both of his NY teams were in California. It's also possible that the money he would be paid was in some way vital at that point in his life. Maybe that was his only offer. We still don't know exactly when the photo was taken.

Maybe Casey respected Freddie enough to come in to work just as a Spring Training Coach. Don't forget, Casey spent his off seasons in Glendale, CA. Just a thought.

[Erik Bedard]

I checked the Total Baseball Coach Register. He was a coach with Brooklyn, the Giants, the A's, the Cubs (twice) and one or two other teams. Not the Yankees. So, in your book you can put that photos of him wearing a Yankee uniform are not of him as a coach.

[E.Banks#14]

I checked the Total Baseball Coach Register. He was a coach with Brooklyn, the Giants, the A's, the Cubs (twice) and one or two other teams. Not the Yankees. So, in your book you can put that photos of him wearing a Yankee uniform are not of him as a coach.

Could you check if Ryne Sandberg is listed as a Cubs coach; he has coached in spring training for the past few years. If he's not there, then Total Baseball probably doesn't have records of spring training coaches.

[Erik Bedard]

Could you check if Ryne Sandberg is listed as a Cubs coach; he has coached in spring training for the past few years. If he's not there, then Total Baseball probably doesn't have records of spring training coaches.

Well, my edition is fairly old, so if he only coached after 2000, then I'm still not sure. If he coached prior to 2000, then Fitzsimmons was probably just a spring training coach.