Quick Facts
Biography
William Charles Fischer (born October 11, 1930, at Wausau, Wisconsin) is a former American Major League Baseball pitcher for five American League teams in his nine-year career (1956–64). He later was a longtime pitching coach for three MLB clubs. He stood 6' (183 cm) tall, weighed 190 pounds (86 kg) and threw and batted right-handed.
As a pitcher, Fischer won 45 games and lost 58 (.437), with a career earned run average of 4.34. He appeared in 281 games, starting 78, and compiled 16 complete games and 13 saves. Fischer made his debut on April 21, 1956 with the Chicago White Sox. In the middle of the 1958, he was traded along with Tito Francona to the Detroit Tigers for Ray Boone and Bob Shaw. He was eventually claimed by the Washington Senators, who traded him back to Detroit in 1960 for Tom Morgan.
Fischer was later traded to the Kansas City Athletics with Ozzie Virgil for Jerry Staley and Reno Bertoia. There, he set a major league record that still stands by pitching 84 1⁄3 consecutive innings without issuing a walk in 1962.
This didn't keep Fischer in Kansas City for long, however. After one more season with the A's, the Minnesota Twins drafted Fischer in the Rule 5 draft in 1963, and he concluded his big-league career with the club, spending a few months of the 1964 season on the inactive list as a Minnesota scout. The White Sox signed Fischer as an active player and free agent following his stint with the Twins, but he never returned to the majors and was released by the White Sox in 1968.
In 1968, he joined the fledgling Kansas City Royals as a scout, beginning his association with future Baseball Hall of Fame executive John Schuerholz. Although Fischer never was MLB pitching coach of the Kansas City club, he held that post with the Cincinnati Reds (1979–83), Boston Red Sox (1985–91) and Tampa Bay Devil Rays (2000–01). At Boston, he was a favorite of star right-hander Roger Clemens. After his firing by the Red Sox, he rejoined Schuerholz with the Atlanta Braves as the Braves' minor league pitching coordinator and pitching coach of Triple-A Richmond (1992–99; 2004–06).
He entered the 2017 baseball season still active in the game. He rejoined the Royals in 2007 as minor league pitching coordinator and special assistant for player development, and will mark his 68th season in professional baseball as the club's senior pitching advisor.