VERMONT SPORTS HALL OF FAME

(Courtesy: National Baseball Hall of Fame Archives)

Middlebury

Baseball

Inducted 2013

A baseball and football star at Middlebury High School, Fisher excelled in football, basketball, baseball and track at Middlebury College before embarking on a 10-year major league career. After retirement as an athlete, he had a legendary coaching career at the University of Michigan.

After Middlebury High School, he turned down football scholarship offers from UVM and Wesleyan to stay home to attend Middlebury College. In college he played football, basketball, baseball and set the school's shot put record. He pitched and played third base for the Panthers, and he struck out 18 Colgate hitters in his first start on the mound in 1907, a single-game record that stands today. He signed a pro contract the summer after his sophomore year at Middlebury in 1908 but returned to school in the offseason and earned his degree in 1910.

Fisher became the first Middlebury College alum to reach the big leagues in 1910, one of just two in school history. He eventually pitched 10 years in the majors with the New York Highlanders (Yankees) and the Cincinnati Reds, with whom he won a World Series in 1919. He finished with a record of 100-94 with a 2.82 earned run average, and was among the league leaders in ERA in three of his 10 seasons.

After his pro career, Fisher coached at the University of Michigan for 37 years from 1921 to 1958, with his teams compiling a 636-295 record. He led the Wolverines to 15 Big Ten titles and the school's first NCAA College World Series crown in 1953. He is a member of the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame, the American Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame, the U. Michigan Hall of Honor and the Middlebury College Athletic Hall of Fame.

1n 1970, Michigan named its baseball stadium in his honor. Sports Illustrated selected Fisher 12th on its list of the Top 50 Vermont athletes of the 20th Century in 1999.

Fisher passed away in 1982 at the age of 95 not long after he appeared at the annual Old Timers Day at New York's Yankee Stadium.