Reuben Walter Fischer (September 19, 1916 – July 16, 1997) was an American professional baseball player and right-handed pitcher who appeared in 108 games in Major League Baseball for the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

(1941; 1943–1946). Born in

Carlock, South Dakota Gregory County is a county in the U.S. state of South Dakota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,994. Its county seat is Burke. The county was created in 1862 and organized in 1898. It was named for the politician J. Shaw Gregory. Ge ...

, he threw and batted right-handed, stood tall and weighed . Fischer began his minor-league career in 1937, spending a year in the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

' organization before being acquired by the Giants. Four years later, in September 1941, he made his MLB debut. He appeared in two games, a scoreless relief effort against the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

on September 12, then a

start Start can refer to multiple topics: *Takeoff, the phase of flight where an aircraft transitions from moving along the ground to flying through the air * Starting lineup in sports *Standing start, and rolling start, in an auto race Acronyms *St ...

against the

Boston Braves The Atlanta Braves, a current Major League Baseball franchise, originated in Boston, Massachusetts. This article details the history of the Boston Braves, from 1871 to 1952, after which they moved to Milwaukee, and then to Atlanta. During it ...

eight days later—which resulted in a

complete game In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pitche ...

, 7–3 victory. The United States' entry into World War II in December 1941 began a depletion of MLB playing talent as athletes were called into the military. But Fischer did not return to the majors until June 1943, spending 1 years in the high minors. He was a member of the Giants' pitching staff from mid-June 1943 to mid-July 1946, as both a starter and reliever. His statistics were poor: counting his 1941 trial, he won only 16 of 50 decisions with a subpar 5.10 earned run average. In his 108 appearances and 382 career

innings pitched In baseball, innings pitched (IP) are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher is on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one innin ...

, Fischer permitted 416

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album se ...

, 222

bases on balls A base on balls (BB), also known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Se ...

, and 217 earned runs. He was credited with 136

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

s and four saves. In 41 games started, he threw seven complete games and one shutout, a five-hit, 8–0 blanking of Cincinnati on July 30, 1944, in which he helped his cause with three runs batted in. Retrosheetbr>box score (30 July 1944/Game 1): "New York Giants 8, Cincinnati Reds 0"
/ref> Fischer returned to the minors in mid-1946, played through 1949, then—after a seven-year hiatus—made a brief comeback at age 40 in the Class A Western League in 1957, appearing in four games. He died in Ashwaubenon, a village of

Green Bay, Wisconsin Green Bay is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The county seat of Brown County, it is at the head of Green Bay (known locally as "the bay of Green Bay"), a sub-basin of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the Fox River. It is above sea lev ...

, in 1997 at age 80.

References

External links

* 1916 births 1997 deaths Baseball players from South Dakota Clinton Giants players Dallas Eagles players Jersey City Giants players Major League Baseball pitchers Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players New York Giants (NL) players Oakland Oaks (baseball) players People from Gregory County, South Dakota Sioux City Cowboys players Sioux City Soos players Tulsa Oilers (baseball) players {{US-baseball-pitcher-1910s-stub