1975 Topps, Al Fitzmorris

#24 Al Fitzmorris

Here is another in-person autograph that I was able to land last summer. I was at the Royals last game of the year 'graphing the Royals as they took batting practice. I just happened to look over into the Crown Suites section and Al Fitzmorris was standing there watching batting practice, as well. I was a little surprised and had to ask the guy beside me if that was Al. He confirmed that it was him and started digging in his bag for his cards. I, of course, didn't have any cards of Al with me since I didn't plan on him being there. So, I asked the guy beside me if he had any extras. He pulled out the '75 Topps seen above and I bought it from him for a dollar.

Then we had to figure out how to get our cards signed since we did not want to loose our prime spot by the dugout. Luckily, the guy beside me had a buddy down closer to the Crown Suite section, so we passed our cards down to him and he got them both signed for us.

Al pitched in the Majors for ten seasons, spending the majority of them with the Royals. He started just over half of the games he appeared in and he finished his career 77-59 with 7 saves and a 3.65 ERA. His best season came in 1976 when he finished the season 15-11 with a 3.06 ERA and a career-best 80 strikeouts.

Al also pitched with the Indians and Angels towards the end of his career.