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1901 – 1979
The Mishawaka root: Frederick Landis Fitzsimmons was born in July 1901 — the 28th in most records, the 26th in the SABR biography, a two-day disagreement the file prints rather than resolves — and where he was born the record itself disputes: the SABR biography and the baseball record generally say Mishawaka, while the city’s own historic-marker text and his biographer Peter De Kever place the birth on a farm in Tipton County, the family moving to Mishawaka about 1905; the conflict stands printed whole in the Halls of Fame record, and the major-league record lists his high school as Mishawaka. He began professionally in 1920, with stops at Muskegon and Indianapolis, and the New York Giants bought him in August 1925 for a reported $50,000.
The career: "Fat Freddie" pitched nineteen seasons, for the Giants (1925–1937) and the Brooklyn Dodgers (1937–1943), with a whirling delivery — he turned to face second base in his windup — and a knuckle curve. The record: 217 wins against 146 losses, a 3.51 earned run average, 513 games and 3,223⅔ innings, 870 strikeouts. His 217 wins were the third most by a National League right-hander between 1920 and 1955, behind only Burleigh Grimes and Paul Derringer. He pitched for the 1933 World Series champion Giants, and in 1940 went 16–2, a winning percentage of .889 that stood as the National League record until 1959.
After the mound: Fitzsimmons managed the Philadelphia Phillies from 1943 to 1945 and coached for years afterward, including on Leo Durocher's pennant-winning Giants of 1951 and 1954. He died 18 November 1979 at Yucca Valley, California. His biographical record adds induction into the Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame in 1992. He is, by the numbers, the most accomplished professional athlete Mishawaka has produced in any sport.
Sources:
- SABR Biography Project (Gregory H. Wolf) — the Mishawaka birth (26 July), the 1925 purchase, the career shape, the coaching course.
- MiLB.com player record — born Mishawaka, 28 July 1901; High School: Mishawaka; the full statistical line; the 1933 World Series championship.
- Encyclopaedia Britannica — the delivery, the knuckle ball and curve, 217–146, the minor-league course from 1920.