#349 Al Fitzmorris

A KC original....1968 expansion draftee from the White Sox system....spent most of Royal’s initial year at AAA Omaha negotiating a considerable from Single A the year before....made opening day roster 1970....hung around for several years neither establishing himself as a starter nor reliever....took a demotion to AAA in 1973....it appeared to help however...came back with a new focus and established himself in the rotation...won 8 in the second half of 1973, then 12 in 1974...  #2 in Royals wins with 16 circa 1975....followed up with 15 victories next year the KC wins AL West....all this time as a starter however he butted heads with both Jack McKeon and Whitey Herzog....this was evident as Al was omitted from ALCS....to add insult to injury was exposed to the expansion and picked up by Toronto....immediately flipped to Cleveland....the tumultuous episode appeared to effect his play and was never the same....a very mediocre 6-10 record with a inflated ERA.....last season was 1978 with sparse work shared between Indians and Angels....was position player when started playing professional ball, as a result hit a respectable .242 at the plate.