Ron Fairly

Ron Fairly
Fairly as an Expo at Jarry Park Stadium in 1969.
First baseman / Right fielder
Born: (1938-07-12) July 12, 1938 (age 78) Macon, Georgia
Batted: Left Threw: Left
MLB debut
September 9, 1958, for the Los Angeles Dodgers
Last MLB appearance
September 23, 1978, for the California Angels
MLB statistics
Batting average	.266
Home runs	215
Runs batted in	1,044
Teams
Los Angeles Dodgers (1958–1969) Montreal Expos (1969–1974) St. Louis Cardinals (1975–1976) Oakland Athletics (1976) Toronto Blue Jays (1977) California Angels (1978)
Career highlights and awards
2× All-Star (1973, 1977) 3× World Series champion (1959, 1963, 1965)

Ronald Ray Fairly (born July 12, 1938 in Macon, Georgia) is a former Major League Baseball player and broadcaster. He either played in or broadcast over 7,000 major league games from 1958 through 2006.

Fairly played varsity baseball for Rod Dedeaux at the University of Southern California (1958), and he made the most of it. He hit .348 with team highs of nine home runs and 67 RBI while lettering as a sophomore center fielder on the 1958 Trojan baseball team which won USC's second College World Series championship. There he was a teammate of future baseball executive and General Manager Pat Gillick. An All-District 8 selection that season, he was signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers as an amateur free agent. After two brief minor league stops, he made the big club late in September 1958.

A competitive player and highly disciplined hitter, Fairly had a short and compact swing with occasional power to all fields. With his glove, he was a competent first baseman as well as all three outfield positions, being best suited for right field. His talents were overshadowed by a notorious lack of speed. He is one of very few players to play 1000 games or more in both the outfield and the infield.

Fairly made his Major League Baseball debut with the Los Angeles Dodgers on September 9, 1958, going hitless in three at-bats in a 4-3 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies. The next day, Fairly collected his first career hit, a single off the Phillies Robin Roberts. On September 12, Fairly hit his first career home run off Ron Kline of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Overall with the Dodgers, Fairly played in 15 games, hitting .283 with 2 HR and 8 RBI.