Mike Fiore and His 1972-Funky Glove

He wants you to pinch-field for him

Oct 11, 2024

Maybe it’s just me, but every time I see the 1972 Topps Mike Fiore baseball card, I could swear he’s offering up his glove to me, holding it by the webbing with the heel facing out.

And then I think…well, that doesn’t make sense. Why would he be holding the glove instead of wearing it? And then I study the picture and decide that it’s all just an optical illusion. That the Topps photographer caught Fiore at an inflection point, where the picture changes depending on which way you hold your brain. Or maybe it’s the psychedelic card design messing with my senses.

Is the dress blue, or is it gold?

But then, of course, I have to look up Fiore’s major league record. And I’m reminded that he hit the first home run in Kansas City Royals history and finished third on that first team (1969) with 12 homers, despite playing in just 107 games.

Not a bad start for a 24-year-old rookie. So, why did he never play more than 66 games in any season from there through the end of his career in 1972?

Well…

In 168 total games in the majors, Fiore played 151 at first base. His lifetime fielding percentage was .988, which maybe doesn’t sound so bad. It’s six points higher than the mark put up by Dick Stuart, for example.

Ah, but Dick Stuart was Dr. Strangeglove and regularly slugged in the .500 range, a consistent 30-homer guy. Forty-plus weren’t out of the question if things broke right.

Fiore did manage to slug .428 in that 1969 season, but his batting average plummeted from .274 to .164 in the early going in 1970. The SLG tumbled right along.

When K.C. traded him to the Red Sox on May 28 for Tommy Matchick, Fiore had hit zero homers and was “slugging” .208.

(Hey, that was the day my parents got married!)

Things didn’t get much better in Boston. By the time Fiore was handing out gloves in 1972 Topps wax packs, the Sox had traded him to the Cardinals for Bob Burda.

Then, on June 20, 1972, the Cards sent Fiore and Bob Chlupsa to the Padres for Rafael Robles. San Diego was so impressed by Fiore and his 0-for-6 (with a walk!) showing in seven games as a pinch hitter that they sent him back to St. Louis on July 3.

He never made it into another game for the Cardinals franchise (let alone for the major league club) and spent the next six summers in the minors for the Braves, Yankees, Orioles, and Pirates before hanging up his spikes.

Word is, he gave up his glove — heel-first — years earlier.

Today, Mike Fiore turns 80 years old.

(You might have noticed there was a Mike Fiore in your 1988 Topps Traded set, a member of Team USA. Different guy, and I haven’t found any evidence that they’re related.)

Stranding Ponch

Fiore’s last appearance in the majors came against the Reds on July 2, 1972, not long after the Cardinals traded him to the Padres. He pinch hit for pitcher Mike Corkins in the bottom of the seventh with San Diego trailing 4-1.

Alas, Fiore struck out against Reds starter Gary Nolan, who had allowed a leadoff single to Pat Corrales before retiring Curt Blefary.

Eleven years later, Corrales was glamming it up on our 1983 cards as the manager of the Phillies. That Philly team made it all the way to the World Series, even though Corrales didn’t — GM Paul Owens fired him in July and replaced him with…Paul Owens.

You can read more about Corrales and his smiling 1983 Donruss baseball card right here.

—

Corrales, who passed away at the age of 82 in August of 2023, is one of the faces I always associate with my first year following baseball. And as a kid of both the 1970s and 1980s, his 1983 Donruss card immediately reminded me of Erik Estrada, especially his Ponch character in CHiPs.

Which reminds me…today is Friday, the perfect time to line up a new binge-watch target.

I’m thinking some California sunshine and motorcycle cops just might hit the spot this weekend. With a side order of 1983 Donruss to sort through, of course.

Thanks for reading.

—Adam

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