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James Burke Fairey
Montreal Expos
Outfield
Born: September 22, 1944, Orangeburg, SC
Signed: Signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers as an amateur free agent before 1965 season
Major League Teams: Los Angeles Dodgers 1968; Montreal Expos 1969-1972; Los Angeles Dodgers 1973
Jim Fairey hit over .300 in each of his three full minor league seasons in the Dodgers' organization before earning a spot on the team's opening day roster in 1968. He'd play in 99 games for the Dodgers and endure a year-long slump that saw him finish his rookie season with a .199 average and seven extra base hits. Left unprotected by the Dodgers for the expansion draft, the Expos made Fairey the 52nd pick and for the next four seasons he played the role of back-up outfielder and left-handed bat off the bench. Fairey appeared in 92 games in both 1970 and 1971 for the Expos, batting .243 over the best two seasons of his big league career. He was released by Montreal at the end of spring training in 1973, signing a few weeks later back with the Dodgers. Fairey's last action in the majors came in a 10-game span for the Dodgers in 1973 as a September call-up, and he batted .222 in a strict pinch-hitting role.
Building the Set / Card #154
March 12, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
In mid-March, Doug and I attended the Philadelphia Sports Collectors Show, held within the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania. My main focus for this show was accumulating as many 1969 Topps commons as possible, which I did by adding a grand total of 193 cards to our set. That's almost 30% of the entire set added in one enjoyable afternoon. I wrote a full summary of the show in a post over at The Phillies Room, found here.
This is the 77th of the 193 commons and semi-stars purchased, pulled and stacked from the first two neon green binders housing 1969 Topps cards at the multi-table spread of Uncle Dick's Cards from Babylon, New York. My method was simple - I pulled up a chair, found a card I needed, picked the best of the group from the binder page and set it aside. After each 100 cards, I'd ask the dealer to tell me how much damage I had done so far. With a budget in mind, I kept going twice, continuing after card #100 and card #200, and stopping at card #298. The final amount due was 17% off the sticker price for the pile of 193 cards, with this card costing $1.25.
The Card / Expos Team Set / Accuracy Index -8
Fairey is wearing a Dodgers uniform here. The back of the card highlights his 18 outfield assists while a member of the Albuquerque Dodgers in 1966. The pinch-hit home run mentioned came in the top of the 10th against the Pirates on June 20, 1968 in Pittsburgh. Fairey hit his home run off Pirates' closer Roy Face (#207). Dodgers' reliever John Purdin (#161) kept the Pirates off the board in the bottom of the 10th to give them a 3-2 win.
Accuracy Index: Fairey's Dodgers' jersey (-5) and the black logo-less hat (-3) drop his card to a -8.
1969 Season
Fairey spent all but September with the Triple-A Vancouver Mounties, and as one of the team's regular outfielders he batted .287 with 10 home runs and 74 RBIs. A September call-up to the Expos, Fairey made it into 20 games and batted .286 (14 for 49) with a home run and six RBIs. He started eight of the Expos final 18 games in center field.
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First Mainstream Card: 1968 Topps #228
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (5): 1968-1969, 1971-1973
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1981 TCMA The 1960s II #334
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 24 in the Beckett online database as of 10/22/23.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
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