Ronald Ray Fairly (July 12, 1938 – October 30, 2019) was an American professional baseball player and television sports presenter. He played in Major League Baseball as a first baseman and right fielder from 1958 to 1978, most prominently as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers, with whom he was a member of three World Series winning teams. Fairly was also a two-time All-Star.
After his playing career, he began a career as a television color commentator from 1979 to 2006 for the California Angels, San Francisco Giants and the Seattle Mariners. Combining his playing and broadcasting careers, Fairly was involved in over 7,000 major league games from 1958 through 2006.
Fairly was born in Macon, Georgia, but when he was three months old his family moved to Long Beach, California, where he grew up and attended Jordan High School. Fairly played one season college baseball for USC Trojans baseball team in 1958, coached by Rod Dedeaux. He hit .348 with team highs of nine home runs and 67 RBI as a sophomore center fielder as the Trojans won USC's second College World Series championship. There he was a teammate of future major league general manager Pat Gillick. An All-District 8 selection that season, Fairly 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.
Fairly and four USC teammates played the 1957 season for the Edmonton Eskimos owned by John Ducey. The team won the Western Canada Baseball League championship, the Canadian amateur championship, and placed second to Japan at the 1957 Global Series in Detroit.
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 at all three outfield positions, being best suited for right field. His talents were overshadowed by a notorious lack of speed. He is the second in Major League Baseball (MLB) history, following Stan Musial, to play 1,000 games or more in both the outfield and the infield. Fairly played 21 seasons of (MLB), 12 of them with the Los Angeles Dodgers, where he won three World Series titles. In 2,442 career games, Fairly had 1,913 hits, a .266 batting average with 215 home runs and 1,044 RBI, while walking 1,052 times compared to only 877 strikeouts. He posted a career .990 fielding percentage. Fairly played in four World Series, appearing in 20 games, hitting .300 with 2 home runs and 6 RBI, all with the Los Angeles Dodgers. His career home run total is the most in major league history for a player without a 20-home run season. Of the top 100 players in terms of games played in a career, he is the only one with fewer than 2,000 hits.
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, he 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 home runs and 8 RBI.
In 1959, Fairly was used mostly as a pinch hitter and a defensive replacement late in games, as in 118 games with Los Angeles, he had only 244 at-bats. During the season, he hit .238 with 4 home runs and 23 RBI, helping Los Angeles win the National League (NL) pennant and advance to the 1959 World Series. Fairly played in all six games during the World Series, going hitless in three at-bats, as the Dodgers won the series over the Chicago White Sox.
Fairly spent the majority of the 1960 season with the Dodgers Triple-A affiliate, the Spokane Indians of the Pacific Coast League, playing in only 14 games with Los Angeles, hitting .108 with a home run and 3 RBI.
In 1961, Fairly played in 111 games with the Dodgers, as he hit .322 with 10 home runs and 48 RBI, while spending time between the three outfield positions and first base.
Fairly became the Dodgers' everyday first baseman during the 1962 season, as in 147 games, he hit .278 with 14 home runs and 71 RBI.
Fairly helped the Dodgers clinch the NL pennant in 1963, as he played in 152 games, hitting .271 with 12 home runs and 77 RBI. In the World Series against the New York Yankees, Fairly played in all four games, however, he was credited with only one at-bat, as he failed to register a hit, but walked three times as Los Angeles won the series.
Fairly had another solid season with the Dodgers in 1964, batting .256 with 10 home runs and 74 RBI in 150 games.
In 1965, Fairly appeared in a career-high 158 games with Los Angeles, hitting .274 with 9 home runs and 70 RBI, helping the club to their third NL pennant since Fairly joined the team. In the World Series against the Minnesota Twins, Fairly played a key role in the Dodgers' seven-game series victory, as he hit .379 with 2 home runs and 6 RBI, as Los Angeles won their third World Series title in seven years.
Fairly missed a month of the season due to injuries in 1966, playing in only 117 games, his lowest total since 1961, however, he hit .288 with 14 home runs and 61 RBI, helping the Dodgers clinch the NL pennant for the second consecutive season. In the World Series against the Baltimore Orioles, Fairly hit only .143 with no home runs or RBI in three games, as the Dodgers lost to the Orioles.
In 1967, Fairly struggled offensively, as his batting average dipped to .220, while he had 10 home runs and 55 RBI in 153 games.
Fairly continued his struggles throughout the 1968 season, as he hit only .234 with 4 home runs and 43 RBI in 141 with the Dodgers.
He began the 1969 season with Los Angeles, however, Fairly continued to struggle with his bat, hitting .219 with no home runs and 8 RBI in 30 games with the Dodgers.
On June 11, 1969, the Dodgers traded Fairly and Paul Popovich to the Montreal Expos for Manny Mota and Maury Wills.