Fisher a hitter who has done windows
Before Astros outfielder Derek Fisher set his sights on the majors, he eyed the windows of a church. He was determined to shatter them.
He grew up in the village of Rexmont, Pa., a former coal-mining hub between Cornwall and Lancaster, and developed a powerful lefthanded swing on a Little League field three minutes from his house. Snitz Creek ran behind the backstop,
and the Cornwall United Methodist Church lay beyond right-center
field, about 240 feet away.
By age 11, he crushed a ball that crashed through the glass. Soon, the windows that lined three stories became frequent bull’s-eyes. He launched home runs like arrows.
“He’s hitting the very top of the damn thing,” said Jim Fisher, Derek’s dad, who fueled the pursuit with buckets of balls. “He’s hitting it to pieces. He’s hitting home runs when events are going on, with Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts in there.”
It took destroying a third-story church window on Easter Sunday for the Fishers to stop delighting over the desecration.
Jim nervously called the church’s maintenance man.
“Well, we’re insured,” the man told Jim. “We’ll put unbreakable ones in.”
Since the Astros drafted Fisher with the 37th overall pick in 2014, he vaulted the minors in two seasons and has torn up spring training this year with 12 hits in 40 at-bats, a .956 OPS and 11 stolen bases, which ranks second in the majors in the preseason.
Although Fisher, 23, will begin the season in Class AAA, the Astros brought along their burgeoning prospect to Houston for the final two exhibition games against the Cubs at Minute Maid Park.
During a four-run, sixth-inning comeback in the Astros’ 8-6 victory over Chicago on Thursday night, Fisher pinch-ran for George Springer. He made it to third on a single and scored on a passed ball, then took over in center field in the seventh. He walked in his lone plate appearance.
The Astros appear loaded in the outfield without Fisher after adding AllStar veterans Josh Reddick and Carlos Beltran in the offseason. Fisher consistently has said he does not worry about when he will get called up.
“It’ll continue to be the same answer, honestly,” he said. “That’s something you don’t want to think about. You don’t want to get back to your locker every day and wonder: when?”
Home run incentive
He will make it to the majors so long as he keeps being rewarded for his hitting. The Astros gave him a $1,534,100 signing bonus, but he first got paid to hit home runs as a kid by his grandfather.
Fisher circled the bases jumping and yelling “$50!” His father inherited the debt but reduced the payments when Fisher hit 10 home runs at 10 years old.
He consistently competed in leagues with older players. He goofed around with them while bearing a humble self-confidence that exceeded his age.
“Derek was always a loud and boisterous guy,” said Chris Groff, who coached Fisher on varsity for four years at Cedar Crest High School in Lebanon, Pa.
Fisher has kept his head shaved in pro ball to avoid what used to be a distraction: He flaunted shoulderlength red hair in his teens. He used to take his hat off during games to let his tresses flow in the outfield breeze.
“He loved to have a good time,” Groff said. “But when it came to himself, he was so quiet.”
Fisher went through a brief slump in an otherwise stellar junior season. A scout vocalized his doubts over Fisher, and an opposing player called him “overrated” on Facebook.
The next game, Fisher went 4-for-4 with three home runs and a triple that would have cleared the wall were it hit a few feet higher.
“He never said a word about the Facebook posting or the scout,” Groff said. “He knew what he could do.”
Fisher emerged from his small town (“Rexmont is literally one road,” he said) as the state’s top high school player. He stood 6-3 and had exceptional athleticism to hit hard and run fast.
The Texas Rangers drafted him in the fifth round, but he attended the University of Virginia for three years and became an All-American.
“At 17 years old, he had zero confidence issues about sitting down and having an hour-long conversation with an adult,” Virginia coach Brian O’Connor said. “It’s pretty rare. He was comfortable with who he was.”
He got that from his father, who ragged on his son at every chance.
“You’re never too good,” Fisher said his dad reminded him. “You’re not that good. That’s something that kept me levelheaded, made me want to get better.”
Jim said he raised his son as a single parent after Fisher’s mom “took off when he was 12.”
“I don’t really have a relationship with her,” Jim said. “And neither does he.”
Jim is not one for sympathy. He was more prone to cackle than coddle.
“If it was me falling of my bike and bawling my eyes out, he’s laughing,” Fisher said with a grin. “People think making kids tougher is being stern.”
Jim’s greatest gift to his son was a devilish sense of humor.
In his first season with the Astros’ advanced Class A affiliate in Lancaster, Fisher rented a house with another promising talent: Alex Bregman.
Fisher would wake up the house with an air horn.
Needling Bregman
While the baseball world fawns over Bregman, Fisher harasses him on Twitter for fashion choices and not returning phone calls.
Fisher tweeted: “I have a better chance of @realDonaldTrump answering a phone call before @ ABREG_1 #greenbutton.”
Bregman said it is the opposite, with Fisher ignoring his calls. He also accused Fisher of stealing the President Trump joke from him.
“He thinks he’s a funny guy,” Bregman said with a smirk.
Fisher is staying with Bregman during his brief stint in Houston.
“If we’re ever roommates again, I’ll bring the air horn,” Fisher said. “And he’ll love it.”
Fisher can take it as well as he can dish it. Teammates ridicule his bald head, which he prefers. He has hidden the truth about his former locks.
“Looking back, it was brutal, man,” he said. “No one ever told me. Now I don’t have hair. I went from one extreme to the next. It’s depressing.”
After praising Fisher for his work ethic and intelligence, pitcher Joe Musgrove, who sat with Fisher during Grapefruit League games, was shocked to learn his friend used to rock a red mane.
“No, he didn’t!” Musgrove said with wide eyes. This offered new material to work with. Musgrove has inspired Fisher’s social media barbs for years.
In the dugout before Thursday’s game, Musgrove delivered a Wet Willy to Fisher.
“Was that gum?” Fisher asked as he squirmed.
“My finger,” Musgrove crowed before skipping off.
Fisher cleaned out his ear. Then he leaned back and admired the enormity of Minute Maid Park. He looked beyond the outfield wall at the train tracks and Torchy’s Tacos signs and the cloudless sky that glowed with the roof retracted. He does not need church windows to motivate him anymore.
Musgrove’s wet pinky proved Fisher is comfortable at the next level.
“I can see myself here someday,” Fisher said.