Jimmie Foxx
Encyclopedia
James Emory "Jimmie" Foxx (October 22, 1907 – July 21, 1967), nicknamed "Double X" and "The Beast", was a right-handed American
Major League Baseball
first baseman
and noted power hitter.
Foxx was the second major league player to hit 500 career home run
s, after Babe Ruth
. Attaining that plateau at age 32 years 336 days, he held the record for youngest to reach 500 for sixty-eight years, until superseded by Alex Rodriguez
in 2007. His three career Most Valuable Player
awards are tied for second all-time.
, Foxx played baseball in high school and dropped out to join a minor league
team managed by former Philadelphia Athletics
great Frank "Home Run" Baker. Foxx had hoped to pitch or play third base
, but since the team was short on catcher
s, Foxx moved behind the plate.
He immediately drew interest from the Athletics and New York Yankees
. Foxx signed with the A's and made his major league debut in at age 17.
Mickey Cochrane
, so by , Foxx was splitting time between catching, first base, and the outfield
. In , installed as the A's regular first baseman, Foxx had a breakthrough year, batting
.354 and hitting 33 home runs.
In , Foxx hit .364, with 58 home runs with 169 RBIs
, missing the Triple Crown
by just three points in batting average. Boston Red Sox first baseman Dale Alexander
hit .367, but in just 454 plate appearances; he would not have won the batting title under current rules, which are based upon 3.1 plate appearances per team games played. Foxx did win the Triple Crown the following season, with a batting average of .356, 163 RBIs, and 48 home runs. He won back-to-back MVP
honors in 1932 and 1933.
Foxx was one of the three or four most feared sluggers of his era. The great Yankee pitcher
Lefty Gomez
once said of him, "He has muscles in his hair."
In , Foxx hit a ball into the third deck of the left-field stands at Yankee Stadium in New York
, a very rare feat because of the distance and the angle of the stands. Gomez was the pitcher who gave it up, and when asked how far it went, he said, "I don't know, but I do know it took somebody 45 minutes to go up there and get it back."
When the Great Depression
fully hit in the early 1930s, A's owner Connie Mack
was unable to pay the salaries of his highly paid stars, and was obliged to sell off a number of them. In , Mack sold Foxx's contract to the Boston Red Sox
for $150,000, following a contract dispute.
(7) has more.
On June 16, 1938, he set an American League
record when he walked
six times in a game. In he hit .360, his second-best all-time season batting average. His 50 home runs would remain the single-season record for the Red Sox until David Ortiz
hit 54 in .
, while others attribute it to a sinus
condition.
He split the season between the Red Sox and Chicago Cubs
, playing mostly a reserve role. He sat out the season and appeared only in 15 games in , mostly as a pinch hitter
.
He wound up his career with the Philadelphia Phillies
in , filling in at first and third, pinch hitting, and even pitching nine games, compiling a surprising 1–0 record and 1.59 ERA
over 22.2 innings. Interestingly, the man who was so often called the right-handed Babe Ruth
throughout his career was the opposite of Ruth in this regard. Ruth began his big-league career as a pitcher; Foxx ended his big-league career as one.
Foxx finished his 20-year career with 534 home runs, 1,922 runs batted in, and a .325 batting average. His 12 consecutive seasons with 30 or more home runs was a major league record until it was broken by Barry Bonds
in .
At the end of his career, his 534 home runs placed him second only to Ruth on the all-time list, and first among right-handed hitters. He retained these positions until Willie Mays
passed Foxx for second place in .
Foxx was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1951.
of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League
for one season in 1952. He took them to the playoffs where they lost in the first round 2 games to 1 against the Rockford Peaches
. Foxx did not return for the 1953 season.
Tom Hanks
' character Jimmy Dugan in the movie A League of Their Own
was largely based on Foxx and Hack Wilson
, although the producers took a number of liberties in creating the role.
Foxx served as head coach for the University of Miami
baseball team for two seasons, going 9–8 in 1956 and 11–12 in 1957.
A series of bad investments left Foxx broke by 1958.
Foxx retired to suburban Cleveland in Lakewood, Ohio, and was employed by the Lakewood Recreation Department. His two children, a daughter and son also lived in Lakewood. His son, Jimmie Foxx, Jr. was an outstanding football player at Lakewood High School and at Kent State University.
City of Lakewood Councilman and future Lakewood Mayor, Thomas George, honored Foxx with the naming of a city baseball field in his honor. The dedication ceremony included Foxx's son, grandchildren and several former members of the Cleveland Indians including Herb Score and Mike Hegan. TV announcer Casey Coleman, son of announcer Ken Coleman, served as master of ceremonies of the event. A plaque commemorating Foxx's community service remains there today.
, apparently by choking to death on a piece of meat. He is buried at Flagler Memorial Park in Miami.
A statue of Foxx was erected in his hometown on October 25, 1997. In 1999, he ranked number 15 on The Sporting News
list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and was a nominee for the Major League Baseball
All-Century Team.
Foxx is mentioned in the poem "Line-Up for Yesterday
" by Ogden Nash
:
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
first baseman
First baseman
First base, or 1B, is the first of four stations on a baseball diamond which must be touched in succession by a baserunner in order to score a run for that player's team...
and noted power hitter.
Foxx was the second major league player to hit 500 career home run
Home run
In baseball, a home run is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to reach home safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team in the process...
s, after Babe Ruth
Babe Ruth
George Herman Ruth, Jr. , best known as "Babe" Ruth and nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Sultan of Swat", was an American Major League baseball player from 1914–1935...
. Attaining that plateau at age 32 years 336 days, he held the record for youngest to reach 500 for sixty-eight years, until superseded by Alex Rodriguez
Alex Rodriguez
Alexander Emmanuel "Alex" Rodriguez is an American professional baseball third baseman with the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball. Known popularly by his nickname A-Rod, he previously played shortstop for the Seattle Mariners and the Texas Rangers.Rodriguez is considered one of the best...
in 2007. His three career Most Valuable Player
Most Valuable Player
In sports, a Most Valuable Player award is an honor typically bestowed upon the best performing player or players on a specific team, in an entire league, or for a particular contest or series of contests...
awards are tied for second all-time.
Early years
Born in Sudlersville, MarylandSudlersville, Maryland
Sudlersville is a town in Queen Anne's County, Maryland. The ZIP code is 21668 and the area code is 410. The population was 391 at the 2000 census...
, Foxx played baseball in high school and dropped out to join a minor league
Minor league baseball
Minor league baseball is a hierarchy of professional baseball leagues in the Americas that compete at levels below Major League Baseball and provide opportunities for player development. All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses...
team managed by former Philadelphia Athletics
Oakland Athletics
The Oakland Athletics are a Major League Baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From to the present, the Athletics have played in the O.co Coliseum....
great Frank "Home Run" Baker. Foxx had hoped to pitch or play third base
Third baseman
A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run...
, but since the team was short on catcher
Catcher
Catcher is a position for a baseball or softball player. When a batter takes his turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. This is a catcher's primary duty, but he is also called upon to master many other skills in order to...
s, Foxx moved behind the plate.
He immediately drew interest from the Athletics and New York Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
. Foxx signed with the A's and made his major league debut in at age 17.
Philadelphia Athletics
The A's catching duties were already filled by future Hall of FamerNational Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 25 Main Street in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests serving as the central point for the study of the history of baseball in the United States and beyond, the display of...
Mickey Cochrane
Mickey Cochrane
Gordon Stanley "Mickey" Cochrane was a professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher for the Philadelphia Athletics and Detroit Tigers...
, so by , Foxx was splitting time between catching, first base, and the outfield
Outfield
The outfield is a sporting term used in cricket and baseball to refer to the area of the field of play further from the batsman or batter than the infield...
. In , installed as the A's regular first baseman, Foxx had a breakthrough year, batting
Batting average
Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...
.354 and hitting 33 home runs.
In , Foxx hit .364, with 58 home runs with 169 RBIs
Run batted in
Runs batted in or RBIs is a statistic used in baseball and softball to credit a batter when the outcome of his at-bat results in a run being scored, except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play. The first team to track RBI was the Buffalo Bisons.Common nicknames for an RBI...
, missing the Triple Crown
Triple crown (baseball)
In Major League Baseball, a player earns the Triple Crown when he leads a league in three specific statistical categories. For batters, a player must lead the league in home runs, run batted in , and batting average; pitchers must lead the league in wins, strikeouts, and earned run average...
by just three points in batting average. Boston Red Sox first baseman Dale Alexander
Dale Alexander
David Dale Alexander , nicknamed "Moose," was a Major League Baseball player for the Detroit Tigers and Boston Red Sox . Dale "Moose" Alexander was a big 6 foot, 3 inch, 210 first baseman...
hit .367, but in just 454 plate appearances; he would not have won the batting title under current rules, which are based upon 3.1 plate appearances per team games played. Foxx did win the Triple Crown the following season, with a batting average of .356, 163 RBIs, and 48 home runs. He won back-to-back MVP
MLB Most Valuable Player Award
The Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award is an annual Major League Baseball award, given to one outstanding player in the American League and one in the National League. Since 1931, it has been awarded by the Baseball Writers Association of America...
honors in 1932 and 1933.
Pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the...
Lefty Gomez
Lefty Gómez
Vernon Louis "Lefty" Gomez was an American left-handed major league pitcher who played in the American League for the New York Yankees between 1930 and 1942. Considered one of the great pitchers of the day, Gomez was a seven-time All-Star and a five-time World Series Champion with the Yankees...
once said of him, "He has muscles in his hair."
In , Foxx hit a ball into the third deck of the left-field stands at Yankee Stadium in New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, a very rare feat because of the distance and the angle of the stands. Gomez was the pitcher who gave it up, and when asked how far it went, he said, "I don't know, but I do know it took somebody 45 minutes to go up there and get it back."
When the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
fully hit in the early 1930s, A's owner Connie Mack
Connie Mack (baseball)
Cornelius McGillicuddy, Sr. , better known as Connie Mack, was an American professional baseball player, manager, and team owner. The longest-serving manager in Major League Baseball history, he holds records for wins , losses , and games managed , with his victory total being almost 1,000 more...
was unable to pay the salaries of his highly paid stars, and was obliged to sell off a number of them. In , Mack sold Foxx's contract to the Boston Red Sox
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"...
for $150,000, following a contract dispute.
Boston Red Sox
Foxx played six years for Boston, including a spectacular season in which he hit 50 home runs, drove in 175 runs, batted .349, won his third MVP award, and again narrowly missed winning the Triple Crown. Foxx is one of nine players to have won three MVPs; only Barry BondsBarry Bonds
Barry Lamar Bonds is an American former Major League Baseball outfielder. Bonds played from 1986 to 2007, for the Pittsburgh Pirates and San Francisco Giants. He is the son of former major league All-Star Bobby Bonds...
(7) has more.
On June 16, 1938, he set an American League
American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League , is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league based in the Great Lakes states, which eventually aspired to major...
record when he walked
Base on balls
A base on balls is credited to a batter and against a pitcher in baseball statistics when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls balls. It is better known as a walk. The base on balls is defined in Section 2.00 of baseball's Official Rules, and further detail is given in 6.08...
six times in a game. In he hit .360, his second-best all-time season batting average. His 50 home runs would remain the single-season record for the Red Sox until David Ortiz
David Ortiz
David Américo Ortiz Arias , known as David Ortiz, nicknamed "Big Papi", is a Dominican American professional baseball player who is currently a free agent. Previously, Ortiz played with the Minnesota Twins and Boston Red Sox...
hit 54 in .
Chicago Cubs & Philadelphia Phillies
Foxx's skills diminished significantly after . Some sources attribute this to a drinking problemAlcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
, while others attribute it to a sinus
Paranasal sinus
Paranasal sinuses are a group of four paired air-filled spaces that surround the nasal cavity , above and between the eyes , and behind the ethmoids...
condition.
He split the season between the Red Sox and Chicago Cubs
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...
, playing mostly a reserve role. He sat out the season and appeared only in 15 games in , mostly as a pinch hitter
Pinch hitter
In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the ball is dead ; the manager may use any player that has not yet entered the game as a substitute...
.
He wound up his career with the Philadelphia Phillies
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883. The Phillies are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League...
in , filling in at first and third, pinch hitting, and even pitching nine games, compiling a surprising 1–0 record and 1.59 ERA
Earned run average
In baseball statistics, earned run average is the mean of earned runs given up by a pitcher per nine innings pitched. It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number of innings pitched and multiplying by nine...
over 22.2 innings. Interestingly, the man who was so often called the right-handed Babe Ruth
Babe Ruth
George Herman Ruth, Jr. , best known as "Babe" Ruth and nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Sultan of Swat", was an American Major League baseball player from 1914–1935...
throughout his career was the opposite of Ruth in this regard. Ruth began his big-league career as a pitcher; Foxx ended his big-league career as one.
Foxx finished his 20-year career with 534 home runs, 1,922 runs batted in, and a .325 batting average. His 12 consecutive seasons with 30 or more home runs was a major league record until it was broken by Barry Bonds
Barry Bonds
Barry Lamar Bonds is an American former Major League Baseball outfielder. Bonds played from 1986 to 2007, for the Pittsburgh Pirates and San Francisco Giants. He is the son of former major league All-Star Bobby Bonds...
in .
At the end of his career, his 534 home runs placed him second only to Ruth on the all-time list, and first among right-handed hitters. He retained these positions until Willie Mays
Willie Mays
Willie Howard Mays, Jr. is a retired American professional baseball player who played the majority of his major league career with the New York and San Francisco Giants before finishing with the New York Mets. Nicknamed The Say Hey Kid, Mays was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979, his...
passed Foxx for second place in .
Foxx was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1951.
Post-baseball career
Foxx worked as a minor league manager and coach after his playing days ended, including managing the Fort Wayne DaisiesFort Wayne Daisies
The Fort Wayne Daisies were a women's professional baseball team that played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League...
of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League
All-American Girls Professional Baseball League
The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League was a women's professional baseball league founded by Philip K. Wrigley which existed from 1943 to 1954. During the league's history, over 600 women played ball.-History:...
for one season in 1952. He took them to the playoffs where they lost in the first round 2 games to 1 against the Rockford Peaches
Rockford Peaches
The Rockford Peaches were a team in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League playing out of Rockford, Illinois for the entire existence of the league from 1943 to 1954....
. Foxx did not return for the 1953 season.
Tom Hanks
Tom Hanks
Thomas Jeffrey "Tom" Hanks is an American actor, producer, writer, and director. Hanks worked in television and family-friendly comedies, gaining wide notice in 1988's Big, before achieving success as a dramatic actor in several notable roles, including Andrew Beckett in Philadelphia, the title...
' character Jimmy Dugan in the movie A League of Their Own
A League of Their Own
A League of Their Own is a 1992 American comedy-drama film that tells a fictionalized account of the real-life All-American Girls Professional Baseball League . Directed by Penny Marshall, the film stars Geena Davis, Lori Petty, Tom Hanks, Madonna, and Rosie O'Donnell...
was largely based on Foxx and Hack Wilson
Hack Wilson
Lewis Robert "Hack" Wilson was an American professional baseball player who played 12 seasons with the New York Giants, Chicago Cubs, Brooklyn Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies...
, although the producers took a number of liberties in creating the role.
Foxx served as head coach for the University of Miami
University of Miami
The University of Miami is a private, non-sectarian university founded in 1925 with its main campus in Coral Gables, Florida, a medical campus in Miami city proper at Civic Center, and an oceanographic research facility on Virginia Key., the university currently enrolls 15,629 students in 12...
baseball team for two seasons, going 9–8 in 1956 and 11–12 in 1957.
A series of bad investments left Foxx broke by 1958.
Foxx retired to suburban Cleveland in Lakewood, Ohio, and was employed by the Lakewood Recreation Department. His two children, a daughter and son also lived in Lakewood. His son, Jimmie Foxx, Jr. was an outstanding football player at Lakewood High School and at Kent State University.
City of Lakewood Councilman and future Lakewood Mayor, Thomas George, honored Foxx with the naming of a city baseball field in his honor. The dedication ceremony included Foxx's son, grandchildren and several former members of the Cleveland Indians including Herb Score and Mike Hegan. TV announcer Casey Coleman, son of announcer Ken Coleman, served as master of ceremonies of the event. A plaque commemorating Foxx's community service remains there today.
Death
Foxx died in at age 59 in Miami, FloridaMiami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
, apparently by choking to death on a piece of meat. He is buried at Flagler Memorial Park in Miami.
A statue of Foxx was erected in his hometown on October 25, 1997. In 1999, he ranked number 15 on The Sporting News
The Sporting News
Sporting News is an American-based sports magazine. It was established in 1886, and it became the dominant American publication covering baseball — so much so that it acquired the nickname "The Bible of Baseball"...
list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and was a nominee for the Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
All-Century Team.
Foxx is mentioned in the poem "Line-Up for Yesterday
Line-Up for Yesterday
Line-Up for Yesterday: An ABC of Baseball Immortals is a poem written by Ogden Nash for the January 1949 issue of SPORT Magazine. In the poem, Nash dedicates each letter of the alphabet to an iconic Major League Baseball player...
" by Ogden Nash
Ogden Nash
Frederic Ogden Nash was an American poet well known for his light verse. At the time of his death in 1971, the New York Times said his "droll verse with its unconventional rhymes made him the country's best-known producer of humorous poetry".-Early life:Nash was born in Rye, New York...
:
See also
- List of Major League Baseball Home Run Records
- 500 home run club500 home run clubIn Major League Baseball , the 500 home run club is a term applied to the group of batters who have hit 500 or more regular-season home runs in their careers. On August 11, 1929, Babe Ruth became the first member of the club. Ruth ended his career with 714 home runs, a record which stood from 1935...
- 50 home run club50 home run clubIn Major League Baseball, the 50 home run club is an informal term applied to the group of players who have hit 50 or more home runs in a single season. The 50 Home Run Club was "founded" by Babe Ruth in 1920...
- List of Major League Baseball RBI Records
- List of MLB individual streaks
- List of top 300 Major League Baseball home run hitters
- Triple Crown
- List of Major League Baseball home run champions
- List of Major League Baseball batting champions
- List of Major League Baseball RBI champions
- Boston Red Sox Hall of FameBoston Red Sox Hall of FameThe Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame was instituted in 1995 to recognize the careers of former Boston Red Sox baseball players. A 15-member selection committee of Red Sox broadcasters and executives, past and present media personnel, and representatives from The Sports Museum of New England and the...
External links
- Jimmie Foxx at Find a GraveFind A GraveFind a Grave is a commercial website providing free access and input to an online database of cemetery records. It was founded in 1998 as a DBA and incorporated in 2000.-History:...
- Biography at The Baseball Biography Project