Jacob Nelson Fox (December 25, 1927 – December 1, 1975) was an American professional baseball player. Fox was one of the best second basemen of all time, and the third-most difficult hitter to strike out in Major League Baseball (MLB) history. Fox played in the big leagues from 1947 through 1965 and spent the majority of his career as a member of the Chicago White Sox; his career was bookended by multi-year stints for the Philadelphia Athletics and, later, the Houston Astros.
Fox was an American League (AL) All-Star for twelve seasons, an AL Most Valuable Player (MVP) for one season, and an AL Gold Glove winner for three seasons. He had a .288 major-league career batting average with 2663 hits, 35 home runs, and 790 runs batted in. He hit .300 or more six times, and led the AL in singles eight times (seven consecutive seasons) and in fielding average six times as a second baseman. His career fielding percentage was .984. In 1959, when the "Go Go" Chicago White Sox won the American League Pennant championship, he hit .306 with 149 singles and 70 RBI. He coached for the Houston Astros and Texas Rangers after his playing career. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1997.
Early years
Fox was born on Christmas Day 1927 in St. Thomas Township, Pennsylvania, a rural area just west of Chambersburg, in south central Pennsylvania. He was the youngest of three sons born to a carpenter who grew up on a farm and liked to play town baseball in St. Thomas. Despite his short stature, with the help of his father, Fox distinguished himself as a baseball player at a young age, even playing with his father on their St. Thomas team.
Fox at age 16 in 1944, thought that he had a good chance to sign on with a professional baseball team due to player shortages during World War II. His mother wrote a letter on her son's behalf to Connie Mack, the owner/manager of the Philadelphia Athletics, which enabled him to attend an open tryout that spring for the Athletics in Frederick, Maryland. Fox caught the attention of Mack, who signed him to a professional contract.
Professional baseball
Minor leagues
Fox started his professional baseball career with the Lancaster team of the Pennsylvania Interstate League and the Jamestown Falcons where he hit .314. He played a range of infield and outfield positions, ultimately settling at second base. He came back with Lancaster in 1945 and was known as the best second baseman in the league. The Philadelphia Athletics bought his contract that year, but Fox did not get to play for them then because he was called to service and was stationed in Korea in 1946.
Major leagues
Fox's major league career began in when he started to play for the Philadelphia Athletics, but he played mostly in the minor leagues, appearing in a total of ten MLB games in 1947 and 1948. In 1949, the Philadelphia Athletics set a major league team record of 217 double plays, a record which still stood as of . Fox appeared in 88 of the Athletics games that season, and contributed to 68 of the team's double plays.
The Athletics traded Fox to the Chicago White Sox for Joe Tipton on October 29, . He spent the next 14 seasons with the Sox, making 12 AL All-Star teams and 15 of 16 AL All-Star Game selections beginning in 1951 (two All-Star games were played in 1959 through 1962) when he batted .313. The White Sox finished in third place in each season between 1952 and 1956, followed by second-place finishes in 1957 and 1958 (Baseball-Reference.com lists Billy Pierce and Minnie Miñoso as the top White Sox players during most of those years, as reflected by wins above replacement (WAR), but Fox had the team's highest WAR in 1957).
1959 season
Fox's best season came in 1959, when he received the AL Most Valuable Player award (not until Dustin Pedroia in would another American League second baseman receive such an honor) on a White Sox team that won its first AL pennant in 40 years. He batted .306, had an on-base percentage of .380, and led the AL in singles. He also started and had four hits in two All-Star games and won his second Gold Glove. The Al López-managed White Sox had the best record in baseball, going 94-60 to finish five games ahead of the Cleveland Indians and a surprising 15 ahead of the New York Yankees. It was one of just two seasons the Yankees did not win the pennant between –.