Question: More Famous Hack Wilson or Nellie Fox? Help!

[RTK]

"More famous", I'd go with Fox. He played during the beginning of the TV era. If you judge by the old baseball adage for good teams being "strong up the middle", Fox fills the definition well. He was a key player on some very good Sox teams in the 50's and early 60's that could never get past the very good Yankee teams of the era. Had Fox played on the Yankees during that time there'd be a monument to him in center field at Yankee stadium. Wilson was a fine baseball player but had his demons.

[frankbmd]

Nellie Fox outchewed Hack Wilson. His left cheek is a childhood memory of mine. It is surprising to me that his cause of death is reported as lymphatic or skin cancer, possibly not related to the ubiquitous wad in his cheek. However, the information regarding his cause of death is not clear. Melanoma would be the most likely skin cancer to cause widespread lymphatic involvement referred to in several sources, but I cannot find a reference to melanoma related to Fox anywhere. The "skin" cancer references may be a cover up for a primary tumor in the lining of his cheek, buccal mucosa, which would clearly be linked to the tobacco. Oral cancer can spread to lymph nodes in the neck and beyond and once widespread can be fatal. Therefore I strongly suspect that his cause of death was related to the chewing tobacco. I do not agree with Nellie's endorsement of the product below.

Interestingly Nellie passed away weeks before his 48th birthday. Hack Wilson on the other hand died at the age of 48 after his 48th birthday of pneumonia and a cerebral hemorrhage. He had a drinking problem in his playing days and was not the picture of health after his playing days and died penniless.

So from a medical and lifestyle point of view, I guess Hack wins by a few months, even if he did strike out more.

[PolarBear]

Who is Nellie Fox? Wasn't she in those robot movies?

[pokerplyr80]

Even as a kid who didn't know much about history I had heard of Hack Wilson because of the RBI record. He would get my vote.

[jason.1969]

It's an interesting argument. I tend to think of Nellie Fox as more famous, but Hack Wilson--because of his record--as more immortal. Of course, neither term is well defined enough to support a single right answer.

[Topps206]

So long as no one drives in 192, people shall forever know the name Hack Wilson.

[the 'stache]

I've got to go with Nellie, but it is incredibly close. Yes, Hack Wilson has the RBI record, but while 191 RBIs is a huge number, people routinely drove in 160 + back then. I mean, in 1930, six guys drove in over 150: Wilson's 191, Gehrig had 173, Chuck Klein 170, Al Simmons 165, Jimmie Foxx 156, and Babe Ruth 153. Gehrig drove in 185 in 1931.

Nellie certainly didn't have Hack's power, but he blows him away with the glove. Wilson's best season, defensively, he was a replacement level player with a 0.0 dWAR. Nellie had seasons with a dWAR of 2.6, 2.2, 2.1, 1.9, 1.8, 1.6, 1.4, 1.3 and 1.3. And has there ever been a tougher guy to strike out? Fox never struck out 20 times in a season, even though he routinely had over 700 plate appearances. 14 seasons into his career, he was a .297 lifetime hitter.

If I'm building a baseball team, Nellie Fox is the kind of player I'd love to have. A second baseman with a spectacular glove that hits .300 and never strikes out. If he'd been a Yankee, songs would have been written about the guy. Don't get me wrong, Gil McDougal was a fine second baseman, but Nellie Fox would have scored 150 runs every year in his prime with Mick, Yogi and Bauer hitting behind him.

Plus, Nellie's '53 Bowman is one of my favorite cards of the decade.

[Topps206]

The better player doesn't equate with who is more famous.