Baseball’s ‘Forgotten’ Super Slugger

[michael3322]

Just wanted to call out a wonderful SABR article written by Tom Ferraro

Jimmie Foxx: Baseball’s ‘Forgotten’ Super Slugger

"Foxx is the greatest batsman in major league baseball today. There’s no question about that. He’s a swell fellow—well-liked by the players and the fans. In fact, he’s such a nice kid, I was kind of sorry for him when he came so close to the record and missed.”
- Babe Ruth

Lifetime Stats
Batting average .325
Hits 2,646
Home runs 534
Runs batted in 1,922

Career highlights and awards
9× All-Star (1933–1941)
2× World Series champion (1929, 1930)
3× AL MVP (1932, 1933, 1938)
Triple Crown (1933)
2× AL batting champion (1933, 1938)
4× AL home run leader (1932, 1933, 1935, 1939)
3× AL RBI leader (1932, 1933, 1938)

It is still hard to believe that someone with this stat line got into the HoF on his 7th ballot, instead of earlier!



Oddly, both he and his wife died in the same bizarre way - by choking on food.

"Foxx died in 1967 at age 59 in Miami, Florida. He became ill while eating dinner with his brother and was taken to a hospital where resuscitative efforts failed. An autopsy showed that Foxx had choked on a piece of food. The year before, Foxx's second wife, Dorothy, had also died of choking." Wikipedia

And finally a card...

[Casey2296]

Nice post and thanks for the reminder, Foxx has always been under appreciated much like Mel Ott, I think it was the strange 30!s-40's era that seems to get lost on how good these guys were.

[Exhibitman]

The Beast...29th all time in WAR for position players (92.2). I think he gets lost because he was Lou Gehrig's contemporary (113.76 WAR in three fewer seasons).

[DeanH3]

A Beast indeed. Very under rated. Did he actually break Babes record in 1932 due to his "lost" Home Runs? We will never know but it's cool to ponder.

[brianp-beme]

Here is my favorite scan of a Foxx card, where Jimmie takes second billing (if being on the right is considered second billing) to Hall of Fame player Joe Cronin on this Double Play card.

Brian

[doug.goodman]

Scored program from his 34th HR of the season (336th career) on the August 23, 1936 in the first game of a doubleheader at Yankees Stadium. He knocked in all 3 runs the Red Sox managed to score that day while the Yankees scored 5 with the help of Gehrig's 40th of the year and rookie Joe DiMaggio's 22nd.

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

Forgotten? Ridiculous.

Outside of the hugest names in the game's history, I'd hardly expect somebody not interested in the subject matter to know every single former superstar. Foxx is no exception. Everyone with the slightest interest is very much aware. They also wouldn't know Walter Johnson, Matty, etc., and are only familiar with Wagner due to the card. <--- Oops, just named some of the biggest names in the game's history! So, they'd know Ruth for being a great player. Chances are more likely they know Gehrig due to his affliction rather than his talents.

[tiger8mush]

ready for battle

[Seven]

Will gladly post my card contributions to the Jimmie Foxx thread once I get home. "The Beast" is definitely overlooked. Doesn't help that his direct competition, and greatest 1st basemen of all time, Lou Gehrig, played during the same time he did. Foxx was also very versatile. Had stints playing 3rd base, Catcher and even pitched a few times towards the end of his career.

He captured a triple crown and was a three time MVP, which in my opinion was even more impressive considering the time he played in and how the MVP was voted on back in his day. It's a shame that his health issues torpedoed his career as he had a very legitimate shot at Ruth's all time home run record.

He's also is criminally undervalued in our hobby, in my amateur opinion.

[BabyRuth]

A group of foxes are called a leash, skulk or earth.
Here is my skulk!!!!

[Beercan collector]

Originally Posted by michael3322

It is still hard to believe that someone with this stat line got into the HoF on his 7th ballot, instead of earlier!

What the heck ?

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

Originally Posted by tiger8mush

ready for battle

Used to own an autographed version of this pose but on a different card (I think it was called a leather finish? BCornell kindly helped me identify the issue many years ago.)

[MikeGarcia]

..

[cgjackson222]

My two Double Xs

[Lucas00]

Smiling

[doug.goodman]

Originally Posted by Lucas00

Smiling

Damn Lucas! That's a mic drop.

[Lucas00]

Originally Posted by doug.goodman

Damn Lucas! That's a mic drop.

Thanks to the Snap master, Gary S for letting me acquire it! If mine is this nice I can't imagine Gary's keeper.

[doug.goodman]

It's hard to follow a mic drop, but I'll take a shot at it.

Opening Day April 17 1945 in Brooklyn, Jimmie gets his first hit with the Phillies coming in as a pinch hitter in the 7th, moving the runner (who eventually scored) to 3rd.

https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/apri...over-phillies/

[JollyElm]

Does anyone have an origin story for the Jimmy vs. Jimmie debacle?

How his name was spelled both ways (on cards), seemingly starting more as "Jimmy" but then transitioning into the finality of "Jimmie" over time?

Jimmy/Jimmie is a nickname. Specifically, a diminutive form of the name James, so it's not actually his legal name and therefore has no 'correct' spelling. (It reminds me of a girl I knew named Patricia who everyone called Patty...but when I wrote her name down that way she got got mad and said, "I spell my name with an 'i' at the end!")
Did he simply prefer the 'ie' spelling over the more common 'y' spelling, or were there other reasons for his name being spelled that way??

Is there any info on this, because this is the type of thing that keeps me awake at night!!!

[cgjackson222]

Originally Posted by JollyElm

Does anyone have an origin story for the Jimmy vs. Jimmie debacle?

It's confusing. If he wanted to go by "Jimmie" then why did he sign his name as "Jimmy"?

I can't find any information about the differences in name choices. It may be lost to history.

Now a shameless plug for a quiz about Gehrig vs. Foxx:https://www.sporcle.com/games/cgjack...-or-lou-gehrig

[h2oya311]

“Die cut” photo of Jimmie during his time with Easton c1924:

[h2oya311]

And a few George Burke stamps of the “7th time’s a charm”:

[Leon]

Some tattoos..

[cgjackson222]

Originally Posted by h2oya311

“Die cut” photo of Jimmie during his time with Easton c1924:

Wow, awesome image! Probably taken not much longer after Foxx was discovered by Home Run Baker in the Eastern Shore of Maryland.

[carlsonjok]

As usual, my contributions are all post-war, but this probably one of the cornerstones of my collection:

[BearBailey]

One of the all time Great Maryland born hall of famers.

[Deertick]

Those biceps tho...

[Seven]

My contributions to this thread. A Butterfinger Premium of Foxx and a 1933 Goudey. The Goudey was picked up on the cheap as the previous owner how ever many years ago taped the entire card for "preservation" Not even sure one of the companies would slab it.

[jingram058]

As always, I'm late to the dance. Oh well, here's my Jimmie Foxx items. Had to find them. I have more in scrapbooks but I would have to dig them out. My dad, who grew up in the era of 1930s baseball, rated Jimmie Foxx right up there with Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. The 1929-30-31 Philadelphia Athletics are one of MLB's greatest teams of all-time.

[Big Red Machine]

These are the two that I have.

[cgjackson222]

Originally Posted by Big Red Machine

These are the two that I have.

Love that image! The clarity on the 5x7 Premium is outstanding!

[michael3322]

Amazing cards/photos/programs. Thanks for sharing.

Thought this modern card creation by Topps was interesting for highlighting the Jimmy vs. Jimmie issue...




There are 64 pages in the card gallery for Foxx at the Trading Card Database.

[Marckus99]

‘36 Spencer Shoes Premium

[doug.goodman]

Originally Posted by michael3322

There are 64 pages in the card gallery for Foxx at the Trading Card Database

And none of them include his multiple m114 releases.

Sorry, occasionally my snarkiness takes control,
Doug

[Leon]

More Foxx....

[GasHouseGang]

I went on a Foxx hunt a found a couple.