1961 Topps #30, Nellie Fox

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Nellie Fox's 1961 Topps #30 baseball card is shown
here, both front and back:

http://home.triad.rr.com/ovis/images/030_Fox-a.jpg

http://home.triad.rr.com/ovis/images/030_Fox-b.jpg

Ted Williams said of Nellie Fox, "I just loved him. As
a person, as an individual, you couldn't possibly not
love him."

Nellie played the game the way we want all players
to play the game, he gave it all he had, every day.

At his Hall Of Fame induction ceremony in 1997, his
wife said of Nellie, "He played the game with all his
heart, all his passion and with every ounce of his
being."

Nellie came up with the Philadelphia Athletics in
1947, but didn't get any playing time '47 or '48. In
1949 he appeared in 88 games with the Athletics,
but didn't impress Connie Mack enough to keep
him, and he was traded away to the White Sox
for catcher, Joe Tipton. Yes, Joe Tipton.

The White Sox would be Nellie's home for the
next 14 years, and the scrappy little second base-
man would hit over .300 six of those seasons,
and would hit .296 in two other years.

From 1951 through 1960 Nellie was in the top-10
in the American League in hits, finishing 1st four
times, 2nd four times, and 3rd once. He ranks 60th
all-time in hits, with 2,663.

In 10,349 plate appearances, Nellie struck out
an unbelievable 216 times!! Here is what Whitey
Ford had to say about trying to strike out Nellie Fox:

"Nellie was the toughest out for me. In twelve
years, I struck him out once, and I think the umpire
blew the call."

He never struck out more than 18 times in any
season!!

Nellie won the American League MVP award in
1959. According to Bill James and his "Win
Shares" system of evaluating players, every year
from 1954 through 1962, Mickey Mantle should
have won the MVP award in the A.L., except for
1959, the year Nellie Fox won, and deserved to
win, the MVP.

James also lists Nellie Fox as the 15th greatest
second baseman of all time.

Nellie was a 12 time All-Star selection, 3 time
Gold Glove winner, and was in the top-10 in
MVP voting 6 times.

Yet, with 35 career home runs, a total many
players top in a single season, and a career
..288 batting average, Nellie had a tough road
to the Hall Of Fame. In his first year of eligibility,
1971, he only garnered 39 votes.

On December 1st, 1975, Nellie Fox lost his
battle with cancer, and never lived to see his
name among the greatest players in baseball
history. In 1985, his last year of eligibility, he
fell two votes shy of getting in.

It wasn't until 1997 that the Veterans Committee
finally gave Nellie his spot in the Hall Of Fame.

Nellie wasn't without a dry sense of humor.
Once when playing the Yankees, a call at
second base went against the Bombers.
Casey Stengel popped out of the dugout to
have word with the umpire. Nellie says to
Casey, "What're you doing out here? Gonna
tell us a couple of your funny jokes?"

As a tribute to the guy who was never without
a chew of tobacco in his cheek, and who
always gave his all, the Chicago White Sox
retired Nellie's uniform #2 in 1976.
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John Wade

In 10,349 plate appearances, Nellie struck out
an unbelievable 216 times!! Here is what Whitey
Ford had to say about trying to strike out Nellie Fox: "Nellie was the
toughest out for me. In twelve years, I struck him out once, and I think
the umpire blew the call." He never struck out more than 18 times in any
season!!

The only man in baseball history that was tougher to strike out was Joe
Sewell.