“Double X” Jimmie Foxx Receives Third MVP Award!

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“Double X” Jimmie Foxx Receives Third MVP Award!

As we all get ready to settle in for the exciting conclusion to the 2016 World Series tonight, here’s a few words about the great slugger Jimmie Foxx.

In 1937, Jimmie Foxx hit a ball into the third deck of the left-field stands in Yankee Stadium off Lefty Gomez. “How far did that home run go?” Gomez was asked. His answer, “I don’t know…but I do know it took somebody 45 minutes to go up there and get it back!”

On November 2,1938, Red Sox first baseman Jimmie Foxx , in a season in which he hit .349 with 50 home runs and 175 RBI, became the first player to win the Most Valuable Player award three times. The 31 year-old slugger was also won the award in 1932 and ’33 playing for the Philadelphia Athletics.

Jimmie Foxx is unquestionably one of the great sluggers in major league history. His glory years were with the Philadelphia Athletics (1925-1936) and the Red Sox (1936-1942), but he also played for the Cubs (1942, 1944), and Phillies (1945). Over his 20-year career, Foxx hit .325, with 2646 hits, 1751 runs, 458 doubles, 125 triples, 534 home runs, 1922 RBIs, .428 on-base percentage, .609 slugging average, and 4956 total bases. 

A few others of Jimmie Foxx’s career highlights include: nine All-Star selections, three pennant winners (1929, 1930, 1931), two World Series champions (1929, 1930), three American League MVP awards (1932, 1933, 1938), two-time American League batting champion (1933, 1938), four-time American League home run champion (1932, 1933, 1935, 1939), three-time American League RBI champion (1932, 1933, 1938), and Triple Crown winner (1933). 

In 1932, Foxx hit .364, with 58 home runs and 169 RBIs, missing the Triple Crown by just three points in batting average. Foxx did win the Triple Crown the next year with a batting average of .356, 163 RBIs, and 48 home runs. He won back-to-back MVP honors in 1932 and 1933. When the Great Depression fully hit in the early 1930s, A’s owner Connie Mack was unable to pay the salaries of his stars. After a 1936 contract dispute, Mack sold Foxx’s contract to the Boston Red Sox for $150,000.

After his playing days ended, Foxx worked as a minor league manager and coach, including managing the Fort Wayne Daisies of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Foxx served as head coach for the University of Miami baseball team for two seasons. His son, Jimmie Foxx, Jr., was an outstanding football player at at Kent State University.

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. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1951. 

-Gary Livacari

Photo Credits: All from Google search

Information: Excerpts edited from the Jimmie Foxx Wikipedia page and Baseball Reference.com