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Jimmie Foxx Photo Gallery
Bill Nicholson with teammate, Jimmie Foxx
Joe DiMaggio, Jimmie Foxx, Ted Williams, Bill Dickey
A's HOFer Jimmie Foxx
Jimmie Foxx
Jimmie Foxx and Ted Williams
1929 World Series: Rogers Hornsby, Hack Wilson, Al Simmons, Jimmie Foxx
Jimmie Foxx is greeted by Ted Williams as he crosses home plate.
Jimmie Foxx with Red Sox
1937 All-Stars: Lou Gehrig, Joe Cronin, Bill DIckey, Joe DiMaggio, Charlie Gehringer, Jimmie Foxx, Hank Greenberg.
Hank with Jimmie Foxx
Jimmie Foxx, Heinie Manush, Doc Cramer, Eric McNair
A's HOFer Jimmie Foxx hit 58 home run in 1932
Joe DiMaggio, Jimmie Foxx, Bill Dickey
Wes Ferrell and Jimmie Foxx
Jimmie Foxx, 2317 games without ejection
Original caption: Undated-Photograph of (Left to Right) Chuck Klein and Jimmy Foxx in uniform on baseball field. Both lean on bats as they converse in front of the dugout.
Jimmie Foxx - 17
Pinky Higgins, Goose Goslin, Lou Gehrig, Earl Averill, Jimmie Foxx
Jimmie Foxx and Ted Williams
Hal Trosky with Jimmie Foxx
L-R Jimmie Foxx, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Al Simmons in 1928
Babe Dahlgren with Jimmie Foxx while a member of the Red Sox
All stars including Jimmie Foxx and Ted Williams
Red Sox players including Jimmie Foxx and Ted Williams at B'nai Brith dinner
Bobo Newsom with Jimmie Foxx
Jimmie Foxx and Babe Ruth
Dom DiMaggio, Jimmie Foxx, Ted Williams
Rogers Hornsby, Hack Wilson, Al Simmons, Jimmie Foxx
Jimmie Foxx, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Al Simmons
Al Simmons with Jimmie Foxx (Leslie Jones photo)
Elden Auker, Jimmie Foxx, Al Simmons
Jimmie Foxx and Ted Williams (Leslie Jones collection)
From The Lighter Side!
“How Can You Hit All Those Home Runs With Such Scrawny Arms!”
Jimmie Foxx once hit a ball into the third deck of the left-field stands at Yankee Stadium, a very rare feat because of the distance and the angle of the stands. Lefty Gomez was the pitcher who gave it up, and when asked how far it went, he said:
“I don’t know…but I do know it took somebody 45 minutes to go up there and get it back!”
Here we see the great slugger scratching his head, trying to figure out how his young teammate with such scrawny arms named Ted Williams generates all his power! Jimmie is scratching his head because he can’t quite figure it out…and, quite frankly, looking at William’s’ biceps, I’m wondering the same thing! How did he manage to hit 521 home runs with those arms??
“Double X” Jimmie Foxx, on the other hand, blessed with the physique of a blacksmith, is commonly regarded as one of the strongest ball players ever. Gomez once famously said of him in 1937: “Jimmie Foxx has muscles in his hair!” He was unquestionably one of baseball’s greatest sluggers.
Jimmie Foxx’s Amazing Career Stats
In a career that spanned 20 seasons with the Athletics (1925-’35), Red Sox (1936-’42), Cubs (1942, ’44), and Phillies (1945), the nine-time All-Star hit .325, with 2645 hits, 458 doubles, 534 home runs (19th all-time), 1922 RBIs (8th all-time), 1751 runs (22nd all-time), .428 on-base percentage, .609 slugging average (4th all-time), and 4956 total bases (21st all-time). His career OPS+ mark of 163 is 10th on the all-time list, placing him well above his contemporaries (100 is major league average).
Foxx had 30 or more home runs in 12 consecutive years and 100 RBIs in 13 consecutive years. He starred on three pennant winners (1929-31) and two World Series championships (1929 and ’30). Foxx was a two-time American League batting champion (1933 and ’38), a three-time MVP (1932, ’33, and ’38), a four-time home run champion (1932, ’33, ’35, and ’39), and a Triple Crown Winner (1933).
Jimmie had many outstanding seasons, but his best may have been 1932, his first MVP year, when he hit .364 and led the American League in all the following categories: home runs (58), RBIs (169), runs (151), slugging (.749), on-base percentage (.469), OPS (1.218), OPS+ (207), and total bases (438). As great as this season was, he followed it with his Triple Crown year in 1933. In 18-post season games with the A’s from 1929-1931, Foxx hit .344 with four home runs, and 11 RBIs.
“The Beast,” Foxx’s nickname, fit his batting style, but not his personality. According to famed baseball photographer George Brace, who got to know Foxx well:
“He was a murderous hitter but too nice for his own good. He would always tip us, and everybody else. He was way too generous with his money.”
Jimmie Foxx ended up managing a women’s baseball team and died nearly broke in 1967. He was a first ballot selection to the Hall of Fame in 1951.
-Gary Livacari
Photo Credit: “Classic Baseball Photographs'” by Donald Honig; the George Brace Baseball Photo Collection, the Boston Public Library collection, and from Google search; Information from the same sources mentioned above, and the Jimmie Foxx Wikipedia page.
Statistics from the Jimmie Foxx page on Baseball-Reference.
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