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Jacob Nelson Fox
Houston Astros
Second Base-Coach
Born: December 25, 1927, St. Thomas, PA
Signed: Signed by the Philadelphia Athletics as an amateur free agent before the 1944 season
Major League Teams: Philadelphia Athletics 1947-1949; Chicago White Sox 1950-1963; Houston Colt .45s 1964; Houston Astros 1965
Died: December 1, 1975, Baltimore, MD (age 47)
Hall of Fame Induction: 1997
Hall of Famer Nellie Fox was a perennial All-Star for the White Sox throughout the 1950s, leading the American League in hits in four different seasons. He never struck out more than 18 times a season and his 42.7 at bats per strikeout is tops all-time in the modern era. Fox was named to the All-Star team 11 years in a row between 1951 and 1961 and went back in 1963 too. A fantastic fielder, Fox won three Gold Gloves for his work at second base in 1957, 1959 and 1960. He was the A.L. MVP in 1959 when he hit .306 with 70 RBIs, helping the Go-Go White Sox reach the World Series for the first time since 1919.
Fox played 19 seasons in the majors, hitting .288 with 2,663 hits, which is currently 75th on the all-time list. He's also high on the all-time list for singles (2,161 for 28th place), runs scored (1,279 for 138th place) and triples (112 for 121st place). Fox served as a player-coach for the Astros in 1965 and then a full-time coach with the team in 1966 and 1967. He also coached with the Washington Senators/Texas Rangers between 1968 and 1972. Sadly, skin cancer claimed Fox in 1975 at the way too young age of 47. One of the greatest second baseman of his era, Fox had his #2 retired by the White Sox in 1976 and he was elected by the Veterans Committee into the Hall of Fame in 1997.
Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1956 Topps blog.
Building the Set
December 4, 2021 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards, Babylon, NY) -
The Card / Astros Team Set
This is the second player-coach/future Hall of Famer card we've added to the set, with Warren Spahn (#205) being the first. We still have the Yogi Berra (#470) card to go for the trifecta. This is Fox's final Topps flagship appearance as a player, and he's wearing a Colt .45s jersey and hat with the logo colored over on his hat. There's barely room for 18 years of statistics on the back of the card, and only his 21 games played in 1965 are missing. The card is reprinted in the 2001 Topps Archives set.
December 4, 2021 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards, Babylon, NY) -
Card #456
You'll be seeing this particular passage on my 1965 Topps blog for quite some time as we added a whopping 97 cards to our set during the December Philadelphia Sports Collectors Show. If I'm ambitious and compose posts for five cards a week, I should be completely caught up by the end of May. If I'm not as ambitious, I might still be going through this stack by the time we hit July. Either way, I'll enjoy the process and I'm looking forward to taking my time. I've posted a complete summary of this fantastic show over at The Phillies Room.
After securing Doug's Jim Thome autograph, I returned to Uncle Dick's and their neon green shirts, pulled up a chair, and settled in. Over the course of 45 minutes or so, I found 79 cards needed for our set, including this Fox card which was a little less than $9 after the dealer discount. I was surrounded by six or seven other seated collectors, all who looked similar to me, with a touch of gray, focused on their individual quests. I wiped out Uncle Dick's two 1965 Topps commons binders, paid for my haul and then retreated to a table with Doug to update our checklist.
The Card / Astros Team Set
This is the second player-coach/future Hall of Famer card we've added to the set, with Warren Spahn (#205) being the first. We still have the Yogi Berra (#470) card to go for the trifecta. This is Fox's final Topps flagship appearance as a player, and he's wearing a Colt .45s jersey and hat with the logo colored over on his hat. There's barely room for 18 years of statistics on the back of the card, and only his 21 games played in 1965 are missing. The card is reprinted in the 2001 Topps Archives set.
1965 Season
In his final season before becoming a full-time coach, Fox batted an impressive .268 (11 for 41), while making six starts for the Astros - four at third base, one at second base and one at first base - with all starts coming in May, June or July. His other appearances were as a pinch-hitter. He played in his last major league game on July 25th against the Reds, pinch-hitting for Astros' pitcher Mike Cuellar (#337) in the eighth inning. With the Astros trailing 1-0, Fox grounded into a bases loaded fielder's choice with the runner out at home.
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First Mainstream Card: 1951 Bowman #232
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (11): 1956-1965, 1975
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2018 Panini Diamond Kings #17
403 - Fox non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 2/23/22.
Sources:
1956 Topps Blog
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