No less than 16 men with the last name of Fox have played major league baseball. All save one spelled it with one “x”. Two of them have been enshrined in Cooperstown, Jimmie and Nellie. One of them is on today’s roster of the Baltimore Orioles and another pitched at the AAA level for the Pawtucket Red Sox last year. Most toiled in obscurity with mediocre careers, and then there is Ervin “Pete” Fox.
“Pete” Fox (left) played 13 seasons, five of them with the Red Sox from 1941 through 1945. Here he poses with Jimmie Foxx at Fenway in 1937.
From Evansville Indiana, Fox made the jump from ‘A’ ball to the Tigers in 1933 after hitting .357 with 19 home runs. Originally a center fielder, he made the switch to right in 1934 and it was there he played, for the most part, for the rest of his career. A key part in the Tiger offense in their pennant winning seasons of 1934 and 35, he led the Tigers to victory over the Cubs in 1935 hitting .385 with 10 hits and a team leading 4 RBI. If there had been a World Series MVP Award at the time, he would have won it for sure.
Purchased by the Red Sox on December 12, 1940, he joined his namesake, Jimmie, and was a fourth outfielder in 1941 and 1942. He had a ring side seat to the .406 season of Ted Williams and in fact even spelled the Splendid Splinter in left eight times during that historic season. He was Joe Cronin’s “go to” guy off the bench and hit a solid .302 in 73 games for his new team.
With the war taking hundreds of major league players away, Fox found himself the Red Sox starting right fielder in 1943 and 44. He often hit third and he did not disappoint, hitting .288 in ’43’ to lead the team and he also swiped a team leading 22 bases at the age of 34. The following year, still occupying the third spot in the lineup, he hit .315 and made the American League all-star team. In 1945, with his skills diminishing, he found himself once again relegated to a back up role. He reported to camp in 1946 and was released on March 29 bringing his big league career to a close.
In 13 big league seasons, Ervin “Pete” Fox amassed 1678 hits and had a lifetime batting average of .298; numbers which are comparable to Red Sox legend Dom DiMaggio. He took a particular liking to Fenway Park where he hit .327 lifetime. He played in three World Series in which he hit a combined .327 in 55 at bats, and he was inducted into the Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame in 1980.
And so it was on this date in Fenway Park history, December 12, 1940.
About fenwaypark100
Hello and welcome, my name is Raymond Sinibaldi. A retired history teacher, after 26 years in the classroom, a baseball fan for three score and five, I have authored 13 books. Eight about baseball and her glorious history; most recently Yankees in the Hall of Fame and Dodgers in the Hall of Fame. An aficionado of the Kennedy Administration, I have written four books in that realm and also co-authored a book of motivational stories for coaches. The first, The Babe in Red Stockings which was co-authored with Kerry Keene and David Hickey and released in 1997. It is a chronicle of Babe's days with the Red Sox. We also penned a screenplay about Babe's Red Sox days so if any of you are Hollywood inclined or would like to represent us in forwarding that effort feel free to contact me. In 2012 we three amigos published Images of Fenway Park in honor of the 100th birthday of Fenway Park. That led to the creation of this blog. The following year, 2013 came my first solo venture, Spring Training in Bradenton and Sarasota. This is a pictorial history of spring training in those two Florida cities. The spring of 2014 brought forth the 1967 Red Sox, The Impossible Dream Season. The title speaks for itself, and it also is a pictorial history. Many of the photos in this book were never published before. The spring of 2015 brought 1975 Red Sox, American League Champions. Another pictorial effort, this will be about the Red Sox championship season of 1975 and the World Series that restored baseball in America. The spring of 2016 brought 61 Motivational Stories for Every Coach of Every Sport. My first JFK effort was in 2017 with John F Kennedy in New England, which was followed by JFK From Florida to the Moon (2019) and JFK At Rest in Arlington (2020). Jackie's Newport came about in 2019 and in 2023 came both Yankees in the Hall of Fame and Dodgers in the Hall of Fame. I was fortunate enough to consult with sculptor Franc Talarico on the “Jimmy Fund” statue of Ted Williams which stands outside both Fenway Park and Jet Blue Park Fenway South, in Fort Myers Florida. That story is contained in the near 300 posts which are contained herein. Throughout the years this blog has morphed from an exclusive Red Sox focus, to a broader baseball perspective to a blog about life, with baseball a large portion of it. This year, 2024, I have reactivated this blog which lay dormant for quite some time. Welcome aboard, pass the word and feel free to contact me about anything you read or ideas you may have for a topic. Email me at fenwaypark100@gmail.com.
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