Fifty-nine years ago today, James Emory Foxx was having dinner at his brother’s house in Miami Florida when he stricken by a heart attack. He was rushed to Baptist Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. He was three months short of his 60th birthday and at the time of his death he was number three on baseball’s all-time home run list, trailing only Babe Ruth and Willie Mays.

He made his debut on the first of May in 1925 in the Nation’s capital, pinch hitting for Philadelphia A’s pitcher Lefty Grove, a future hall of famer, singling to left in the eighth inning. He was 17 years old. He spent six weeks with the A’s, pinch hitting six times. getting three hits and catching one third of an inning; before returning to the minor leagues for the remainder of the summer. Called back in September, he pinched hit three more times, banging out three hits. He spent ’26’ and ’27’ primarily pinch hitting and in 1928 shuffled between catching, first and third. His prowess with the bat was never in doubt and in 1928 his power began to emerge and the following year he hit 33 home runs, knocked in 118 while hitting .354 and leading the league with an OBP of .463. A 21-year-old star was born!

This began a 12-year stretch in which Foxx would average a WAR of 6.9, 40 home runs, 137 RBI while hitting .334. He led the league in; WAR three times, home runs four times, RBI three times, OBP three times, Batting twice, OBP three times, Slugging five times, OPS five times and OPS+ five times. He won the Triple Crown in 1933, was MVP three times and set franchise records in home runs and RBI in a season for two different franchises. Earning him the moniker of The Beast! Pretty decent stretch wouldn’t you say?

Foxx in Philly…

Jimmie Foxx played 11 of his 20 seasons with the Athletics in Shibe Park and it was there he emerged as the greatest right-handed power hitter in the game. Three times he led the American League in WAR, four times in home runs, three more in RBI and OBP, twice in batting and five times in SLG, OPS and OPS+. He won back-to-back MVP Awards in 1932 and 33 winning the Triple Crown in 1933. He also played in the first three all-star games in the uniform of the A’s. In 1932 Jimmie amassed 438 total bases on the season, the fifth highest in MLB history and he followed that up with 403 in 1933, becoming the fourth player to crack 400+ total bases in successive years. Important to note, the 400 total base barrier in a season, is truly one of the elite accomplishments in all of baseball. It has occurred but 30 times by only 19 players. Jimmie Foxx is one of just seven players who have done it more than once!

On September 29, 1935, Foxx and his Philadelphia A’s faced off against the Senators at Shibe Park to close out the season. The A’s had a firm grip on last place in the American League having won a meager 57 games and were a solid 35 1/2 games behind the World Series bound Detroit Tigers. The 1935 season completed a Philly freefall that saw them plummet from three consecutive World Series appearances in 1929, ’30’ and ’31’, to the bottom of the heap in 1935. Roughly 1000 of the Philly faithful gathered at Shibe Park to bid adieu to the miserable 1935 campaign. The paltry few who showed up, saw Jimmie Foxx do, what they’d been watching him do for a decade, mash the baseball.

Two weeks earlier, Foxx hit his 34th homerun of the season leaving him one behind Hank Greenberg for the AL lead. More importantly, he became only the fourth player in baseball history to reach the career mark of 300 homers; joining Lou Gehrig, Rogers Hornsby and of course Babe Ruth. Interestingly enough, there is no mention of this in any reporting of this game or this at bat. The AP report of the game highlighted that Foxx had drawn four points closer to the top in the AL batting race, without a mention of his historic circuit clout. But I digress.

Lou Gehrig hit career home run number 300 on April 30, 1934. Babe hit his 300th on September 8, 1925, at Fenway Park.

Rogers Hornsby (R), hit his 300th, just a couple of weeks after Gehrig, on May 17, 1934. He would hit only one more home run. Foxx would go on to clout 234 more.

Two days after Foxx’s 300th, Greenberg blasted his 36th of the year, following which they both went on a home run drought which carried through the end of the season. Well almost. In the season’s final game Jimmie Foxx finished in a flurry; going 3-4, knocking in four runs and clouting two homers, leading the A’s to an 11-8 win and catching Hank Greenberg atop the American League with 36 homers. It was his last game with the Philadelphia A’s.

In December of 1935, thunder rocked the baseball world when Jimmie Foxx was “traded” to the Red Sox. It headlined sports pages throughout the league with some scribes stating that Sox owner Tom Yawkey handed over $400,000 as part of the deal. However, it turned out to be “only” $150,000 which although it may seem a paltry sum by today’s standard, that’s 4.9 million in 2026 dollars. Expectations were high as Foxx was touted as the man who would surpass Babe Ruth’s 60 homer mark. After all, he had walloped 58 in 1932 and although he had fallen short of that mark since, he was still a formidable force, and his right-handed powerful swing and Fenway Park were a match made in heaven. Many scribes deemed it a lock.

Foxx in Fenway…

As things turned out, Fenway did not transform Foxx into the right-handed Babe Ruth. That’s because he already was the right-handed Babe Ruth and he continued to be so. His stats were remarkably similar in both ball parks throughout his career. At Shibe Park in 2929 career plate appearances he hit .352 with an OPS of 1.123. He hit a home run every 16.2 PA and knocked in a run every 4.6 times he stepped in the box, and he produced a run 41.7% of the time he batted. At Fenway Park he garnered 2247 plate appearances he hit .339 with an OPS of 1.099. He homered every 16.2 PA and drove in a run every 4.6 PA and his run production percentage was 41.7%. He was “The Beast” in both places.

In the six+ seasons Foxx spent with the Red Sox he hit at a .320 clip. His OPS was 1.039 and he hit a homer in every 17.7 PA, knocked in a run every five times he came to the plate, and his run production percentage was 38.3%.

On June 27th, 1938, Foxx clocked career home run number 400, joining Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in that elite club and becoming the first right-handed hitter to do so. It came in Cleveland against Bob Feller. Just two seasons later, in September of 1940 came home run number 500 as Double X joined Babe Ruth as the only players to reach the incredible plateau of 500 home runs.

When Foxx was waived by Boston in June of 1942, Boston Globe sportswriter Harold Kaese asked his greatest thrill in baseball. Unhesitatingly, Foxx replied “The 1938 season…Fooling you guys who kept writing I was all through. I think 1938 was the best season that I ever had.” That’s saying a lot from a fella who arrived in Boston with two MVP Awards, a Triple Crown, three AL home run championships and two RBI crowns under his belt. That 1938 season he hit a league leading .349 and knocked in an astounding 175 runs while becoming only the fourth player to hit 50 home runs in a season; reaching that mark hitting two homers in his last game of the season.

It’s All in the NUMBERS

Where does Foxx stand in the pantheon of Philadelphia, Kansas City, Oakland A’s players? Let’s take a look. Baseball Reference list the top 10 career leaders, for every team, in 46 offensive categories. They also list the top 10 single seasons in the same categories. Looking at his career standing first, Foxx is the all-time A’s leader in: On Base % (OBP), Slugging % (SLG), On Base plus Slugging (OPS), OPS+. He is second in: WAR (Position Players), Offensive WAR, Batting Average, Extra Base Hits, Home Runs and RBI. He is third in Total Bases and At Bats per Home Run, fourth in Runs, fifth in Times on Base, sixth in Triples and seventh in Hits. Now let’s take a look at the esoteric stuff, the sabermetrics. Keep in mind there are some categories of which I have no idea and may be confounding for you, but let’s look at them anyway. Jimmie Foxx is first in the history of the temporarily orphaned A’s franchise in the following: Adjusted Batting Runs, Adjusted Batting Wins, Offensive Win %, Base Out Runs Added, Win Probability Added, Situation Wins Added, Championship WPA, Base Out Wins Added, rOBA and Rbat. He is second in Runs Created.

That is monumentally impressive!! But, in the immortal words of Miss Vito, “There’s moah”! When you peruse the yearly top ten Athletics in each of these same categories, your eyes will pop out! So, let’s go! James Emory Foxx holds the single season Athletics record in the following categories: WAR, Offensive WAR, SLG, OPS, Total Bases (TB), Home Runs, RBI, OPS+, Extra Base Hits, and Times on Base. Moving to the sabermetric department, he is the team record holder in: Runs Created, Adjusted Batting Runs, Adjusted Batting Wins, Offensive Win %, Base Out Runs Added, Situation Wins Added, Base Out Wins Added, rOBA+ and RBat+. Again, although I’m not sure what all that means but I know enough to know that’s pretty damn good. But you know what? There’s still moah!

The top ten single season categories reveal the dominant prowess of ole Double X, so jump on for the ride as we look at how many times, he appears in the top ten in each category. WAR 1st and 8th, Offensive WAR, 1st and 2nd, Batting Average, 7th and 10th, OBP, 3rd, 5th and 7th. SLG, 1st, 4th and 6th, OPS 1st, 3rd, 8th, 9th, 10th, RUNS, 2nd, 7th, 8th, 10th, HITS, 5th and 9th, TOTAL BASES, 1st, 2nd, 7th, 9th, HR, 1st, 4th, 7th, RBI, 1st, 2nd, 9th, 10th, OPS+, 1st, 2nd, 9th, 10th, Extra Base Hits, 1st, 2nd, 8th, Times on Base 1st, 4th, 6th, 10th and AB per HR 2nd, 6th and 10th.

Moving into the Sabermetric realm: Runs Created, 1st, 2nd, 6th, 9th, 10th, Adjusted Batting Runs, 1st, 3rd, 6th, 7th, Adjusted Batting Wins, 1st, 2nd, 7th, 8th, Offensive win %, 2nd, 3rd, 6th, 9th, Base Out Runs Added, 1st, 5th, 6th, 7th, 9th, Wins Probability Added, 2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th, Situation Wins Added, 1st, 5th, 7th, 9th, Base Out Wins Added, 1st, 5th, 8th, 10th, Championship WPA, 2nd, rOBA+, 1st, 3rd, 6th, 8th, 10t and RBat+, 1st, 3rd and 10th!!

There are twenty-six offensive categories in which the A’s list their top ten best seasons giving us a total of 260 spots. Jimmie Foxx occupies 91 of those spots accounting for 35% of the total, all by himself. Jimmie Foxx is the most dominant, most productive, most valuable player in the 125-year history of the Athletics of Philadelphia, Kansas City, Oakland and soon to be Las Vegas A’s.

Foxx played for the Red Sox for seven seasons, departing in June of 1942, leaving an indelible mark on the franchise which echoes across nearly a century of baseball. His name is sprinkled across the Red Sox top ten career list in 18 offensive categories. He ranks 5th in Batting Average, 2nd in OBP, 2nd in SLG, 2nd in OPS, 9th in HR, 8th in RBI, 3rd in OPS+, and 2nd in AB per HR. In the Sabermetric stats: he is 9th in Adjusted Batting runs and Adjusted Batting Wins, 3rd in Offensive Win %, 7th in Base Out Runs Added, 6th in Win Probability Added, 8th in Situation Wins Added and Base Out Wins Added, 5th in Championship WPA, 2nd in rOBA and 3rd in RBat.

In the single season department, Foxx occupies 18 spots in 13 different categories. He is 3rd and 4th in SLG, 3rd and 5th in OPS, 4th in Runs, 2nd and 5th in Total Bases, 2nd in HR, 1st and 9th in RBI, 10th in Times on Base, 3rd in AB per HR, 1st and 8th in Runs Created, 7th in Adjusted Batted Runs, 5th in Base Out Runs Added, 10th in Base Out Wins Added, and 9th in Situation Wins Added.

In 1938, the year that Foxx said was the best of his career, he set Red Sox home run records in homers (50) and RBI (175). He held the home run record for 68 years until David Ortiz hit 54 dingers in 2006. His record of 175 RBI in a season still stands and he still holds the home run record for most homers by a right-handed hitter in franchise history. In fact, Foxx is one of only five players to knock in 170+ runs in a season. In fact, only 12 players have reached the 160+ RBI total in a season, which Foxx accomplished three times.

Give Him His Due

An on-line search informs that the Philadelphia A’s retired his number in 1940 following his 500th career homer. Not true! It also informs that the Kansas City Athletics retired his number in July of 1963. Also, not true! The fact is that the first A’s number to be retired was Catfish Hunter #27, taking place on June 9, 1991. Rollie Fingers #34, followed in 1993, after his 1992 induction into the Hall of Fame. It was 11 years before Reggie Jackson #9 joined the group in May of 2004. In 2005 Dennis Eckersley’s #43 and in 2011 Rickey Henderson’s #24 were added, both after their induction into Cooperstown. In September of 2022, Dave Stewart, who had worn #34 throughout his career in Oakland, had his name associated with the number 34. All the while, just since the year 2000, nine Oakland A’s have worn the number 3. NINE!!! And this season, the immortal Max Muncy has played wearing Foxx’s number 3! Now I’m sure Mr. Muncy is a hard-working kid and is probably a very nice fella. But I wonder if he’s even aware of the history he carries on his back every time, he takes the field. I actually wonder how many people in the A’s organization are aware of it? I’m guessing none, or it wouldn’t be so.

On the other hand, the Boston Red Sox surely are aware of the allure of Jimmie Foxx in Boston. So much so that they sell Foxx paraphernalia. He left Boston 85 years ago, he died 60 years ago, but his place in Red Sox history is secure and enough so that his name still generates revenue for Major League Baseball and the Red Sox. And thus, it should be! For Jimmie Foxx is among the uber elite of the game. He holds the single season RBI record for two teams. He holds the single season home run record for the A’s and held it for the Red Sox for seven decades. He breathes the rarified air of guys named Ruth and Gehrig, and Hornsby and Greenberg and Ott. Those sluggers and hitters who built the foundation upon which this great game has flourished!

So, Red Sox and As it’s time for you both step up, do the right thing and place his number 3. which he wore for both teams, upon your facades. Let him take his place among those immortals of yesteryear to whom we all owe so much!!

Nuf Ced!

And that’s how it is on this day in Baseball, July 21, 2026.

Thanks to Baseball Reference and the SABR Bio Project