Jimmie Foxx was a great player mostly for the Philadelphia Athletics and Boston Red Sox in the 1920’s and 1930’s. His home run totals were second only to Babe Ruth in his era as four times he led the American League in homers and three times he won the American League Most Valuable Player Award and was an All-Star eight years in a row. He finished his career with 534 home runs and 1922 runs batted in. His hitting, however, is not the subject of this week’s look back at baseball history, a post where I attempt to find offbeat events from baseball’s rich history.
Foxx was not only comparable to the Babe in terms of hitting homers. He also had a desire to get on the mound and while for much of his career he played first base he was able to realize his dream later in his career. It took a war for it to happen, specifically World War II.
By the 1940’s, Foxx had been out of baseball for a few years before emerging with the Chicago Cubs in 1944. He played sparingly without much success hitting just .050/.136/.100 in 22 plate appearances without a home run. Teams were desperate for talent in the war years when many great players were no longer in baseball, so the Philadelphia Phillies decided to take a shot at Foxx in 1945. He rewarded the Phillies with seven homers and 38 runs batted in just under 250 plate appearances. He was also given the opportunity to pitch, something he had only done once before in the majors–a one inning appearance with the Red Sox in 1939.
In 1945, the Phillies, as were a lot of teams during World War II, were low on players. Manager Ben Chapman remembered that, “I was short of pitching late that season and Foxx wanted to pitch. I let him and he did a pretty good job.” Did he ever. His first appearance was on July 15 and threw 2.2 innings. Another relief appearance followed, and on August 19, he was given his first start, the second game of a doubleheader. He proved to be very successful on the mound. He went six and two thirds innings and only gave up one run. Biographer Mark R. Millikan noted that:
"As Jimmie strode off the pitching mound he received a tremendous ovation from the fans at Shibe Park. His fastball and sinking screwball baffled Cincinnati’s heaviest hitters for most of the game.*"
Ace reliever Anton Karl came in and finished out the game giving one of baseball’s best sluggers his first major league victory. He would get a few more relief appearances and one more start, but he never again won a ballgame. He finished the year with a career ERA of 1.52 in 23.2 innings. He ended his career with a perfect 1-0 record.
*Millikin, M. R. (1998). Jimmie Foxx: The pride of Sudlersville. Lanham, Md: Scarecrow Press.