The 2021 MLB season had one of the most remarkable individual seasons of all time, as Shohei Ohtani won AL MVP for his fantastic performance both pitching and batting. This led to media comparisons to Babe Ruth, maybe the only other two-way star the game has ever seen. While somewhat of a gimmick, there was actually another member of Cooperstown who
made somewhat of a name for himself pitching - Jimmie Foxx.
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Foxx with Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth, circa 1930 |
Foxx is probably one of the most underrated all-time players by the modern media. In the late 1920's and the 1930's, he was known as the "right-handed Ruth", because of his ridiculous hitting statistics in an era dominated by pitching. Perhaps the best year to reference to display his prowess with the bat was 1933, when he won the triple crown batting .356 with 48 home runs and 163 RBI from the first base position, primarily with the Athletics and the Red Sox. Ironically, Foxx may have more in common with Ruth than people might think.
While Foxx's Baseball Reference pages are astounding, most baseball fans are likely aware of how eye-popping they are. However, tucked away in the bottom of the webpage is "appearances". On first glance, this chart is extremely impressive as it displays Foxx's versatility. He played every defensive position at least once in his career besides 2B and CF. However, an extended look brings about an interesting question. Why did Foxx have 10 pitching appearances in his career? And why did 9 of them come in 1945?
The next page to check is "standard pitching", which gives Foxx's basic pitching stats. The first time Foxx pitched was good but unspectacular - he pitched a single inning at the end of a game in 1939 without giving up a run. Perhaps this was foreshadowing, as the next line on this page looks like an error. In 1945, Foxx pitched in 9 games, posting a 1.59 ERA and only allowing 4 combined runs.
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| PHI Blue Jays logo |
Maybe one would think that these outings were simply the team putting a position player in at the end of a game because they ran out of players and they were down by too many runs. To check this, the next logical place to go is the team page for Foxx's 1945 team, which should be the Phillies, as the abbreviation is PHI. Yet, viewing the team page reveals that in 1944 and 1945, the Phillies were actually nicknamed the "Blue Jays", and had a logo to go along wit it. This changed after '45 due to fan outrage, but is a forgotten piece of baseball history.
Yes, this team was plenty bad, going 46-108 and changing managers mid-season. This might suggest that the previous assumption about Foxx's appearances might be true, but no, this stretch included two games started.
What happened here? Why did 37 year old Jimmie Foxx come out of retirement to play for an awful team and pitch? Well, the answer is pretty simple. Philadelphia manager Ben Chapman said "if there is one thing the Phillies need more than anything else, it is pitchers, and then more pitchers." Ironically, that statement remains true in 2022, but that is a topic for another time.
Because the league was so decimated by the war, every team needed players. Foxx was not successful trying to join the war, so plenty of teams were willing to give him and other veterans another chance. After Foxx revealed that he had been a star pitcher in high school, the Phillies gave him a shot, and he ran with it in what turned out to be his final year as a pro.
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