White Sox Hall of Famer Nellie Fox born on Christmas Day

Aug 18, 2014; Chicago, IL, USA; The Chicago White Sox logo behind home plate before a game between the Chicago White Sox and the Texas Rangers at U.S Cellular Field. Mandatory Credit: Jon Durr-USA TODAY Sports

Today, Dec. 25, 2014, Christmas Day, would have been the 87th birthday of Chicago White Sox Hall of Famer Nellie Fox.

Fox was born on Dec. 25, 1927 and made his MLB debut at the age of 19 years old on June 8, 1947.

The second baseman died on Dec. 1, 1975. He was 47 years old.

Fox played his first three seasons with the Philadelphia Athletics, but from 1950-1963, he played what was a total of 14 seasons with the White Sox, winning the AL MVP award in 1959, along with being an All-Star and a Gold Glove winner that season.

In ’59, the White Sox also won the World Series, but lost to the Brooklyn Dodgers that year.

Fox played 19 seasons in the majors, with his final two seasons being in Houston, along with his seasons with the White Sox and A’s.

Throughout his career, Fox led the majors in hits four times, including 201 hits in 1954. In 1960, he had 10 triples that led the majors that season, but in 1951, he had 12 triples.

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While with the White Sox, Fox (a 12-time All-Star) scored 1,187 runs and 2.470 hits. Within those hits, Fox had 335 doubles and 104 triples. He also totaled 740 RBIs while wearing a White Sox uniform and hit 35 home runs.

Here is maybe the most amazing stat … Fox struck out just 192 times as a White Sox in 9,493 plate appearances (8,486 at-bats). Think about that for a second … we’ve seen some White Sox players strike out that many times in a single season.

Though he passed away 39 years ago this month, it is still vital to remember Fox as a very important member of White Sox history. Let’s take a few moments from our holiday celebrations to remember Fox and all that he did for the White Sox.