The next legend added to my long-running "Minor League Days: Legends Edition" set is the "Beast", Jimmie Foxx, all-timer and about as nasty a batter the game has ever seen:
Shown
here as a 16-year old with the Easton Farmers in his first year of pro
ball, Foxx would hit .296 over 76 games as a catcher with 10 homers
among his 77 hits.
He'd put in another year of Minor League
ball the following season with Newark and Providence before making it to
the Majors in 1925, and ripping the cover off the ball over the next 20
years.
From age 21 through 32 he was absolutely ELITE, with
only guys like Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth that could compare to both the
average and power numbers he was putting up year after year.
He'd
win TWO Triple Crowns, four home run titles, three RBI titles, and his
high mark in offensive categories were, well, offensive to opposing
pitchers!
His career-bests: 151 runs scored in 1932, 58 home
runs in 1932, 213 hits in 1932, 175 RBIs in 1938, .364 average in 1932,
438 total bases in 1932, .749 slugging in 1932.
Clearly,
it's also obvious his 1932 seasons goes down as one of the top offensive
years by a player in baseball history, and it brought him the first of
his eventual three MVP Awards.
Incredibly, by the time he was
33 in 1941, his numbers would drop off dramatically, with his career
done in 1945 after some time with the Philadelphia Phillies.
However,
his final stats: a .325 batting average, 534 homers, 1922 RBIs, 1751
runs scored, 2646 hits, and a career .609 slugging percentage.
Just incredible.
