Born: 12/25/1927 in St. Thomas, Pennsylvania
Died: 12/1/1975 in Baltimore, Maryland
Major League Career: 1947-65
Games Played at Second Base: 2,295
Most Games Played For: Chicago White Sox
Photo via HowStuffWorks
Nellie Fox holds the record for most consecutive games played at second base with 798. He was a notoriously difficult hitter to strike out, only fanning once in every 42.7 at-bats - 3rd best, all-time. I love this quote from fellow Hall of Famer Whitey Ford:
"Nellie was the toughest out for me. In 12 years I struck him out once, and I think the umpire blew the call."
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For last year's A-Z Challenge, I featured players of the Baltimore Orioles/St. Louis Browns organization, my favorite baseball team. I managed to cover every position on the field except for one: second baseman. As such, I decided to devote this year's challenge entirely to the second base position, honoring the individuals who earned their keep playing one of the game's most demanding defensive positions.
Head on over to Blogging from A to Z April Challenge to find others joining the adventure.
Be sure to visit my friends. I met all of these folks through the challenge last year:
Tossing It Out - by Arlee Bird, the mastermind behind all that is A-Z
The Eagle's Aerial Perspective
Sherri's Graphomania
Star Trek - Sci Fi Blog
Oak Lawn Images
This is the first theme I've saw on this topic. Great quote from Ford.
ReplyDeleteWow... I know next to nothing about baseball, and I'm amazed there's that many second-base players to cover the whole challenge, haha! Thanks for the visit to my blog earlier :)
ReplyDeleteI was hoping you'd do Nellie today. I think they waited too long to put him in the Hall of Fame. Had no power whatsoever as a hitter, but that didn't matter. Aparicio stealing bases in front of him didn't distract him and he and Looie were an ideal DP combo.
ReplyDeleteFox is exactly the sort of player who, in today's age of sabermetrics, would be revered as a god - an ideal #2 hitter. Move the runner along, get on base. Done and done.
DeleteVery informative. I look forward to your next posts!
ReplyDeletebest,
MOV
Hah! What a great quote from Whitey Ford.
ReplyDeleteWow, that is a lot of consecutive games. That's something.
ReplyDelete