Ervin "Pete" Fox (March 8, 1909 – July 5, 1966) was an American professional
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
player from 1930 to 1946. He played 13 seasons in
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
, principally as a
right fielder
A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the ...
, for the
Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...
from 1933 to 1940 and the
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...
from 1941 to 1945. Though his given name was Ervin, Fox became known as "Pete" in 1932 when fans in
Beaumont, Texas
Beaumont is a coastal city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat, seat of government of Jefferson County, Texas, Jefferson County, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur, Texas, Port Arthur Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area, metropo ...
, dubbed him "Rabbit" in reference to his speed, with the nickname reportedly evolving into "Peter Rabbit" and then simply "Pete".
Fox compiled a .298 career
batting average and finished among the
American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...
leaders in batting average four times—8th in 1935 (.321), 10th in 1937 (.331), 9th in 1943 (.288), and 6th in 1944 (.315). His .321 average in 1935 was third highest on the
Tigers team that defeated the
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...
in the
1935 World Series
The 1935 World Series was the championship series in Major League Baseball for the 1935 season. The 32nd edition of the World Series, it matched the Detroit Tigers and the Chicago Cubs. The Tigers won in six games for their first championship ...
. Fox also ranked among the American League leaders in stolen bases on seven occasions between 1934 and 1944.
Early years
Fox was born in
Evansville, Indiana
Evansville is a city in, and the county seat of, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States. The population was 118,414 at the 2020 census, making it the state's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the largest city in ...
, in 1909, the son of a fire captain.
He graduated from
Bosse High School in Evansville.
After graduating from high school, Fox worked at a furniture factory in Evansville and played sandlot baseball.
[
]
Playing career
Minor leagues
Fox began his professional baseball career in 1930 with the Evansville Hubs
Evansville is a city in, and the county seat of, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States. The population was 118,414 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the state's List of cities in Indiana, ...
of the Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League. After only seven games with the Hubs, Fox was sent to the Wheeling Stogies
The Wheeling Stogies was a minor league baseball team based in Wheeling, West Virginia, that played under several different names at various times between 1877 and 1934. They played mostly in the Central League and the Middle Atlantic League, as we ...
of the Mid-Atlantic League.[ He appeared in 106 games for the Stogies in 1930, compiling a .339 batting average with 24 doubles, 15 triples, and 14 home runs in 422 at bats.]
After a strong showing with Wheeling, Fox was recalled to Evansville for the 1931 season.[ He hit .302 with 33 doubles, 12 triples, and 8 home runs in 490 at bats.][
Fox spent the 1932 season playing for the Beaumont Exporters team that won the ]Texas League
The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...
pennant. His teammates in Beaumont that year included Hank Greenberg, Schoolboy Rowe, Elden Auker
Elden LeRoy "Submarine" Auker (September 21, 1910 – August 4, 2006) was an American Major League Baseball pitcher with the Detroit Tigers, Boston Red Sox and St. Louis Browns between 1933 and 1942. Auker batted and threw right-handed. Auker w ...
, and Flea Clifton
Herman Earl "Flea" Clifton (December 12, 1908 – December 22, 1997), was a professional baseball player for 13 years from 1930 to 1943. He played parts of four season in Major League Baseball as an infielder for the Detroit Tigers from 1934 to ...
. Each of these players would play together on Detroit's 1934 and 1935 pennant-winning teams. Fox led the Texas League in 1932 with a .357 batting average.[ He also hit 23 doubles, 11 triples, and 19 home runs for Beaumont.][ Fox, whose first name was actually Ervin, also won the nickname "Pete" while playing for Beaumont. Due to Fox's speed, Beaumont fans began calling him "Rabbit" which then reportedly evolved into "Peter Rabbit" and then simply "Pete".][
]
Detroit Tigers
In 1933, Fox joined the Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...
and became the team's regular center fielder
A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the baseball and softball fielding position between left field and right field. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the c ...
, starting 116 games at the position.[ He compiled a .288 batting average with 26 doubles, 13 triples, and 7 home runs in his rookie season.][ Fox was one of three rookies for Detroit in 1933, along with Hank Greenberg and ]Marv Owen
Marvin James Owen (March 22, 1906 – June 22, 1991) was an American baseball player, manager, coach and scout.
A native of northern California, Owen played both baseball and football at Santa Clara University. He made his Major League Baseb ...
, who would be consistent starters for the 1934 and 1935 pennant-winning teams.
In 1934, the Tigers acquired left fielder Goose Goslin
Leon Allen "Goose" Goslin (October 16, 1900 – May 15, 1971) was an American professional baseball left fielder. He played in Major League Baseball for the Washington Senators, St. Louis Browns, and Detroit Tigers, from until .
Goslin ...
, Jo-Jo White
Joyner Clifford "Jo-Jo" White (June 1, 1909 – October 9, 1986) was an American center fielder in professional baseball. He played nine seasons with the Detroit Tigers (1932–38), Philadelphia Athletics (1943–44), and Cincinnati Reds (1944) ...
took over as the team's center fielder, and Fox became the team's starting right fielder. In his first season in right field, Fox struggled at the plate with a .285 batting average, but he led the American League with four outfield double plays.[ The 1934 Tigers won the American League pennant, and Fox set a major league record by hitting six doubles in the ]1934 World Series
The 1934 World Series was the championship series in Major League Baseball for the 1934 season. The 31st edition of the World Series, it matched the St. Louis Cardinals against the Detroit Tigers. The Cardinals' "Gashouse Gang" won in seven gam ...
in a losing effort against the St. Louis Cardinals.[
The 1935 season was a breakout season for Fox as he helped lead the Tigers to an American League pennant and a World Series championship over the ]Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...
. After Fox began the season with a batting slump, a trade that would have sent Fox to another team fell through. Fox began hitting at a torrid pace after word of the trade became public. He had hitting streaks of 29 and 17 games and had eight hits and 10 runs batted in a double header against the St. Louis Browns
The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they ...
on June 30, 1935.[ '']The Sporting News
The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...
'' in a front page profile in late July 1935 credited Fox with being the Tigers' spark plug:
Super work on the part of a single player often provides the winning accelerant for a team which otherwise might remain close to mediocrity in the result column. . . . This season it has been Ervin (Pete) Fox, little outfielder, who has supplied the winning spark, with a recent run of 29 games in which he hit safely having witnessed the definite upswing of Mickey Cochrane
Gordon Stanley "Mickey" Cochrane (April 6, 1903 – June 28, 1962), nicknamed "Black Mike", was an American professional baseball player, manager and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher for the Philadelphia Athletics and Detro ...
's Bengals.
During the 1935 season, Fox ranked among the American League's leaders in multiple offensive and defensive categories. His .321 batting average was eighth best in the league (third best on the Tigers behind Hank Greenberg and Charlie Gehringer
Charles Leonard Gehringer (May 11, 1903 – January 21, 1993), nicknamed "the Mechanical Man", was an American professional baseball second baseman, coach, general manager, and team vice president, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for t ...
), and his .513 slugging percentage was fifth best in the league.[ He also ranked sixth in runs scored (116), eighth in stolen bases (14), second in times hit by a pitch (6), and fourth in range factor among right fielders (1.90).][
During the six-game 1935 World Series win over the ]Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...
, Fox led both teams with ten hits and a .385 batting average. ''The Sporting News'' called Fox "the individual hitting star of the series."
In 1936, the Tigers acquired future Baseball Hall of Fame
The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-r ...
outfielder Al Simmons to play alongside another future Hall of Fame outfielder Goose Goslin
Leon Allen "Goose" Goslin (October 16, 1900 – May 15, 1971) was an American professional baseball left fielder. He played in Major League Baseball for the Washington Senators, St. Louis Browns, and Detroit Tigers, from until .
Goslin ...
. The reconfiguration of the outfield, combined with multiple injuries, resulted in Fox losing his position as the team's starting right fielder. Fox suffered an "attack of lumbago" in early May, a sprained finger in July, and was called home from a road trip in August when his five-month son became ill. Gee Walker became the Tigers' starting right fielder and Fox was relegated to a backup role, starting only 49 games in right field in 1936. He compiled a .305 batting average in 220 at bats.[
In 1937, with Simmons and Goslin having left the Tigers, Fox returned to the starting lineup, playing 105 games in right field, 28 in center field, and 11 in left field. Fox responded to his starting assignment with career bests in batting average (.331) and doubles (39).][ Along with Fox's outstanding season, Detroit second baseman ]Charlie Gehringer
Charles Leonard Gehringer (May 11, 1903 – January 21, 1993), nicknamed "the Mechanical Man", was an American professional baseball second baseman, coach, general manager, and team vice president, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for t ...
won the 1937 batting championship with a .371 average and first baseman Hank Greenberg added a team record 183 RBIs. The 1937 Tigers compiled an 89-65 record and finished in second place behind the New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...
. The 1937 Tigers tied a major league record with four players (Fox, Gehringer, Greenberg, and Gee Walker) each compiling 200 or more hits.
Fox began the 1938 season at a torrid pace with the bat. By early May, Fox was batting .451. Although his average dipped to .293 by the end of the 1938 season, Fox compiled a career high with 96 RBIs.[ Fox also ranked among the American League leaders in stolen bases (5th with 16), hits (10th with 186), and triples (7th with 10). Defensively, he led all American League outfielders in games played (155) and ]fielding percentage
In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, div ...
(.994) during the 1938 season.[
Fox remained the Tigers' starting right fielder in 1939. He compiled a batting average of .295, and his 2.28 range factor in 1939 led all American League right fielders.][ In 1940, Fox and ]Bruce Campbell
Bruce Lorne Campbell (born June 22, 1958) is an American actor and director. He is known for portraying Ash Williams in Sam Raimi's ''Evil Dead'' franchise, beginning with the 1978 short film ''Within the Woods''. He has starred in many low ...
alternated as Detroit's right fielder. The Tigers won the 1940 pennant, but Campbell started all seven games in the 1940 World Series
The 1940 World Series matched the Cincinnati Reds against the Detroit Tigers, with the Reds winning a closely contested seven-game series. The victory secured the Reds the second championship in their franchise history and came 21 years after th ...
between the Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...
and Tigers. Fox did have one pinch hit at bat in the 1940 Series. In three World Series, Fox played 14 games and batted .327 in 55 at bat
In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...
s.
On December 12, 1940, the Boston Red Sox purchased Fox from the Tigers for a sum reported to be slightly in excess of the waiver price. The sale of Fox was reported to be a source of "genuine regret" among Detroit fans, and Detroit sports writer Sam Greene wrote that Fox had "undeniable appeal as a steady, hard-working craftsman."[ Greene also wrote in ''The Sporting News'' that Fox had been overshadowed in Detroit by superstars Hank Greenberg, ]Charlie Gehringer
Charles Leonard Gehringer (May 11, 1903 – January 21, 1993), nicknamed "the Mechanical Man", was an American professional baseball second baseman, coach, general manager, and team vice president, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for t ...
, Goose Goslin
Leon Allen "Goose" Goslin (October 16, 1900 – May 15, 1971) was an American professional baseball left fielder. He played in Major League Baseball for the Washington Senators, St. Louis Browns, and Detroit Tigers, from until .
Goslin ...
, and Mickey Cochrane
Gordon Stanley "Mickey" Cochrane (April 6, 1903 – June 28, 1962), nicknamed "Black Mike", was an American professional baseball player, manager and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher for the Philadelphia Athletics and Detro ...
, and noted that it is "often said of Fox that he was 'the most under rated' player among the Battling Bengals."[
]
Boston Red Sox
Fox was a backup outfielder for the Red Sox during the 1941 and 1942 seasons, appearing in 62 games as an outfielder in 1941 and 71 games in 1942. In 1943, the Red Sox lost outfielders Ted Williams
Theodore Samuel Williams (August 30, 1918 – July 5, 2002) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 19-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, primarily as a left fielder, for the Boston Red Sox from 1939 ...
and Dom DiMaggio
Dominic Paul DiMaggio (February 12, 1917 – May 8, 2009), nicknamed "The Little Professor", was an American Major League Baseball center fielder. He played his entire 11-year baseball career for the Boston Red Sox (1940–1953). DiMaggio wa ...
to military service, making room for Fox to emerge as the Red Sox starting right fielder in 1943. He was an All-Star in the 1944 season, in which he batted .315 (6th best in the league) with 37 doubles.[
]
Pacific Coast League
In 1946, Fox played for the Oakland Oaks of the Pacific Coast League
The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...
under manager Casey Stengel. He appeared in 57 games for the Oaks, compiling a .258 batting average.[
]
Family and later years
After his playing career ended, Fox served as a manager for minor league baseball teams in Pawtucket (New England), Waterloo (Three-I) and Hot Springs (Cotton States). He also served as a scout for the Detroit Tigers and Chicago White Sox. He retired from baseball in the early 1950s after his vision deteriorated due to the development of cataracts.[ He subsequently worked as a manufacturer's representative in Detroit.
Fox was married in 1927 to Elizabeth ("Bettye") Stuteville.] Pete and Bettye had one daughter, Beverly June, and one son, James. Peter fathered a son, Donald, in a second marriage (Helen). Don became a pitcher in the Boston Red Sox organization, and James became an all-city football player at his father's alma mater, Bosse High School.[
In 1966, Fox died in ]Detroit, Michigan
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...
, at 57, of cancer. He was interred at Detroit's Woodlawn Cemetery.[ In 1980, Fox was posthumously inducted into the Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame. His daughter, Beverly Markey, and his grandson, Stephen Markey, were present to receive the honor. ]
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fox, Pete
1909 births
1966 deaths
American League All-Stars
Baseball players from Indiana
Beaumont Exporters players
Boston Red Sox players
Burials at Woodlawn Cemetery (Detroit)
Chicago White Sox scouts
Deaths from cancer in Michigan
Detroit Tigers players
Detroit Tigers scouts
Evansville Hubs players
Major League Baseball outfielders
Minor league baseball managers
Oakland Oaks (baseball) players
Sportspeople from Evansville, Indiana
Wheeling Stogies players