Legendary slugger Jimmie Foxx enjoyed a 20-year MLB career. While it shockingly took him eight tries to get elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame (with only 79.2% of the vote, mind you), he’s got the stats and personal accolades to back up his enshrinement.
With nicknames like “Beast” and “Double X,” it’s just about a given, don’t you think?
The right-handed slugger broke into the league in 1925 and officially hung up his spikes in 1945. He slashed .325/.428/.609 with 534 home runs, 458 doubles, 1,922 RBI, and 1,751 runs scored. His accomplishments included being a three-time MVP Award winner, a nine-time All-Star, a two-time batting champion, the 1933 Triple Crown winner, and a two-time World Series champ.
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When Was the Peak of Jimmie Foxx’s Career?
Foxx debuted as a 17-year-old for the Philadelphia Athletics. His first full season didn’t come until years later in 1928, when he suited up for 118 games and 473 plate appearances. It was a solid campaign — he slashed .328/.416/.548 with 13 homers, 29 doubles, 79 RBI, and 85 runs scored. That performance led to an 11th-place finish in MVP Award voting.
Not bad for a 20-year-old, right? It got better from there, though. Much better.
The 1929 season was the start of a 12-year run in which Foxx slugged at least 30 homers with 100-plus RBI each campaign. He suited up for 1,763 games during this span and produced 82.5 bWAR, according to Baseball-Reference.
An average year during this streak included a .334/.440/.644 line with 40 homers, 31 doubles, 137 RBI, and 123 runs scored. Foxx led the league in a smattering of offensive categories, including homers (four times) and RBI (three times).
Even with this dominant streak, you can easily see where he took his game to yet another level.
This Seven-Year Stretch Is Legitimately Eye-Popping
Can a player peak within the peak of their career? They sure can. While Foxx’s 30-homer, 100-RBI streak was 12 years long, there’s a seven-year stretch from 1932-38 that sticks out even more.
Foxx won all three of his MVP Awards during this span (1932, 1933, and 1938). This period also included all three of his RBI titles, three of his four home run titles, and his Triple Crown.
His “worst” year in the power department came in 1935, when he led the league with 35 homers to go along with 115 RBI. Foxx produced five seasons of 40-plus homers and four years of 140-plus RBI. The three campaigns that stand above the rest are his MVP performances:
- 1932: 58 home runs and 169 RBI
- 1933: 48 home runs and 163 RBI
- 1938: 50 home runs and 175 RBI
An average year looked like for Beast during this stretch: .339/.446/.660 line with 45 home runs, 31 doubles, 146 RBI, and 128 runs scored. Phew 00 talk about dominant.
Foxx Set Two Franchise Home Run Records During This Time
Those 50-homer campaigns from Foxx stand out for a couple of reasons. First of all, there hadn’t been many of those performances at that point in baseball history. Second of all, both performances put him at the top of single-season franchise home run leaderboards.
His 1932 performance came for the Athletics, and it’s still a record. That 58-homer output is the oldest single-season franchise home run record in baseball. The closest anyone has gotten is Mark McGwire — he hit 49 as a rookie in 1987 and 52 in 1996 for Oakland.
And until David Ortiz passed him in 2006, Foxx was also the Boston Red Sox single-season home run king after mashing 50 taters in 1938. He’s at least still second on the list. In fact, Foxx and Papi are the only Red Sox sluggers to hit the half-century mark in one season.
Given the other sluggers who dominated headlines during that time, it’s not outrageous for Jimmie Foxx to fly under the radar. But as we can see here, his impact on the game is still being felt today, despite having last suited up for a big-league game more than 80 years ago.
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