Hey Nellie, Will You Please Lay On The Tarpaulin? 

I sometimes wonder if every photo of Nellie Fox shows him with a chaw of chewing tobacco bulging out of his cheek. Was he born with the chewing tobacco permanently attached inside one cheek?  This photograph of Nellie Fox shows that ballplayers were much more accommodating for publicity photographers back in the 1950’s, as Nellie lies on his stomach on a tarpaulin in an empty ballpark.

Nellie was a smooth defensive player and today is mostly forgotten, except by older White Sox fans who saw him patrol the keystone base for 14 of his 19 professional baseball playing years from 1947-1965.

The twelve time all-star hit over .300 six times, had 2663 career hits, won the MVP award in 1959 and struck out only 216 times in his entire career!

You need 75 percent of the vote to be elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers Association of America.  In his final year of eligibility in 1985, Nellie barely missed getting into the Hall by getting 74.7 percent of the vote. Finally in 1997 Nellie was selected to the Hall of Fame by the Veteran’s Committee.

Nellie Fox died from skin cancer at the young age of 47 on December 1, 1975.