Today in White Sox History: October 19
(Topps)
1949 – White Sox GM Frank Lane struck again. Lane dealt backup catcher and malcontent Joe Tipton to the Philadelphia A’s for a young, small second baseman named Jacob Nelson “Nellie” Fox. Tipton had gotten into a fistfight with Sox manager Jack Onslow during the 1949 season and wasn’t going to be kept.
All Fox did was eventually get to the Hall of Fame, have his No. 2 retired by the team in 1976, make 12 All- Star teams, win the league’s MVP award in 1959 and become one of the faces of the “Go-Go” Sox during the 1950s and early 1960s.
The trade, as measured through today's WAR prism, netted the White Sox 44.2 bWAR.
Mark Liptak is originally from Chicago and has been a White Sox fan since 1960. He and his wife Zoe reside in Pocatello, Idaho where he is the radio voice as part of Idaho State athletics in volleyball, football, women's basketball and softball.
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