A Fox in baseball’s penthouse

Thirty-two years after playing his final game in 1965, Nellie Fox finally is enshrined 26 years ago today into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Fox, who is posthumously elected, is part of an incoming Cooperstown Class of 1997 that includes longtime Atlanta Braves pitcher Phil Niekro, Negro League shortstop Willie Wells and former Los Angeles Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda.

Fox, the second baseman from St. Thomas, Pa., spends his best years in the majors with the Chicago White Sox, where he plays 14 of his 19 seasons and wins the American League’s Most Valuable Player award in 1959.

He ends up with 2,663 hits in the majors, 15 All-Star Game selections, three Gold Gloves and the immeasurable admiration from his peers for his gritty style.