In 2005, when the Chicago White Sox won their first pennant in 46 seasons, one great voice was absent among the revelers. Nellie Fox, the heart and soul of the 1959 Go-Go Sox, would have been three years shy of his 80th birthday were he still alive. Two decades earlier, Fox, who never shrank from a battle, went down swinging against cancer. The passing of a man who was so difficult to strike out was a troubling moment for baseball fans on the South Side. So, too, was the long wait his supporters endured before he was finally admitted to the Hall of Fame. With a championship banner now flying over “new Comiskey,” many of the players who passed through Chicago during the 88 years between World Series victories have taken on an especially warm glow. None is more deserving of this honor than Fox.

Jacob Nelson Fox was born on Christmas Day 1927 in St. Thomas, Pennsylvania, a town of less than 1,000 people in the fruit-growing region of the state's southern section. He was a bundle of energy, constantly moving and chattering from toddlerhood right into his teen years. Nellie turned out to be a pretty good athlete, too. He coaxed enormous speed and strength out of his wiry frame, but what gave him the edge over other boys in the games they played was the sheer joy he derived from competition.

Baseball was Nellie’s passion. He made his first appearance for the town team as a pinch-hitter in 1937, at the age of nine. The opposing pitcher was afraid he would kill the kid, so he laid one right down the middle for him—and Nellie laced it over second base for a single.

It wasn’t long before the youngster was the best player in town. When the World War II started, creating thousands of vacancies in pro ball, Nellie began to think he could make it despite his small size. After much pestering, in the spring of 1944, his father, Jacob, agreed to take him to Fredrick, Maryland, where the Philadelphia A’s were training.

They made the 90-mile drive in the battered old family car. The 16-year-old fantasized about how he would sign a contract, drop out of high school, and one day reach the major leagues. Jacob had another plan in mind: he figured the boy would get one look at real pro ball players and realize he was totally outclassed.

Legend has it that Nellie introduced himself to Connie Mack while smoking a cigar to make himself look older. He stood 5-6 and weighed about 135 pounds at the time, so one can imagine what kind of impression he made on baseball’s grand old man, with or without the stogey.

Whether or not this story is true, it is consistent with Nellie’s lifelong love of tobacco. Indeed, he is best remembered for the enormous chaw of Red Man bulging from his cheek.

Nellie looked like the water boy compared to most of the people in training camp, but Mack liked the kid’s determination. “This boy has baseball in his blood,” he told a stupefied Jacob Fox. “Maybe you’d better leave him with me.”

Nellie signed and started that season with Lancaster of the Class-B Pennsylvania Interstate League, about an hour or so from his home. Wartime shortages forced many minor league clubs to snap up whatever local talent was available, even skinny 16-year-olds. Nellie played first base and the outfield for 24 games and was hitting .325 when he was spiked by a runner on a close play at first. He finished the season with Jamestown of the Class-D Pony League, patrolling the outfield full-time. In 56 games, he batted .304 while his foot recovered.

With the war drawing to a close and a lot of players coming back to baseball, Nellie realized his best chance to advance to the majors with his spindly frame was as a second baseman. In 1945, again with Lancaster, he was the top infielder in the Interstate League, leading the circuit in putouts, assists, fielding, hits, runs and triples. He was hardly a finished product—in fact, Mack and others remembered him for how clumsy he looked at second base.

Nellie’s contract was purchased by Philadelphia in 1946, but he spent the entire season in military service with the occupation forces in Korea. Nellie got brief call-ups in 1947 and 1948, playing most of the ‘47 season with Lancaster and most of ‘48 with Lincoln of the Class-A Western League. At Lincoln, Nellie tore it up at the plate, with a league-high 179 hits. He also led all second basemen in putouts and assists.

In June of his summer in Lincoln, he married Joanne Statler. They had two daughters, Tracy and Bonnie.

Mack had seen his fair share of second basemen in his 70 years of baseball, and sensed that Nellie would eventually make the grade as a defensive player. He was especially good at tracking down pop-ups. Nellie always handled balls that twisted other young players into knots, and never dropped anything he could get his glove on. Over the years, fans would come to regard any high pop within Nellie’s reach as an automatic out.

Mack was not as enthralled with Nellie’s hitting. The young infielder was an aggressive batter who seemed overanxious sometimes and overmatched at other times. And obviously he did not have much power. The old man talked to him about Max Bishop, the second baseman on his championship club of the 1930s. Bishop was sub-par with the stick, but contributed to the A’s offense with 100-plus walks almost every year. Nellie was not interested in walks. He was a hacker.

Nellie made the A's out of spring training in 1949, and spent the year as a backup to veteran Pete Suder. An excellent fielder, Suder was a good clutch hitter who had respectable power. Mack worked Nellie in when he could, getting him 247 at-bats, mostly against the league’s tougher righties. He hit .255 with six doubles, two triples and 21 RBIs. Philly had a surprising season, going 81-73 mostly on the strength of their pitching.

A couple of weeks after the '49 campaign, Nellie was informed that he had been dealt to the White Sox for Joe Tipton, a backup catcher who would never realize his intriguing power. GM Frank Lane had first spotted Nellie in the minors when he was scouting Bobby Shantz. He was captivated by the determination and grit of a player who clearly had no idea what he was doing at second base, but played like hell anyway. Lane ordered a crash course for Nellie at second in the spring of 1950, and he picked up the nuances of the position quickly. Nellie also credited Joe Gordon of the Indians with giving him tips on turning the double play.

Nellie was part of a rebuilt Chicago infield. He replaced Cass Michaels at second, while Chico Carrasquel, a Venezuelan star purchased from the Brooklyn Dodgers, took over for Luke Appling at short. Nellie’s first season in Chicago did not hint at the legendary status he would ultimately achieve there. The team’s weakest hitter, he batted just .247. The fact that he drew just 35 walks should have irritated Jack Onslow, but the Chicago skipperhad bigger problems. After the team lost 22 of its first 30 games, he was shown the door. Red Corriden took over and brought the White Sox home with a 60-94 mark.

The Chicago clubs of the early 1950s were a hodgepodge of young and old, talented and untalented. The front office had been in turmoil for two decades, as Charles Comiskey’s heirs battled for power and made some atrocious personnel decisions. The team’s best player was slugger Gus Zernial, whose power was wasted in cavernous Comiskey Park. Carrasquel had a great rookie year, at one point hitting in 24 straight games. The top arm on the pitching staff belonged to a young lefty named Billy Pierce. A high school phenom during the war years, he had a blazing fastball and a decent curve, and was in the process of adding a slider to his repertoire that would transform him into one the league’s best.

In 1951, Nellie established himself as a dependable everyday player. He grew more comfortable at the plate, as witnessed by his .313 average and team-high 189 hits. The sharp improvement came after a spring experimenting with hitting coach Doc Cramer, who told him to lose the toothpick bat that was getting knocked out of his hands, and switch to a thick club that would ensure he got good wood on every swing. Cramer also opened up Nellie’s stance. The inside fastballs that had tied him up were now right in his wheelhouse. The result was 32 doubles and 55 RBIs, while Nellie struck out just 11 times. He also earned his first of a dozen trips to the All-Star Game.

Nellie had beefed up a bit since coming to the White Sox, but he still looked tiny compared to his teammates. He tipped the scales at around 155 pounds and was listed most places at a generous 5-9. Still, he could not be intimidated or outsmarted. He hustled all the time, absorbed significant punishment around second base, and was a non-stop chatterbox. Indeed, no player in the league yakked it up more on the field or in the dugout. Over the next 15 seasons, the most familiar sound at Comiskey Park was the relentless and piercing voice of the team’s second baseman.

The White Sox went 81-73 with Paul Richards at the helm in 1951, and began to shows signs that they could be a consistently competitive team. A three-way deal with the Cleveland Indians and A’s that April saw Zernial leave (and subsequently lead the A.L. in homers and RBIs), but brought to the team Minnie Minoso, Chicago’s first African-American player. The Cuban speed demon transformed the White Sox. He homered in his first at-bat with the club, and went on to lead the league in steals and finish second in runs and batting.

In 1952, the White Sox rose to third place and Nellie continued to flourish. He collected 192 hits to top the AL, and also had a league-high 648 at-bats. Chicago picked up some more key players, including catcher Sherm Lollar and colorful outfielder Jim Rivera from the St. Louis Browns. Hitting behind Nellie and Minoso, first baseman Eddie Robinson enjoyed the best year of his career, with a .296 average and 104 RBIs. Pierce had his first winning season, but the unsung star of the pitching staff was long reliever Harry Dorish, who won eight games and saved 11.

Chicago duplicated its third-place finish in 1953, and Richards was hailed as a genius. No hitter had what could be called a standout season, though Minoso, Rivera and Nellie all had productive years. Dorrish turned in another great performance from the bullpen, but the breakout in ’53 belonged to Pierce, who won 18 games and led the A.L. in strikeouts.

As Nellie cemented his reputation as a good everyday player, it became apparent that it would take an act of God to keep him out of the lineup. He once hacked at a pitch and fouled it into his own eye. He was back in the lineup the next day as a pinch-hitter, looking like he had gone 15 rounds with Rocky Marciano. The day after that he was manning second base. On another occasion, Nellie was benched by Richards, who believed he was wearing out. Fox was like an ant on a hot rock in the dugout, driving everyone crazy. Finally, Richards put him in the game, telling reporters later that he was wearing everyone else out.

The team’s next manager, Marty Marion, played it smarter. During spring training, when Nellie was nursing an injury, he ordered the team bus to leave without him for road games, and made him sit in the stands in street clothes during home games.

Marion took the reigns at the tail end of the 1954 season, after Richards quit in September. Hoping to secure a raise and a long-term deal from the team, Richards had been turned down flat by management. The players and fans were shocked at their skipper’s departure. Chicago had already won more than 90 games, and there were still a couple of weeks left to play. They ultimately finished third again, behind the Indians and New York Yankees.

Nellie had another terrific year in '54. He led the AL with 201 hits, batted .319, and also swiped a career-high 16 bases. Minoso had a strong season, too. He was the only player in baseball to reach double-digits in doubles, triples, homers, and steals. And though Pierce slogged throughan off-year, veterans Virgil Trucks, Sandy Consuegra, Bob Keegan and Morrie Martin picked up the slack.

The 1955 campaign started with great excitement in Chicago. The Yankees were looking vulnerable, the Indians were still reeling from being swept in the World Series, and the White Sox seemed to have a team capable of winning both at home and on the road. Slugger Walt Dropo was added for nothing after a disastrous year with the Detroit Tigers, and third baseman George Kell—picked up midway through the previous season—looked like he had regained his stroke in spring training. Dick Donovan, another castoff from the Tigers, unveiled a devastating slider in spring camp, and joined Pierce to give the White Sox a terrific one-two punch on the hill.

As the Indians and Yankees battled for first place all season, the White Sox hung in, just a few games behind. But a late-season pitching shake-up in New York gave the extra wins it needed to capture the pennant. Chicago finished third again, five games back.

Now in his prime, Nellie proved beyond question that he was one heck of a player.For the second year in a row, he topped 100 runs—no small feat on a team that struggled to score. He also batted .311 to finish just a point behind Kell for the team lead, and raised his slugging average to .406 for the first time in his career.

Not surprisingly, Nellie’s popularity soared during the mid 1950s, as he was hailed as one of the little giants of American sports. Phil Rizzuto and Bobby Shantz—both MVPs earlier in the decade—were baseball’s other notable small players. Nellie’s Fan Club not only included kids from the Chicago area, but from cities and towns all over the nation. They called him “Mighty Mite,” though the name never real caught on among teammates and the press. Outside of hitting the long ball, there was almost nothing he could not do on a ball field.

Among Nellie’s considerable skills was his ability to bunt. His early managers claimed he was one of the best in baseball, though he did not enjoy it. His bat control was good enough to move runners over, and with third basemen playing on the grass against him anyway, he preferred to swing away rather than playing into their hands.

This began to change in 1956, when Luis Aparicio replaced Carrasquel as Chicago’s shortstop. Carrasqual, Nellie’s longtime double-play partner, had been fighting a losing battle against an expanding waistline, and Aparicio brought more speed to the lineup. In turn, bunting became a productive way to get the pitchers the precious runs they needed. Nellie not only bunted more, he became even more aggressive on the bases. Although he did not steal as often, he turned a lot of double into triples, and took more chances scoring on short hits.

Despite a more potent attack—which also included newcomer Larry Doby—the White Sox failed to rise in the standings, and for the fifth straight year, they wound up in third place. Marion was fired at the end of the season and Al Lopez, skipper of the Indians, was hired to run the team.

The White Sox started like a house afire in 1957, putting some distance between themselves and the Yankees in April and May. Nellie was having what would be his best year at the plate, but in the end the Bronx Bombers claimed another pennant. Chicago’s speed and pitching (Aparicio led the league with 28 stolen bases and Pierce topped the league with 20 wins) was good for 90 victories and a disappointing second-place finish.

Nellie topped the league with 196 hits and scored 110 runs. He was fourth on the team with 61 RBIs, and drew 75 walks and was hit by a pitch 16 times. His newfound patience did not cost him in the strikeout category, however— he whiffed a mere 13 times.

Studying the numbers, Lopez liked what he had to work with. The '57 team had reached triple-digits in stolen bases—something that had not been done in baseball since 1945. A key addition was young outfielder Jim Landis, who swiped 14 bags in limited action.

Ironing out the wrinkles in this offense required time, however, as witnessed by Chicago's perplexing 1958 campaign. The White Sox exchanged Minoso for Al Smith and Early Wynn, but despite good seasons from both players, the team lagged in the standings. They ended up in second place, but with just 82 wins—a testament to their lackluster year, and the poor quality of their AL competition.

The lone bright spot for the White Sox in ’58 was their keystone combination, which was now being hailed as the best in baseball. Nellie and Luis were flawless defenders in the field, and dangerous table-setters at the top of the lineup. Nellie led the league in hits again, and Aparicio was tops in steals. Yet it was a lesson in wasted opportunity, as incredibly, only one player on the team—Sherm Lollar—could manage more than 65 RBIs.

White Sox fans may not have known what to make of Lopez’s team, but they knew an opportunity when they saw one. When the Yankees tumbled to the bottom of the standings in May of 1959, the AL pennant was up for grabs. This was the chance Lopez had been waiting for. As the summer wore on, it became clear that Chicago’s only competition from supremacy in the league would come from his old team, the Indians. When the “Go-Go” Sox invaded Cleveland and swept a four-game series at the end of August, they ended the race right there.

The White Sox played near-perfect baseball in ‘59. Wynn pitched bravely and brilliantly to notch 22 victories. Bob Shaw, picked up from the Tigers in ’58 for bullpen help, became a starter and won 18 times. Pierce contributed 14 W's, while retreads Turk Lown and Gerry Staley combined to win 17 and save 29.

The offense was ignited by Nellie and Aparicio. Lopez instructed his players to attack relentlessly. Aparicio swiped 56 bases, Landis matured into a dependable on-base guy, Lollar had one of his best power years, Al Smith chipped in 17 homers, and Nellie led the league with 34 doubles. At home, the White Sox outpitched and outfielded their opponents. On the road, they had just enough oomph to outhit their hosts. They finished 94-60, five games ahead of the Indians and 15 ahead of the Yankees.

For Nellie, it was a magical year. Every time the team needed to score a run or stop a run, he always seemed to be involved somehow. With Mickey Mantle having an off-year, there was no question who the league’s best player was. After the season, Nellie was awarded the MVP.

The White Sox met the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series, and powered their way to an 11-0 victory in the opener at Comiskey. Shaw blew a lead in Game 2, and L evened the series, which shifted to the West Coast. There the Chicago running game stalled, and the timely hits that had come so frequently during the regular season were no longer rifling off their bats. The White Sox lost 3-1 in Game 3, as reliever Larry Sherry slammed the door for the second time in a row. When Sherry won Game 4 in relief, the Dodgers seized a commanding series lead. Though Shaw outdueled Sandy Koufax 1-0 in Game 5 to keep Chicago’s hopes alive, Sherry finished them off back in Comiskey with six innings of spotless relief.

The hitting star of the series for the White Sox was Ted Kluszewsi, who was acquired during the season in a trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Nellie had his moments too, reaching base 13 times in 28 plate appearances, and leading all hitters with three doubles and four walks.

The man who had helped build the 1959 pennant-winner, Bill Veeck, also contributed to the team’s ensuing downfall by making several ill-advised trades after the series. He dealt prospects Norm Cash, Johnny Callison, Johnny Romano, Earl Battey and Don Mincher, and received a group of aging players in return. Had the Sox hung on to these talented offensive players, they might have been a dominant force during the 1960s.

With five regulars and five key members of the pitching staff over 30, the White Sox were looking long in the tooth. Nellie had a nice year in 1960, however, topping the league in at-bats and triples. The team had a balanced attack, with newly acquired Roy Sievers and Minoso also back in the fold. No starter managed more than 14 wins, however, and the Chicago sank to third place.

The 1961 season saw the White Sox drop to fourth in the standings. The only team to challenge the pennant-winning Yankees that year were the Tigers, who were led by former Chicago farmhand Cash, the league’s batting champion. Nellie had his first off-year, collecting a mere 152 hits and batting just .251. In 1962, the White Sox fell another rung, to fifth, and Nellie missed out on the Mid-Summer Classic for the first time in more than 10 years. In 1963, he had his last hurrah as an All-Star, but Lopez no longer penciled his name into the lineup every day. Al Weis, a middle infielder who reminded some of Nellie when he was younger, got into 48 games at second and batted .271 with 15 stolen bases. Nellie, ever the team player, did not complain. The White Sox were changing, and changing for the better. They won 94 games and came in second—and would repeat this finish again in 1964 and 1965.

Nellie would have nothing to do with those teams. In December of 1963, he was sent to the Houston Colt 45s for a couple of fringe players and cash. His job was to draw a few thousand fans and hold down the second base job until Joe Morgan was ready to take over.

The 1964 Colts had an anemic offense that featured just one player with 20 homers (Walt Bond) and one player with 20 doubles (Bob Aspromonte). Nellie appeared in 133 games and batted .265—the third-best average among the Houston regulars. The pitching was respectable enough to churn out 66 victories, but the club still finished ninth, costing manager Harry Craft his job in September.

The most interesting thing about the Colts? They were set to play the following season in baseball’s first indoor stadium, the Astrodome. The club also had a lot of young talent waiting in the wings—including Morgan, Rusty Staub, Jerry Grote, Jim Wynn, Sonny Jackson, Dave Giusti and Larry Dierker. That was enough ton convince Nellie to sign on for another season, but this time he would be a coach instead of a player. At least, that was the plan. When manager Luman Harris needed a utilityman with some pinch-hitting experience, he turned to Nellie. Now known as the Astros, the team activated him in May. He ended up playing in 21 games and batted a very respectable .268.

His biggest contribution to the Astros—again a ninth-place team—was his tutleage of Morgan. Nellie worked tirelessly with the rookie and taught him the fine points of turning two. He told Morgan to find the smallest glove possible—both he and Bill Mazeroski favored tiny gloves, which helped them feel the ball when they handled it. This, said Nellie, was the key to becoming a great second baseman. Morgan was shocked that an old white veteran would spend so much time grooming a young black player who had essentially pushed him out of a job. Nellie kept telling him it was a pleasure, reminding Morgan that he had twice the talent Nellie ever had.

Nellie genuinely enjoyed molding talent like Morgan’s and remained a coach for eight seasons. In 1968, he joined the Washington Senators and stayed on Ted Williams’ staff after he took the helm in 1969. Williams had long been an admirer of Nellie’s, and for good reason. Nellie helped the team rise from dead last in '68 to an 86-76 mark in '69. The following year, when the White Sox were searching for a new manager, rumors began circulating that Nellie had the inside track. In the end, Chuck Tanner edged him out for the job. Nellie stayed with the Senators and moved to Texas when the team relocated in 1972.

In 1973, Nellie was diagnosed with cancer. His decline was slow and agonizing. One of the last people he talked to was Veeck, who was scheming to buy the White Sox again. He told Nellie to get better—he wanted him to manage the team. Nellie Fox passed away in Baltimore on December 1, 1975.

Nellie’s playing record is one of the most impressive in league history. He was selected to play in the All-Star Game 13 times in a span of 14 seasons. He led the league in hits four times, in games played five times, and in singles seven years in a row. Nellie had the AL’s top fielding average on six occasions, in double plays five times, and led the league in fewest strikeouts a record 11 times.

Those who remembered Nellie as a player assumed he would find his way into the Hall of Fame, and in the years after he became eligible for enshrinement, his vote total climbed steadily. In 1985, he garnered 74.6 percent of the votes necessary to enter Cooperstown—just shy of the required 75 percent. From there, his totals dropped, and not until 1997 was he finally installed by the Veterans Committee.

In August of 2001, an historical marker was unveiled at ceremony in Nellie’s hometown of St. Thomas. Among the family, friends, and admirers were a number of his old teammates, including Bobby Shantz. The marker reads: “Known for his passion and work ethic, Fox was an A.L. MVP (1959), a 3-time Gold Glove Award winner, and a 12-time All-Star. His boyhood home stands nearby.”