Today in White Sox History: October 19

The Denver Post via Getty Images “The little man with the giant chaw of tobacco,” Nellie Fox, was acquired by the White Sox in a steal of a deal on this day, 72 years ago.1949

White Sox GM Frank Lane struck again.

Lane dealt backup catcher and malcontent Joe Tipton to the Philadelphia A’s for a young, diminutive 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 White Sox in 1976, make 12 All-Star teams, win the AL MVP award in 1959 and become one of the faces of the “Go-Go” Sox during the 1950s and…