James Harry "Jim" Viox was a professional baseball

Baseball

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

 player who played for five seasons in the National League

National League

The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...

 from 1912 to 1916, all of them with the Pittsburgh Pirates

Pittsburgh Pirates

The Pittsburgh Pirates are a Major League Baseball club based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They play in the Central Division of the National League, and are five-time World Series Champions...

. He played second base

Second baseman

Second base, or 2B, is the second of four stations on a baseball diamond which must be touched in succession by a base runner in order to score a run for that player's team. A second baseman is the baseball player guarding second base...

 for much of his career, and played in the middle infield with Honus Wagner

Honus Wagner

-Louisville Colonels:Recognizing his talent, Barrow recommended Wagner to the Louisville Colonels. After some hesitation about his awkward figure, Wagner was signed by the Colonels, where he hit .338 in 61 games....

 during the latter's final seasons.

Viox made his major league debut on May 9, 1912. In 33 games that season, he hit

Batting average

Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...

 .186 while spending time in the field at third base

Third baseman

A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run...

 and shortstop

Shortstop

Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball fielding position between second and third base. Shortstop is often regarded as the most dynamic defensive position in baseball, because there are more right-handed hitters in baseball than left-handed hitters, and most hitters have a tendency to pull the...

. The following season, in 1913, Viox became the team's regular second baseman, replacing Alex McCarthy

Alex McCarthy (baseball)

Alexander George McCarthy) was a professional baseball infielder. He played all or part of eight seasons in Major League Baseball from 1910 to 1917. He played over 100 games each as a second baseman, shortstop and third baseman....

 at that position. In his first full season, he hit .317, setting a rookie record for batting average by a second basemen that was not matched until 2007 when Dustin Pedroia

Dustin Pedroia

Dustin Luis Pedroia is an American professional baseball second baseman with the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball. Pedroia has won several awards in Major League Baseball, including the 2007 American League Rookie of the Year and the 2008 AL MVP award...

 also hit .317. During the season, Viox finished in the top 10 in batting average, on base percentage

On base percentage

In baseball statistics, on-base percentage is a measure of how often a batter reaches base for any reason other than a fielding error, fielder's choice, dropped/uncaught third strike, fielder's obstruction, or catcher's interference In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) (sometimes...

, slugging percentage, runs scored

Run (baseball)

In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted balls are met or assured...

, double

Double (baseball)

In baseball, a double is the act of a batter striking the pitched ball and safely reaching second base without being called out by the umpire, without the benefit of a fielder's misplay or another runner being put out on a fielder's choice....

s, and sacrifice hits.

His batting average fell over the next two seasons, to .265 in 1914 and .256 in 1915. He showed a good batting eye during those seasons, however, as in both years he was ranked among the top 10 in walks

Base on balls

A base on balls is credited to a batter and against a pitcher in baseball statistics when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls balls. It is better known as a walk. The base on balls is defined in Section 2.00 of baseball's Official Rules, and further detail is given in 6.08...

. In his final season in the major leagues, he played in only 43 games and batted .250; his time with the Pirates ended when the club made major changes to its roster.

After his playing days were over, he managed for a time in the minor leagues

Minor league baseball

Minor league baseball is a hierarchy of professional baseball leagues in the Americas that compete at levels below Major League Baseball and provide opportunities for player development. All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses...

. During this time, he won two Virginia League

Virginia League

The Virginia League was a minor league baseball affiliation which operated in Virginia and North Carolina from 1906 to 1928. It was classified as a "C" league from 1906 to 1919 and as a "B" league from 1920 to 1928....

 championships in 1920 and 1921 while managing Portsmouth.

Viox died on January 6, 1969 in Erlanger, Kentucky

Erlanger, Kentucky

Erlanger is a city in Kenton County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 16,676 at the 2000 census.- Geography :Erlanger is located at ....

.