Fox was not selected to the Hall of Fame in his initial period of eligibility. In his final ballot cast by baseball writers in 1985, he gained 74.7 percent of the vote, just shy of the 75 percent (traditionally baseball percentages were rounded off) required for election by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. However, in , the Hall of Fame's Veterans Committee elected him. He had the required 75% of the committee's vote in 1996, but the committee was allowed to vote in only one former MLB player; Jim Bunning was inducted after receiving one more vote than Fox. Prior to his Hall of Fame election, a group of fans formed the Nellie Fox Society to promote his case for induction. The group grew to as many as 600 members, including Richard M. Daley, James R. Thompson, George Will and several former MLB players.