Top 50 Chicago White Sox
An inaugural team when the American League formed in 1901, the Chicago White Sox were first called the Chicago White Stockings, but that would be a brief moniker as they would shorten that to the Chicago White Sox, the name that they hold today.
Despite the lengthy existence of the franchise, this has not been one of the more successful teams in the AL. Chicago won their first World Series in 1906, and in 1917 they captured their second. In 1919, they were considered the best team in baseball and were expected the crush the Cincinnati Reds of the National League. Chicago lost, and it later came out that the players on the team conspired to throw games for financial benefit. The ChiSox struggled for decades after and would not win another Pennant until 1959. They lost the World Series, and it would take until 2005 until they reached the Fall Classic again. This time, they won, marking their third World Series win.
This list is up to the end of the 2023 season.
Note: Baseball lists are based on an amalgamation of tenure, traditional statistics, advanced statistics, playoff statistics, and post-season accolades.
Let's begin by saying that this was not as much a runaway choice as we initially thought it would be. As you scroll through the next few options, you will see why, but in the end, we decided that Frank Thomas is the greatest player in Chicago White Sox history.
Ed Walsh at number two was a massive surprise to us. When we began the list of the best Chicago White Sox of all-time, we knew that Ed Walsh would receive a high rank, but the more we looked at how dominant he was, the more we knew deserved the #2 rank.
Luke Appling would play his entire career with the Chicago White Sox, which would span 20 years. Debuting with the Sox in 1930 after his contract was purchased from Atlanta in the Southern Association, he played sparingly that year, though he would see more action the season after.
Ted Lyons went to Baylor University, where he played baseball and was planning to go after a law degree. Instead, he signed with the Chicago White Sox, the only team that he would ever play professionally for at the Major League level. Most of the time, when we say that, we are referring to the organization (including their minor league affiliates), or in other cases, the only team in the Majors. Here, this is precisely what is implied, as Lyons never played a game in the minors.
A 20-year veteran of the White Sox, Red Faber played all of his two decades in the Majors in the Windy City. Faber debuted for the team in 1914, and in 1915, he would win 24 Games, establishing himself as one of the better pitchers in the American League. With a vast repertoire of pitches (including the spitball), Faber would help the White Sox win the 1917 World Championship, where he would win two games.
In our opinion, one of the most underrated Pitchers that ever existed has to be Billy Pierce, who was a seven-time All-Star and five-time leader in bWAR with the White Sox.
Eddie Collins had already established himself as an elite baseball player, having led the Philadelphia Athletics to a World Series win in 1910, 1911, and 1913. In 1914, he would win the American League MVP Award. Despite the success of the Athletics, Connie Mack unloaded some of his best players for cost-cutting purposes, and despite receiving a considerable offer to stay (as opposed to jump to the Federal League), Collins declined. He would be sold to the Chicago White Sox for $50,000, a colossal amount for that time.
The offensive leader of the Chicago’s “Go-Go Sox” teams of the 50s, Nellie Fox first arrived in the Windy City when he was traded after the 1949 season straight up for Joe Tipton. This transaction would turn out to be one of the most lopsided trades in history, as Tipton would only have 113 Hits for the Athletics, and Fox would begin his march to Cooperstown.
In terms of iconic figures, would have been wrong if we placed Minnie Minoso at number one? Clearly, we didn't, but the native of Havana, Cuba, will always be one of the most revered athletes in the history of Chicago.
Eddie Cicotte was known to be an inconsistent player when he was with the Boston Red Sox, and he would run afoul of Red Sox management who sold him to Chicago during the 1912 Season.
Wilbur Wood had bounced around from the majors to minors in two organizations (Boston and Pittsburgh) for a few years, and when he was traded to the Chicago White Sox in 1966 for a Player to be Named Later, nobody really paid attention.
The ace of the White Sox staff throughout the first decade of the 2000s, Mark Buehrle relied on his finesse and ability to get batters to hit themselves out. As it would turn out, he was damned good at it!
The first two seasons of Guy Harris "Doc" White's Major League career were with the Philadelphia Phillies of the National League. He was an excellent Pitcher there, but he elected to take his talents to the Chicago White Sox in 1903 and the American League, where he would play for eleven years.
From Venezuela, Luis Aparicio was signed as an Amateur Free Agent in 1954, and two years later, he was the first Latin American player to be named the Rookie of the Year. The Shortstop would lead the American League in Stolen Bases with 21, and he would swipe more bases than anyone else in each of the next eight years, six of which were with the White Sox.
Nicknamed the “condor” for his condor-like delivery, Chris Sale played his first seven games in the Majors with the Chicago White Sox.
YANKEE STADIUM PREGAME TOUR
Jan 01, 1970
Buy your Tickets to see Yankee Stadium Pregame Tour HERE!
PREGAME GLIMPSE OF GREATNESS
Jan 01, 1970
Buy your Tickets to see Pregame Glimpse of Greatness HERE!
CLASSIC TOUR AT YANKEE STADIUM
Jan 01, 1970
Buy your Tickets to see Classic Tour at Yankee Stadium HERE!
TOURS: TRUIST PARK
Jan 01, 1970
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Paul Konerko was one of the most popular players in White Sox history, and when you hit as many Home Runs as he hid did, it was easy to see why.
A superstar in Cuba, Jose Abreu defected in 2013, and it was the White Sox who won the sweepstakes to sign him.
Forget about Robin Ventura’s face meeting Nolan Ryan’s fist. This was a very good Major League baseball player who was a former first round pick and was a two-time All-Star, the first one being with Chicago.
You could say the Thornton Lee was a late bloomer in the Majors, as he did not get his first pitch in the bigs until he was 26 with Cleveland in 1933. Lee was traded four years later to the pale hose in 1937, and after a pedestrian stay with the Tribe, he was set to break out in Chicago.