Chicago White Sox Top Ten: Minnie, Luis and Ozzie
By Tab Bamford
The White Sox connections to Latin America, specifically Venezuela and Cuba, have been a driver of their on-field success. The Sox established a talent pipeline in Venezuela early, becoming the first franchise to truly benefit from what became known as the land of shortstops. Alfonso “Chico” Carrasquel came first in 1950. The outstanding shortstop became the first Venezuelan selected to an All Star Game in 1951. Next arrived Luis Aparicio, the greatest shortstop in franchise history who earned five consecutive All Star game selections as a White Sox (1958-62).
While not a direct product of their scouting in Venezuela, the Sox acquired another Venezuelan shortstop in Ozzie Guillén through a 1980 trade with the Padres. Guillén made his own bit of history joining Aparicio as Venezuelans to win AL Rookie of the Year. Their Cuban connection has been just as impressive, starting with Orestes Miñoso’s pioneering the racial integration of the Sox in 1951 and through more recent years with their signing of Cubans Alexei Ramirez, José Abreu, and Luis Robert along with previous acquisition of José Contreras, Orlando “El Duque” Hernández, and Yoan Moncada.
Our look at the Latino players to make the biggest contribution in the history of the 30 Major League organizations now turns to Chicago. A reminder that we figured out the Top 10 for each team by keeping it simple, creating the rankings based on WAR as calculated by Baseball-Reference.com.
Let’s take a look to see how significant where the Sox’s Venezuelan and Cuban connections in their all-time Top 10 list.
Chicago White Sox
1. Orestes “Minnie” Miñoso
12* years with the White Sox, 41.7 WAR, eight-time All-Star, two Gold Gloves
Cuba
Miñoso joined the White Sox in 1951 as part of a three-team trade involving Cleveland, Chicago and the Philadelphia Athletics that took place on April 30. All he did after the trade was produce a strong enough resume to not only finish runner-up for the American League Rookie of the Year Award (to Gil McDougald of the Yankees) but also fourth in MVP voting. Miñoso led the league in stolen bases three times, triples three times and hits once (1960). He finished in the top-five of MVP voting three times as well. We put an asterisk on his 12 years in Chicago because he appeared in three games as a 50-year-old in 1976 (still got one hit) and two more in 1980 at the age of 54. In total, Miñoso appeared in 1,373 games and totaled 1,523 hits, 893 runs and 808 RBI for the White Sox.
2. Luis Aparicio
10 years with the White Sox, 35.2 WAR, nine-time All-Star, seven Gold Gloves, 1956 AL Rookie of the Year
Venezuela
Aparicio was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1984, the first Venezuelan-born player to find a home in Cooperstown. He was a game-changer on the bases, leading the league in stolen bases in his first nine seasons (the first seven of which were in Chicago). In 1959 he finished runner-up for the American League MVP to his double play teammate, Nellie Fox; the two were separated by only 40 vote points. In 1,511 games with Chicago he stole 318 bases and scored 791 runs.
3. Magglio Ordóñez
Eight years with the White Sox, 25.2 WAR, four-time All-Star
Venezuela
Ordóñez first appeared in Chicago in 1997, appearing in 21 games. By 1999 he was one of the big bats in the Sox lineup, producing his first of four consecutive 30-homer, 110-plus RBI seasons. In 1,001 games with the White Sox he hit 187 home runs and drove in 703 runs. He also stole 82 bases before signing with Detroit before the 2005 season.
4. Alexei Ramírez
Eight years with the White Sox, 23.0 WAR, one All-Star Game, two Silver Sluggers
Cuba
Ramírez joined the White Sox in 2008 and finished the runner-up to Tampa’s Evan Longoria for the American League Rookie of the Year Award. He was a steady shortstop who posted two seasons of better than 100 OPS+ and four with at least 70 RBI. Ramírez appeared in 1,226 games for Chicago, hitting 109 home runs and 227 doubles with 563 runs and 542 RBI.
5. José Quintana
Six years with the White Sox, 21.3 WAR, one All-Star Game
Colombia
The first player on the list who is still active, Quintana was traded across Chicago last season. Not many pitchers have been betrayed by their bullpen as frequently as Quintana over the last five years; in 172 games for the White Sox, Quintana had a 50-54 record in spite of an ERA+ of 115. Quintana threw at least 200 innings in four consecutive seasons (2013-16) and represented the White Sox in the 2016 All-Star Game in what would be his best year with the team; he posted a 13-12 record in 208 innings pitched.
6. Alex Fernandez
Seven years with the White Sox, 20.4 WAR
Cuba/US
Chicago made Fernandez the fourth overall selection in the 1990 MLB Amateur Draft; 2018 Hall of Fame inductee Chipper Jones went first that year. His best season came in 1993 as a 23-year-old when he won 18 games and threw 247.1 innings. Over his Chicago career, Fernandez would post a 79-63 record with 951 strikeouts in 1,346.1 innings.
7. Ozzie Guillén
13 years with the White Sox, 19.5 WAR, three-time All-Star, 1985 AL Rookie of the Year
Venezuela
Guillén is still the all-time leader in Defensive WAR for the Sox (21.3) and his 1,743 games played rank sixth among batters for the organization. He was acquired from San Diego in a seven-player deal that sent LaMarr Hoyt to the Padres in December of 1984 and would stay at short for more than a decade. He would later return as the manager of the Sox and lead them to the 2005 World Series title.
8. Chico Carrasquel
Six years with the White Sox, 19.2 WAR, four-time All-Star
Venezuela
Carrasquel was the first in a long line of impressive shortstops from Venezuela to play on Chicago’s south side. He slashed .265/.339/.686 with 410 runs and 307 RBI in 837 games with the White Sox between 1950 and 1955. He appeared in three straight All-Star Games (1953-55) before he was traded with Jim Busby to Cleveland for Larry Doby.
9. José Abreu
Five years with the White Sox, 18.1 WAR, one All-Star Game, 2014 AL Rookie of the Year
Cuba
The only current White Sox player on the list, Abreu joined the Sox at age 27 in 2014. He has been a model of consistency into his fifth season; he has driven in at least 100 runs in all four of his full seasons in Chicago and has hit at least 32 doubles in each season as well. Abreu led the league in slugging percentage (.581) and OPS+ (173) in his Rookie of the Year campaign and led the league with 343 total bases in 2017.
10. Wilson Álvarez
Seven years with the White Sox, 17.5 WAR, one All-Star Game
Venezuela
Álvarez was acquired by the White Sox in an intriguing trade in Chicago history. Harold Baines and Fred Manrique went to Texas for Álvarez, Scott Fletcher and Sammy Sosa. He threw a no-hitter in Baltimore in his second big league start. Álvarez represented the Sox in the 1994 All-Star Game and finished his time in Chicago with a 67-50 record.
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Featured Image: Library of Congress