This Day In Sox History...January 8

[Lip Man 1]

January 8, 2014 – White Sox legend Frank Thomas, was elected to the Hall of Fame on his first try, with 83.7 per cent support.

Thomas played the first 16 years of his career on the South Side, and was a five-time All-Star and two-time M.V.P.

He also was the largest person both in height and weight to win a batting championship when he hit .347 in 1997. He also was the only player in history to hit over .300 with at least 100 runs, 100 RBI’s, 20 home runs and 100 walks in each of his first seven seasons.

 

[pcq]

Also the first-only slugger over 500 lbs. to have a successful Nugenix career. 

[South Side Hit Men]

The only player who played the majority of their career with the White Sox inducted on their first ballot.

One of eight BBWAA / Old Timers Inductees who played the largest share of games for the Chicago White Sox. 

BBWAA / Old Timers Committee Inductees:

1939 BBWAA Eddie Collins 1,670 Games (4th ballot 77.7%, JAWS 2nd)

1946 OT Ed Walsh 426 Games (Highest BBWAA 55.5%, JAWS 38th)

1955 BBWAA Ted Lyons 594 Games (10th Ballot 86.5%, JAWS 39th)

1964 BBWAA Luke Appling 2,422 Games (7th Ballot 70.6%, JAWS 7th)

1984 BBWAA Luis Aparicio 1,511 Games (6th Ballot 84.6%, JAWS 22nd)

1985 BBWAA Hoyt Wilhelm 361 Games (8th Ballot 83.8%, JAWS 3rd)

2000 BBWAA Carlton Fisk 1,421 Games (2nd Ballot 79.6%, JAWS 4th)

2014 BBWAA Frank Thomas 1,959 Games (1st Ballot 83.7%, JAWS 9th)

Veterans Committee inductees:

1955 Ray Schalk 1,757 Games (Highest BBWAA 45.0%, JAWS 31st)

1964 Red Faber 669 Games (Highest BBWAA 30.9%, JAWS 66th)

1997 Nellie Fox 2,115 Games (Highest BBWAA 74.7%, JAWS 23rd)

2019 Harold Baines 1,670 Games (Highest BBWAA 6.1%, JAWS 76th)

2022 Minnie Minoso 1,373 Games (Highest BBWAA 21.1%, JAWS 18th)

Frank is also the lone White Sox with multiple MVP Awards, one of 33 MLB Players who have accomplished this over 104 AL and 102 NL Seasons. Nellie Fox (1959), Dick Allen (1972) and Jose Abreu (2020) are the three other White Sox MVPs.

MLB Players with Multiple MVP (Both 1931-2022), League (AL 1922-1928 & NL 1924-1929) and Chalmers (1910 AL, Both 1911-1914) Awards within each League:

Seven: B. Bonds

Three: Y. Berra, R. Campanella, J. DiMaggio, J. Foxx, M. Mantle, S. Musial, A. Pujols, A. Rodriguez, M. Schmidt, M. Trout

Two: E. Banks, J. Bench, M. Cabrera, M. Cochrane, T. Cobb, L. Gehrig, J. Gonzalez, H. Greenberg, B. Harper, R. Hornsby, C. Hubbell, W. Johnson, R. Maris, W. Mays, J. Morgan, D. Murphy, H. Newhouser, C. Ripken Jr., F. Robinson, F. Thomas, T. Williams, R. Yount

Edited January 9, 2023 by South Side Hit Men