White Sox all-time home run hitters – No. 5: Magglio Ordonez
187 home runs from 1997-2004
Magglio Ordonez was just 17 years old when he signed with the Chicago White Sox as an international free agent in May 1991, but the Venezuelan outfielder worked his way up the organization until making his major league debut on Aug. 29, 1997, and cracking his first career homer the following day off Houston Astros’ right-hander Jose Lima.
Ordonez broke out in 1999, earning the first of four All-Star appearances while he was with Chicago and hitting 30 homers and driving in 117 runs. It was the first of four consecutive seasons with at least 30 homers and 110 RBI for Ordonez, who hit a career-high 38 long balls in 2002.
A two-time Silver Slugger winner while with the White Sox, Ordonez’s career in Chicago came to an end in July 2004 when he sustained a serious knee injury. The White Sox did not re-sign Ordonez when his contract expired that October and he signed with the Detroit Tigers in February 2005.
His last homer with the Sox came on July 15, 2004, off Rich Harden of the Oakland Athletics. Ordonez did not have a postseason homer for Chicago, going 2-for-11 with a triple as the White Sox were swept by the Seattle Mariners in the 2000 ALDS.