Lots of star Chicago White Sox 1B came back to haunt them after leaving
Jose Abreu and Frank Thomas will be forever linked in Chicago White Sox history.
Abreu and Thomas, both powerful right-handed hitters, are two of the greatest first basemen in the history of the franchise.
The 6-foot-3, 235-pound Abreu and the 6-5, 240-pound Thomas combined to hit 691 home runs in 25 seasons with the White Sox, each winning a Most Valuable Player award (Abreu in 2020, Thomas in 1993 and 1994).
Abreu, a three-time All Star, began his major league career with the White Sox in 2014, the same year Thomas, a five-time All Star, was elected to baseball's Hall of Fame.
Both are in the Top Ten in White Sox history in slugging percentage, OPS, runs scored, hits, total bases, doubles, home runs, RBI, strikeouts, and extra-base hits.
Both Abreu and Thomas also left the White Sox the same way, as free agents. Abreu signed a three-year, roughly $60 million contract with the Houston Astros in late November while Thomas signed a one-year, $3 million deal with the Oakland A's in January 2006.
The White Sox received nothing for their quarter century of combined service except a long line of gaudy statistics, honors, and fond memories.
The White Sox, which open the season Thursday against Abreu's Astros in Houston, we have to hope the similarities between Thomas and Abreu end there.
Thomas, after all, rarely failed to put a big hurt on the White Sox after he left Chicago.
Thomas' rude treatment of the White Sox started his very first game against his former teammates.
Thomas, just five days past his 38th birthday, came to U.S. Cellular Field on the night of May 22, 2006, and promptly hit a solo home run on the fifth pitch he saw from Jon Garland to give the Athletics a 1-0 lead.
He drilled a 2-2 pitch from Garland for a single to left field in the third inning.
In the fifth inning, Thomas crushed a one-strike offering from Garland for his second home run of the game as the A's took a 4-0 lead. The White Sox would rally to beat the A's 5-4 in the 10th inning on a Pablo Ozuna bunt single (scoring A.J. Pierzynski) to send a crowd of 39,354 home happy.
The fans saw the Sox win and also witnessed a classic performance by Thomas, who went 3-for-5 with two runs scored, two homers, and two RBI.
The next night Thomas was 0-for-1 in a 9-3 Chicago victory but the Sox and Javier Vasquez walked him three times and hit him with a pitch. The three-game series concluded with a 3-2 Sox win as Thomas went 1-for-3 with another walk.
Thomas was 4-for-9 in the three games with two homers, two RBI, two runs scored, and four walks for an on-base percentage of .643 (four walks and a hit by pitch in 14 plate appearances).
The Sox faced Thomas for three more games in Oakland in September in 2006 and lost all three games.
Thomas went 3-for-10 with a double and two more home runs, driving in seven runs. He belted a two-run homer off Vasquez on Sept. 16 and a three-run blast off Jose Contreras the following game.
Thomas played six games against the Sox in 2006 and went 7-for-19 (.368) with four homers and nine RBI.
Thomas would play two more seasons (2007 and 2008) and never completely repeat the punishment he put on the Sox in 2006. But he found time to do some damage on his original major league team just the same.
Thomas drilled a home run off Mark Buehrle in his first game against the Sox in 2007, leading the Toronto Blue Jays to a 2-0 win on May 31 in Toronto.
Thomas played seven games against the White Sox in 2007, going 4-for-23 (.174) with a double, homer, and two RBI. He also walked four times and was hit by a pitch for an on-base percentage of .321.
Thomas returned to Oakland in 2008 and was just 2-for-10 in three games against the White Sox in the middle of August. He scored a run and walked once. He was 2-for-4 against Gavin Floyd in the first game of the series in Oakland, a 6-4 A's win.
The A's and Blue Jays were a combined 8-8 against the White Sox with Thomas from 2006-08. Thomas was 13-for-52 (.250) with five home runs and 11 RBI.
Abreu this week will join Thomas and a long line of memorable first basemen who enjoyed success against the White Sox after leaving Chicago.
There is no doubt that seeing Jose Abreu on another team will hurt.
There were some other notable first basemen to come back and hurt the White Sox:
Dick Allen
Dick Allen came back to play the White Sox after he left the south side.
Dick Allen played just three seasons (1972-74) in Chicago but, like Thomas and Abreu, won a Most Valuable Player award (1972). Allen would hit 85 homers and drive in 242 runs for the White Sox, hitting .307.
He led the American League in homers while with the Sox in 1972 (37) and 1974 (32).
Like Thomas and Abreu, Allen also left the White Sox without much fanfare. He quit the team in late August 1974 and was later traded in December 1974 to the Atlanta Braves for catcher Jim Essian.
The Oakland A's signed Allen in 1977, giving the former Most Valuable Player a chance to face his former White Sox teammates.
Allen went 3-for-10 in four games in Oakland against the White Sox in late April 1977. He walked twice against Steve Stone in the second game of the series where he hit a home run and drove in three runs off Chris Knapp in the third game.
His sacrifice fly off Bart Johnson helped the A's beat the Sox 11-4 in the fourth game.
The Sox then hosted the A's for three games at Comiskey Park in the middle of June and won all three games. It would turn out to be the final three games of Allen's career.
Allen was 3-for-9 in the three games with a pair of strikeouts. He had two hits off Wilbur Wood in the second game for the final hits of his career.
Tom McCraw
Tom McCraw came back to play the Chicago White Sox and did well.
McCraw played the first eight years of his career with the White Sox (1963-70), hitting .240 with 50 homers, 283 RBI, and 119 stolen bases. His career would continue for five more years with Cleveland Indians, California Angels, and Washington Senators after leaving Chicago.
McCraw, given his mediocre .246 career average over nearly 4,000 career at-bats, seemed to enjoy facing the Sox. He played 41 games against the Sox from 1971-75 and was 31-for-87 (.356) with two homers and 15 RBI.
His homers came against Bart Johnson in 1971 for Washington and in 1974 for Cleveland off Wilbur Wood. McCraw was a sizzling 27-for-62 (.435) against the White Sox from 1972-75. He had two or more hits nine times in just 14 starts over those four years against Chicago.
McCraw, who tied the White Sox record of eight RBI in a game against the Minnesota Twins in 1967, was traded to Washington for outfielder Ed Stroud after the 1970 season. Stroud, who was also with the Sox in 1966 and 1967, was just 25-for-141 in 1971 in Chicago with two RBI.
The White Sox record of eight RBI in a game, first set by Carl Reynolds in 1930, was tied by Jim Spencer (twice in 1977), Robin Ventura (1995), and Yasmani Grandal (2021) after McCraw did it.
Joe Kuhel
Seeing Joe Kuhel come to play the White Sox couldn't have been fun.
Kuhel played six seasons (1938-43) with the White Sox, including 1940 when he tied the White Sox record of 27 homers in 1940. He also returned to the Sox to finish his career in 1946 and 1947.
In between (1944 and 1945), though, Kuhel played 33 games against the White Sox for the Washington Senators.
Kuhel had four hits (two doubles and a triple) and two RBI in his first game against the Sox in 1944 against pitchers Bill Dietrich and Johnnie Humphries.
He never hit a home run in his 33 games in two seasons against the Sox but he did go 39-for-128 (.305) with 10 doubles, two triples, and 12 RBI.
Zeke Bonura
Zeke Bonura was with the Chicago White Sox a very long time ago.
Bonura began his career with the White Sox from 1934-37, hitting 79 home runs and driving in 440 runs on a .317 average. He was the first to set the White Sox team record for homers with 27 in 1934.
He drove in 100 or more runs and hit .302 or better in three of his four Sox seasons. He also had 34 or more doubles in all four seasons.
The White Sox traded Bonura, a holdout in the spring of 1938, to the Senators in March 1938 for Kuhel.
Bonura, whose career ended after 1940, would play 19 games against the White Sox in 1938 and 13 in 1940 with Washington. He didn't face the White Sox in 1939 as a member of the National League New York Giants.
Bonura was a robust 39-for-123 (.317) against the White Sox in 32 games in 1938 and 1940 combined. His only home run against the White Sox came in 1938 in a 7-1 Senators win in Washington off pitcher Frank Gabler.
Bonura did have seven doubles and drove in 14 runs against the White Sox.
He had three doubles and four hits against the Sox in a 12-5 win in August 1938 and was 4-for-4 with a double off Sox pitcher Monty Stratton a month later. He went 4-for-5 against the Sox in a 12-10 Washington win in May 1940.
Walt Dropo
Walt Dropo was with the White Sox but came back and played well.
Dropo was with the White Sox from 1955-58, hitting 42 home runs, driving in 188 runs, and hitting 266. He played 13 seasons in the major leagues for five teams, hitting 152 home runs, driving in 704 runs, and hitting .270.
Dropo was the American League Rookie of the Year in 1950 while playing for the Boston Red Sox when he had a career-best 34 homers and 144 RBI.
The Sox acquired Dropo as part of a six-player trade from the Detroit Tigers after the 1954 season. The White Sox would put him on waivers in June 1958 when he was signed by the Cincinnati Reds. The Reds immediately traded him to the Baltimore Orioles for outfielder Whitey Lockman.
Dropo played 26 games against the Sox in 1959 and 1960 combined with the Baltimore Orioles. He was just 16-for-67 (.239) against the Sox with four doubles, a home run, and six RBI. His lone homer came off Billy Pierce in a 4-3 Sox victory in June 1960 at Comiskey Park.
Dropo also played in a memorable game against Pierce and the White Sox on Aug. 6, 1959, in Baltimore.
He was 2-for-8 and drove in a run with a double in a game that lasted 18 innings and ended in a 1-1 tie. Pierce pitched 16 of the 18 innings. Knuckleballer Hoyt Wilhelm, a future White Sox pitcher (1963-68), went 10 innings in relief and allowed no runs on two hits for Baltimore.
Jim Spencer
Jim Spencer came back and played the White Sox a little too good.
Spencer played just two (1976-77) seasons with the Sox but he did hit 32 homers and drive in 139 runs on a .250 average. Spencer hit two home runs and drove in eight runs in a game twice just six weeks apart in 1977.
Spencer played a total of 27 games against the White Sox from 1978-82 with the New York Yankees and Athletics. He was used mainly as a defensive replacement and pinch-hitter against the Sox, getting fewer than three at-bats in 16 of the 27 games
The left-hander was traded by the Sox to the Yankees after the 1977 season. He clubbed a home run off Francisco Barrios for the Yankees in his first game against the Sox, a 3-2 Yankee victory on April 15, 1978, at Yankee Stadium.
His only other home run against the White Sox (after 1978) came against Randy Scarberry at Comiskey Park in a 7-3 New York win in late July 1979.
Spencer was just 8-for-65 (.123) against the White Sox after 1977 (he played against the Sox from 1968-75 with the California Angels and Texas Rangers) with two homers and eight RBI. He was just 1-for-36 against the Sox in 1981 and 1982 with Oakland combined.
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