During the SoxFest Live 2026 weekend, the White Sox announced they would be doing an Alumni Home Run Derby in July.
I’m not sure I’m in complete agreement with Jesse Rogers’ list, so let’s make one of our own instead!
I’ve broken this list into a couple of sections: one of players that should absolutely get a call from the White Sox to participate, ones who probably should get a call, and then a list of wild cards that, for reasons you will soon understand, are definitely guys to set the vibes of the event.
There’s no perfect way to make this list, but at the end of the day, we’re going to try and create one that maximizes fan nostalgia, honors the best sluggers in this team’s history, and brings elite vibes.
Will Absolutely Get a Call
If the White Sox are going to have the most successful Alumni Home Run Derby event possible, at least a few of the names from this section on this list should probably be taking some hacks.
Frank Thomas
There was some, well, let’s call it “back-and-forth” between Thomas and the White Sox on social media Sunday. For the sake of argument, let’s just pretend Thomas and the club can clear up any misunderstandings by the time July rolls around.
The White Sox franchise leader in home runs is a no-brainer to get the call. He’s been around the organization a lot since retiring as an analyst on pre- and postgame shows, and it’s clear he still enjoys being around it. Let’s use a call over to The Big Hurt as an olive branch to the “back-and-forth” that occurred on Sunday.
Paul Konerko
Just 16 home runs behind Thomas on the all-time White Sox home run leaderboard, Konerko has already shown a willingness to come back to Chicago when he was a guest Savannah Bananas player this past summer. Another fan-favorite and true slugger, Paulie deserves better than his one-pitch groundout in his only Bananas plate appearance as his last appearance in the box at Rate Field. Plus, think of the “Paulie, Paulie” chants.
Harold Baines
If you can’t tell, we’re starting this off simply by pulling up Baseball Reference and sorting the franchise home run leaders from highest to lowest. Baines might not even have to get a call with how often he’s in the ballpark as an ambassador for the organization.
The Hall of Famer ranks fourth on the team’s all-time home run list, and it would be a nice way to honor the former first overall draft pick in the same month that the White Sox will be taking a new first overall pick – the first one since Baines.
Magglio Ordonez
Coming in sixth all-time on the White Sox home run leaderboard, Ordonez was a South Side favorite. The former undrafted free agent signing has the fourth-most RBIs in a season in franchise history, on top of his impressive home run numbers. I still remember my dad and his, “Oh-Wee-Oh, Magglio,” chants along with the rest of the ballpark, so I’m sure he and many White Sox fans wouldn’t mind seeing his sweet swing in the ballpark one more time.
Carlos Lee
El Caballo ranks tenth on the White Sox all-time home run list despite spending just six of his 14 seasons with the White Sox. While many fans may remember him as the main piece that brought Scott Podsednik over to the White Sox before the 2005 season, Lee provided plenty of memories with big home runs during his time in Chicago. Since he’s a homegrown talent, he belongs on this list as someone who has a chance to come back to the organization where it all started.
Should Probably Get a Call
The folks on this section of the list had a season or seasons that, for one reason or another, helped them stand out in fans’ minds as a slugger. While none of these may be the first names you think of when putting together a list of names for this event, they should be pretty close to the top of it.
Jim Thome
Despite playing just four seasons on the South Side, Jim Thome ranks 14th all-time in career White Sox home runs. And, no matter your thoughts on which fan base Thome “truly” belongs to, he remains a local Chicago resident and a high school baseball coach in the area, so his ties to this city have continued beyond just his four seasons in uniform. The fans love Big Jim, and he wouldn’t have to drive too far.
Bo Jackson
He was a hit at SoxFest Live this year for some of the fan segments, so I think the fans would love to see him despite his only appearing in two seasons with the White Sox. A freak athlete who has brought great vibes every time he’s made a public appearance in a South Side uniform, Jackson could easily find a way to win this whole event.
Carlos Quentin
Quentin taking his frustrations out on his bat led to his 2008 season falling short of a potential MVP and prevented him from ranking higher than 20th on the all-time White Sox single-season home run leaderboard. However, he still ranks among the top 20 White Sox sluggers in all-time home runs for the franchise and was a fan-favorite when he was here. I could see the White Sox giving Quentin a call to launch a few more moonshots as a call back to that 2008 division-winning team.
Robin Ventura
Due to a largely failed tenure as manager, Ventura’s last appearances in a White Sox uniform are more sour for a lot of younger fans than he deserves. Putting him back in uniform – this time with a bat in his hand – might allow him to ingratiate himself again with a fanbase with whom he spent 10 seasons. He does have a couple of 30-homer seasons under his belt while ranking seventh all-time on the White Sox home run list, so he deserves to be remembered among the White Sox’ greats on the field.
Albert Belle
Belle’s 49 home run season in 1998 remains a White Sox single-season record to this day, and one that really hasn’t been threatened all that much over the past 27 years. Though he spent only two seasons on the South Side, he is a current team record-holder in the home run department, so that merits at least a call to participate in the event.
Jermaine Dye
Dye quietly ranks eighth all-time in homers for the White Sox despite spending just five seasons on the South Side. He is the only player who came close to threatening Belle’s aforementioned 49-homer season – in hindsight, he did play 17 fewer games than Belle did in his record-setting season, so there’s a chance he might’ve been able to at least tie that record in 2006.
The World Series champion and MVP has been back in Chicago on a couple of occasions since his retirement, and I think fans would be excited to see him one more time on the field.
Absolute Vibes-Only Calls
The names on this list don’t need much explanation as to why they ended up here, but depending on the White Sox’ definition of the term “Alumni,” they all technically fit!
- Yermin Mercedes: Admit it, you’re at least a little bit curious about how this would go.
- Andruw Jones: Hey, he is getting inducted to the Hall of Fame this year; his name is in the news.
- Manny Ramirez: Ramirez might’ve been hitting in a Home Run Derby somewhere last week for all we know. The man can still mash. My only request: he has to wear the green Sox jersey.
- Ken Griffey, Jr: The Kid only got one at Rate Field with the Sox, and he stumbled a bit on his follow-through, so we didn’t even get the full experience of that beautiful swing.
- Daniel Palka: Rivaled Yermin Mercedes for how quickly a player could become loved by a fan base. He had me making some very bad takes on social media with the excitement of his 2018 campaign.
- Jose Canseco: See my comment on Yermin Mercedes.
One thing they all have in common: Hall of Fame vibes.
Honorable Mentions
The guys in this part of the article didn’t fit perfectly in any of the above three sections, but deserved a shout-out for one reason or another as we think about the White Sox’ history of sluggers.
- Jose Abreu: He’s hit the third-most home runs in franchise history, but when you look at the rest of this list, Abreu is just too close to his retirement to be a participant. He would wipe the floor with these guys, being 10-20 years younger than most of the names above.
- Joe Borchard: He hit the longest home run at Rate Field, so he deserves a shout-out here if we’re building a holistic list. Honestly, I wouldn’t be terribly surprised if he ends up attending the event.
- Eloy Jimenez: He was made for this sort of event; alas, he’s not retired yet! Yes, that’s definitely the only reason he wouldn’t be included in this event…..
- Adam Dunn: A polarizing figure on the South Side, Dunn hit his fair share of homers, but also struggled mightily at times as part of his White Sox career. Not a bad name for this list, but also, I think one that has quite a few names before him.
- Todd Frazier: He had one of the top ten White Sox home run seasons of all time and even represented them in the 2016 Home Run Derby, but having only spent parts of a season and a half with the White Sox, I’m not sure he’s the right fit here. Like Borchard, though, I wouldn’t be terribly surprised if he was included either – I certainly don’t think the fans would be upset by that decision.
- A.J. Pierzynski: Pierzynski won the 2018 Hall of Fame Classic Home Run Derby, so he has a pedigree for events like this. He wasn’t a “slugger” in classic terms, but he was a fan-favorite and has spent some time around the team since his retirement. He hasn’t been the kindest to the organization with some of his comments on his show, Foul Territory, but they fall in the “tough, but fair” category more often than not, which shows his care for the team. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him.
The Final Field
For the final bracket, we’ll have some fun and pick from each of the sections listed above. Note that this is solely my opinion, so you’re not allowed to get mad in the comments.
Honorary Captains: Carlton Fisk, Ron Kittle
Unless the 78-year-old Fisk or the 68-year-old Kittle really wants to swing it, I say making them honorary captains is the perfect way to honor them as White Sox home run-hitting alumni while also making sure the fans see some fireworks. Let them draft their teams and make some fun out of it – mic them and everyone else up and see what kind of great content you’re able to get out of it.
My Participants: Frank Thomas, Paul Konerko, Jim Thome, Magglio Ordonez, Robin Ventura, Jermaine Dye, Carlos Quentin, Joe Borchard
I can’t imagine the team deciding to go with more than 8 players for this, but if they do, just keep pulling some great names from the list above. I went with a mix of the “no-brainer” picks and added quite a few guys who deserve to be recognized and appreciated in front of the fan base in an environment like this.
The White Sox could really go in a few directions with something like this. The best mix probably removes names like Quentin, Borchard, or Dye and replaces them with one of Ramirez or Griffey, Jr., and maybe Bo Jackson as well. It really depends on what sort of mix they want to get of “White Sox greats,” “Great White Sox seasons,” and “Hey, remember when that guy played for the White Sox for five minutes?”
So, let me know what you think of that list in the comments below! As we get closer to the event, we will make sure our page shares all of the details so you don’t miss out on what is truly a great idea by the organization.
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