White Sox A-Z: Raines to Rowand
By Art Berke
Every Thursday we are paying tribute to White Sox standouts of the past, spotlighting a different letter of the alphabet each week.
Today we focus on six Sox whose last names begin with the letter R — Tim Raines, Alexei Ramirez, Alex Rios, Jim Rivera, Charlie Robertson and Aaron Rowand.
Tim Raines, OF, White Sox (1991–1995), Expos, Yankees, A’s, Orioles, Marlins
Tim “Rock” Raines was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame following an outstanding 23-year career. After 12 seasons with the Expos, where he was a National League All-Star seven consecutive years starting with his rookie season, the native Floridian was traded to the White Sox before the 1991 campaign.
Rock played five seasons in Chicago, batting .283 primarily from the leadoff spot, posted an on-base percentage of .375 and stole 143 bases.
The most successful base stealer in history in terms of percentage (84.7) with 400-plus thefts, Raines had back-to-back stolen base seasons of 51 and 45 in his first two years on the South Side. He enjoyed his best overall campaign with the Sox in 1993 when the Sox won the American League West title.
He hit 16 homers, drove in 54 and had a slash line of .306/.401/.480 in ’93. In the Sox’ losing effort to the Blue Jays in the ’93 American League Championship Series, Raines compiled a slash line of .444/.483/.556 and stole two bases. With that .444 average and six-game hitting streak in the ’93 ALCS, Raines posted the highest Sox postseason average and longest streak. During that same series he recorded four hits in a postseason game — the last Sox player to do so.
Rock was traded to the Yankees before the 1996 season and won World Series rings with the Bronx Bombers in 1996 and 1998. In 2001 he briefly played with the Orioles, teaming with son Tim Jr.
Raines finished his career with 2,605 hits, 980 RBI and a .294 batting average, winning the 1986 batting crown (.334). He hit better than .320 for three years in a row (1985–87) and his 808 stolen bases ranks fifth all-time.
During his time with the Expos he led the National League in steals from 1981–84 (71, 78, 90, 75) and led the majors in ’81 and ’84. He also led the N.L. In plate appearances in ’82 (731) and ’83 (720), the majors in runs in ’83 ( 133) and ’87 (123), doubles (38) in ’84 and led the league in on-base percentage (.413) that same season. He received a Silver Slugger award in ‘86.
Rock won a third World Series ring as a coach for the 2005 Sox.
Alexei Ramírez, SS, White Sox (2008–2015), Padres, Rays
Establishing himself as a star player in Cuba, Alexei Ramírez defected to the United States and brought his flashy play to the White Sox for eight of his nine major-league seasons.
Ramírez, who began his time in Chicago primarily at second base, moved to shortstop where he became a valuable staple in the Sox lineup. He still holds the Sox single-season mark with 21 homers (’08) as a second sacker.
Alexei finished second in the 2008 Rookie of the Year voting as a result of his homer total, 77 RBI, .290 batting average and his play on defense. He also led the majors that year with four grand slams.
The speedy Ramírez won the Silver Slugger Award for shortstops in 2010, hitting .282 with 18 homers and 70 RBI. In 2014, he won another Silver Slugger and was named to the American League All-Star team.
When Cubans Ramírez, José Abreu, Dayán Viciedo and catcher Adrián Nieto all played together for the Sox in 2014, it was the first time in 45 years as many as four Cuban players appeared in a big-league lineup.
Alex Ríos, OF, White Sox (2009–2013), Blue Jays, Rangers, Royals
A 12-year major-league veteran and two-time All-Star with the Blue Jays, Alex Ríos played five seasons with the Sox.
His best years in Chicago were in 2010 (21 HR, 88 RBI), 2012 (25, 91) and 2013 (18, 81). In ’10, he also became one of two Sox to record a 20 HR, 30-stolen base (34) season. In 2013 Ríos tied an American League record with six hits in a game vs. the Tigers.
In both 2012 and 2013 Ríos was the White Sox winner of the Heart and Hustle Award. A native of Alabama, won a World Series ring with the 2015 Royals.
Ríos played for Puerto Rico in the 2013 World Baseball Classic. He smashed a clutch two-run homer against Japan in the semis, which vaulted PR into the WBC Finals for the first time.
Jim Rivera, OF, White Sox (1952–1961), St, Louis Browns, Kansas City A’s
“Jungle Jim” Rivera, along with Luis Aparicio, Nellie Fox, Minnie Minoso and Jim Landis, personified the 1950s Go-Go White Sox with their speed, defense and grit.
Rivera, who played nine of his 10 major-league seasons with the Sox, led the American League with 16 triples in 153 and stolen bases with 25 in 1955. He played right field for the 1959 pennant-winning White Sox and appeared in five of the six games vs. the Dodgers in the World Series.
An exciting player, Rivera was also a colorful and humorous personality who was extremely popular with the fans. He got the nickname Jungle Jim when a Chicago reporter, noticing Jim was on base swinging his arms, remarked, “Look at him. He looks like he’s in the jungle.”
One of Rivera’s skippers with the Sox, Marty Marion, once said: “He’ll do anything to win. He’s one of the most exciting players I’ve ever seen.” Pale Hose general manager Ed Short said, “Jungle Jim may not have the fattest average in baseball, but he gives the fans a show with his daredevil running and sliding, his terrific fielding and club hitting.“
Adding to his legend as a jokester it’s been reported that Rivera, after getting an autograph from President John F. Kennedy, commented to the Commander-in-Chief, “What’s this? This is just a scribble! I can hardly make it out. You’ll have to do better than this, John.”
Born in New York City to Puerto Rican parents, Rivera passed away at the age of 96 in 2017.
Charlie Robertson, RHP, White Sox (1919, 1922–1925), St. Louis Browns, Boston Braves
Texas native Charlie Robertson was in the first season of a fairly anonymous eight-year big-league career when he made baseball history on April 30, 1922. He became the first pitcher in history to toss a perfect game on the road and the first in Sox history.
The 26-year-old accomplished the feat with a 2–0 victory over the Tigers in Detroit with a lineup that featured future Hall of Famers Ty Cobb and Harry Hellmann. Sox first baseman Earl Sheely’s two-run single in the second inning was all Robertson needed to secure the win.
It took 34 years before baseball witnessed another perfect game — Don Larsen’s gem in the 1956 World Series for the Yankees vs. the Dodgers.
An eight-year big leaguer, Robertson died at the age of 88 in 1984. He still ranks among all-time Sox rookies in wins (T8, 14) and innings pitched (3rd, 272).
Aaron Rowand, OF, White Sox (2001–2005), Phillies, Giants
The 2005 World Champion White Sox identified themselves as “grinders.” Center-fielder Aaron Rowand, who grew up in the Sox organization after being drafted in the first round (35th overall) in 1998, was arguably the most intense grinder of them all.
A hard-nosed, get your uniform dirty, don’t worry about running into walls kind of player, Rowand endeared himself to Sox fans with his blue-collar approach.
He saw action in 63 games during his rookie season in 2001 and batted .293 with a .385 on-base percentage. The former Cal State-Fullerton All-America, who grew up in California, came into his own in 2004 by belting 24 homers, collecting 38 doubles, drove in 69, scored 94 times and had a slash line of .310/.361/.544 with 17 stolen bases.
The following year, the championship season, Rowand connected for 13 homers, drove in 69, scored 77 times and batted .270 while stealing 16 bases and was nearly flawless in the field. In the postseason, he batted .267 with six doubles, scored eight times, walked on four occasions and stole a base.
Rowand was traded to the Phillies before the 2006 in a deal that brought future Hall of Famer Jim Thome to the Sox. Rowand reached All-Star status and won a Gold Glove for the Phils in 2007, smashing 27 homers, driving in 89, scoring 105 runs and boasting a slash line of .309/.374/.515.
A veteran of 11 big-league seasons, Aaron is currently a coach in the White Sox minor-league system.
