No. 10: Justin Morneau
We begin our list with a guy who was a White Sox killer at the plate. In 2007 alone, Morneau knocked in 27 RBIs against Sox pitching. That’s the most by any player versus the South Side since some guy named Ted Williams. Justin signed a one-year, $1 million contract with the Sox in 2016 and only played in 58 games (money well spent just to see him out of a Twins uniform).
Bonus: he retired as a White Sox player, so you’ll always have that over Minnesota.
No. 9: Omar Vizquel
For 22 seasons, this man threw so much leather at the White Sox that Kenny finally said enough is enough and brought Omar to the South Side in the twilight of his magical career. After he retired, the White Sox were smart enough to hire Vizquel as a coach in their minor league system so that future middle infielders could learn from the 11-time Gold Glover.
No. 8: Carl Everett
Carl loved to be hated. He thrived on it. Over his career, he racked up fines for just about everything, including head butting an umpire. He famously claimed that no one was around to see dinosaurs alive and that all of the bones were fake. Sox fans sure didn’t have a bone to pick with him after he helped win the World Series in ’05.
No. 7: Roberto Alomar
Alomar formed a dynamic middle infield duo with Omar Vizquel in Cleveland from 1999 to 2001. Although he only spent three seasons as a White Sox rival, they were some of the best years of his distinguished career. With the Indians, Alomar won Gold Gloves in all three seasons and slashed .323/.405/.515 with 63 homers, 309 RBIs and 106 stolen bases. He joined Chicago near the end of his career, playing 85 games over parts of two seasons.
No. 6: Jim Thome
Before Big Jim hit the famous Blackout Game home run or career dinger No. 500, White Sox fans loved to hate Mr. Nice guy. Why? We’ll just leave his career Cleveland numbers against the White Sox right here:
MLB
122 games, .298 BA, .411 OBP, .627 SLG, 37 HR, 99 RBIs
No. 5: Jose Canseco
Canseco is one of the most universally hated baseball players ever as a notorious juicer in the steroid era. He also drew ire from fans around the league by putting up incredible numbers, including being the first player to hit 40 homers and steal 40 bases in one season. Canseco finished his MLB career with the White Sox, joining them in the middle of the 2001campaign, hitting 16 homers with 49 RBIs over 76 games.
RELATED: All-Time best White Sox players by jersey number
No. 4: Manny Ramirez
One of the best hitters of his generation, Ramirez was a division rival on the incredible Indians teams of the mid-'90s before joining those other Sox in Boston. He was a veritable Sox killer, slashing .322/.427/.556 with 25 homers and 91 RBIs in 120 against the Whtie Sox. He joined the South Side for 24 games in 2010 and hit the final home run of his career in a White Sox uniform.
No. 3: David Wells
Wells put together an incredible 21-year career, winning two World Series titles and 239 games, mostly in the American League. He came to the South Side in a controversial deal that sent Mike Sirotka to Toronto, despite Sirotka dealing with an injury. As it turned out, Sirotka never pitched again. But Wells struggled with an injury of his own and only pitched 100.2 innings in his lone season in Chicago. The White Sox got the last laugh in Game 2 of the 2005 ALDS when Tadahito Iguchi blasted a game-winning three-run homer off of Wells.
No. 2: Albert Belle
No. 2 on our list, but back in July of 1994, Cleveland’s Belle was definitely No. 1. In the first inning, White Sox manager Gene Lemont was tipped off that Belle’s bat was corked. The umps confiscated it and locked it up only to discover that the bat was stolen back by the Tribe during the game. The White Sox called the cops, and the FBI threatened to step into the investigation. Four years later as a member of the White Sox, Belle smashed a team-leading 49 homers (which still stands as the franchise single-season record), and all was forgiven. OK, maybe not all.
No. 1: A.J. Pierzynski
There was no other choice for the top spot on this list. A notorious thorn in the side of each and every opponent he faced, Pierzynski went from hated division rival with the Twins to beloved backstop when he came to Chicago in 2005. Pierzynski won us over with his hard-nosed play and spark plug attitude. His heads-up play running to first base on a dropped third strike in Game 2 of the ALCS helped, too.