Frank Thomas, Tom Paciorek, Mike Squires, Carlos May, Adam Eaton added to SoxFest 2016 lineup

Frank Thomas

There has been some grumbling about the lack of star power on the list of former White Sox players who will be in attendance at SoxFest 2016.

That complaint should be silenced now that the franchise's greatest player, Hall-of-Famer Frank Thomas, is scheduled to appear Jan. 30 at the event, which runs from Jan. 29-31 at the Chicago Hilton.

According to a news release issued Wednesday by the team, former White Sox players Carlos May, Tom Paciorek and Mike Squires also are scheduled to appear. I chuckled to myself when I read the release, which referred to these three players as "greats."

Paciorek had a good career, and had two nice seasons for the Sox in the early 1980s. May was a two-time All-Star for the Sox (1969, 1972) and had a 96-RBI season on the South Side in 1973. So, I could at least make a case for calling those two guys "greats."

But Squires? That dude had a .318 career slugging percentage. That's slugging percentage, not batting average. He was a slick fielder, but he might have been the weakest hitting first baseman the Sox have ever had. For me, Squires' main claim to fame is the fact that he played some games at third base in 1984, despite being a left-handed thrower. He's still the only left-handed player I've ever seen play an infield position other than first base at the major-league level.

But was Squires a "great"? Uh, no, Frank Thomas was great.

In any case, as expected, current center fielder Adam Eaton has been added to the SoxFest lineup. Other recent additions include prospects Eddy Alvarez, Adam Engel, Jacob May and Trey Michalczewski.

A complete list of scheduled attendees can be found at whitesox.com/SoxFest.