Most career walk-off home runs in MLB history (answer key)

Jim Thome

There are 18 players in MLB history who have hit 10 or more walk-off home runs in their careers.

Here are the answers to Saturday's quiz:

13 walk-off home runs (1)

1. The all-time leader in walk-off homers, this hitter is the only player to hit a walk-off blast for his 500th career homer.

Jim Thome

12 walk-off home runs (6)

2. This player is the active leader in walk-off homers -- one of only two active players on this list.

Albert Pujols

3. This former Yankee was the first player to reach double-digits in walk-off homers.

Babe Ruth

4. This former Cardinal had nine bases-empty walk-offs, the most in MLB history.

Stan Musial

5. This player hit five walk-off homers while his team was trailing, tied for the most in MLB history.

Frank Robinson

6. This former Yankees had 12 walk-offs in the regular season, plus one in the postseason.

Mickey Mantle

7. This three-time MVP led the AL in home runs three times in four years from 1932-35.

Jimmie Foxx

11 walk-off home runs (3)

8. This former Red hit a record seven walk-off homers with two outs.

Tony Perez

9. This active player won a World Series ring in 2019 with the Washington Nationals.

Ryan Zimmerman

10. Two outs and two strikes with his team trailing? This player hit two walk-offs in that situation.

David Ortiz

10 walk-off home runs (8)

11. This longtime Philadelphia Phillies slugger won his lone MVP award with the White Sox.

Dick Allen

12. This player once was drafted first overall by the White Sox.

Harold Baines

13. This player is baseball's all-time home run king. (Duh.)

Barry Bonds

14. This player was with the White Sox earlier this decade, and was considered a bust.

Adam Dunn

15. This former MVP had a record three walk-offs with two outs and two strikes.

Jason Giambi

16. This slugger has 10 career World Series home runs, in only 27 games.

Reggie Jackson

17. This former White Sox player is the only man to hit 60-plus homers in three separate seasons.

Sammy Sosa

18. This Philadelphia slugger hit four home runs in a game at Wrigley Field on April 17, 1976.

Mike Schmidt

Harold Baines Day at Guaranteed Rate Field

In the American League, a team needs good production from its designated hitter. The 2019 White Sox don't get anything from their DHs, who have combined to post a .178/.264/.301 slash line this season.

That makes you appreciate the career of Harold Baines a little more, doesn't it? Baines was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame this year, and the Sox honored him for his achievement this past Sunday before a game against the Oakland A's.

Baines prepares to speak at Guaranteed Rate Field.

Humble as always, Baines spoke softly, for four minutes and 43 seconds, thanking his family, former teammates, the Sox organization and its fans.

The ceremony also featured speeches by Hall of Fame manager Tony La Russa and two of Baines' closest friends and former teammates, Ron Kittle and Ozzie Guillen.

Other Sox Hall of Famers were on hand, including Frank Thomas, Tim Raines, Jim Thome and Carlton Fisk.

Among the other former Sox players present were Robin Ventura, Dan Pasqua, Ron Karkovice and John Cangelosi.

I was pleased to have the opportunity to attend this game, because the highlights of Baines' career shown on the scoreboard took me back to my childhood in the 1980s. Baines' best years with the Sox were from 1982-89, when he made four All-Star teams. Sure, the Sox weren't very good in those years -- except for 1983 -- but Baines was the best player on the team during the days when I was becoming a Sox fan and learning about baseball.

Baines' election to the Hall has been shrouded in controversy. Some people don't think he belongs, and to be honest, if I had a vote, I'm not sure I would have voted for him. That said, as a Sox fan, I refuse to apologize for being happy for Baines and his family. He was an outstanding player, and he's well-respected by any person he has ever been around.

And when I went to the Hall of Fame this summer, I enjoyed some of the Baines memorabilia on display. Take this locker of stuff:

Here's the bat Baines used to hit that famous home run in the 25th inning on May 9, 1984, against the Milwaukee Brewers:

Check out this old-school edition of Baseball Digest. I subscribe to this magazine, and did so when I was a kid, as well. I'm pretty sure I received this edition in the mail as a youngster:

Here's the poster next to the Baines' locker, detailing his career highlights:

And, of course, here's the plaque that will hang in Cooperstown, N.Y., forever. Not a replica, folks:

Congrats, Harold, and thanks for the memories!

A few notes from my recent trip to Progressive Field in Cleveland

As readers of this blog are aware, I recently went on a baseball trip that had nothing to do with the 2019 White Sox.

The main destination, of course, was Cooperstown, N.Y., home of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. That being said, it's a 12-hour drive from the Chicago area to Cooperstown, and while that's doable, I wouldn't necessarily recommend doing it all in one shot.

Cleveland is about the halfway point, and we stopped there from two days July 20-21, and of course, we took in a game between the Indians and the Kansas City Royals at Progressive Field on that Saturday night.

The Tribe had a big crowd, much to my surprise, and we ended up with seats in the nosebleed section. We were in the upper deck, in the last section down the left-field line. Or maybe they just stuck us up there because the person at the box office noticed my Chicago hat.

Anyway, here was the view:

Yeah, we were way up there. It was about 95 degrees with a heat index of 106 that night, and I give full credit to the ushers in Cleveland: They passed out free cups of ice to anyone who wanted one. That seems like a small thing, but that would never happen at Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago, where they apparently inventory cups for some reason.

One feature of the ballpark I liked? Well, what's the one thing Sox fans have in common with Indians fans? We both like Jim Thome, and Thome is prominently featured with a statue and a plaque in the Indians' ring of honor in center field:

For the record, the Royals beat the Indians, 1-0, on a home run by Hunter Dozier in the first inning. I wasn't expecting a big pitcher's duel between Jakob Junis and Adam Plutko, but I wasn't complaining about a game that finished in less than three hours on a hot, humid night.

Plutko gave up that homer the third batter of the game, and Junis and three Kansas City relievers combined on a three-hit shutout.

5 takeways from SoxFest 2019

After months of anticipation (I booked my hotel package in September), SoxFest 2019 has come and gone in the blink of an eye.

A few thoughts and opinions from the three-day event at the Chicago Hilton.

1. 5 Hall-of-Fame members on one stage: Easily the coolest moment of the weekend for me came Friday night when the White Sox had a seminar featuring five Hall-of-Famers and a Cy Young award winner on the same stage.

I wish I could have gotten a little closer for a better picture, but you can see Harold Baines, Jim Thome, moderator Steve Stone, Frank Thomas, Tim Raines and Carlton Fisk in the picture above.

I wonder how many organizations in baseball could put together a star-studded panel such as this for their fans. That's more of a rhetorical question than anything. ... I'm sure there are a few other teams that could, but credit the Sox for getting all these guys in the same room.

It had been a couple years since I had seen Thome at SoxFest, even though he works for the organization. A recorded message was shown last year at SoxFest, with Thome thanking Chicago fans for their support on the occasion of his election to the Hall. It was good to see the man in person this time.

2. The Machado pursuit is real: Not surprisingly, GM Rick Hahn fielded a lot of questions about the team's pursuit of superstar free agent Manny Machado. Hahn can't speak specifically about negotiations, of course, but in a rare moment of candor, he said he would be personally disappointed if the Sox fail to bring Machado into the fold.

I remain skeptical, and I'll award Hahn no points unless he gets Machado to sign on the dotted line. Trying isn't enough, but it's quite clear that the Sox are really trying. Hahn went out of his way to detail the organization's top-to-bottom effort to get Machado on the South Side of Chicago. Everyone is involved from the front office to players to community relations staff.

At a seminar Sunday, players were asked whether they were involved in the Machado recruitment. Michael Kopech answered first and said he was not. But right after that, Yoan Moncada raised his microphone to his mouth and immediately began speaking rapid-fire Spanish. Through an interpreter, the second baseman noted that he and teammate Yonder Alonso had face-timed Machado right before the start of SoxFest opening ceremonies Friday, and they basically told him that he needs to get up here and join the Sox.

The saga continues.

3. Fifth starter? The Sox don't have one: Are you ready for Manny Banuelos to be a member of the 2019 starting rotation? I asked Hahn about it Friday night. I said the Sox have four starters: Carlos Rodon, Reynaldo Lopez, Lucas Giolito and Ivan Nova. I don't see a fifth. Who might it be?

Hahn did not rule out an acquisition from outside the organization. Thank goodness, because I think they need one. He said right now the competition for the job would be between Banuelos and Dylan Covey, who failed in the role last season.

It was quite clear from Hahn's answer that Banuelos, who was a top-30 prospect seven years ago before injuries curtailed his career, has the inside track. Apparently, some scout "pounded the table" and told Hahn that Banuelos could help the Sox win right now, so they acquired him in a swap of minor-leaguers with the Los Angeles Dodgers three months ago.

Personally, I think it will take a lot more than Banuelos to cover the 204.2 innings that James Shields pitched as a member of the Sox's rotation last season.

4. Moncada's struggles: On Saturday, I asked manager Rick Renteria about Moncada. The "Jason from Wheeling" in the first sentence of this Chicago Tribune story? Yep, that was me.

I want Moncada to continue taking his walks. I don't want him to swing wildly at bad pitches, but he needs to be more aggressive. He needs to put the ball in play more often. He makes hard contact, so there's every reason to believe his production will go up if his strikeouts come down.

Renteria told me that Moncada was working with him and hitting coach Todd Steverson in Arizona a few weeks after the season ended. They are making a physical adjustment in the way Moncada grips the bat. Previously, his grip apparently limited his plate coverage, making it difficult for him to get to pitches on the outer half as both a left-handed and right-handed hitter. Renteria also wants Moncada to accept the idea that a productive out every now and then isn't the worst thing. They've been going over situations to try to improve his mental approach to hitting.

I also asked whether Moncada might be moved down in the lineup, with the arrival of veteran outfielder Jon Jay. It sounds as though the answer to that is no, because Moncada wants to bat leadoff and told Renteria so. But, the manager did acknowledge that Jay's presence on the roster gives him another option for the top spot in the batting order.

5. Don't worry about Madrigal: There's a Baseball America article out that made note of Nick Madrigal's struggles in hitting the ball to the pull side of the field during his professional debut last season.

I wasn't real concerned about it, given the small sample size, and when Madrigal was asked about it, he didn't express concern either. But since it's being talked about, I decided to ask player development director Chris Getz and amateur scouting director Nick Hostetler about it during a Sunday seminar.

Hostetler noted that Madrigal suffered a broken wrist during his season at Oregon State last year, and that he had seen the 2018 top draft pick the day before the injury. And, Madrigal had turned on a fastball and cranked it over the left-field bullpen. So, maybe that wrist wasn't 100 percent at the end of 2018, and maybe that was sapping him of pull-side power.

Getz made note of Madrigal's consistent approach and elite bat-to-ball skills, and it's expected that he'll make adjustments to the inside pitch as we go along.

Former White Sox outfielder Tim Raines, two others inducted into Hall of Fame

Tim Raines with the Sox in 1995

Congratulations go out to former White Sox outfielder and coach Tim Raines, who was one of three people elected to baseball's Hall of Fame on Wednesday.

Raines, a six-time All-Star who ranks among the best leadoff hitters in the history of baseball, received support on 86.0 percent of the 442 ballots cast in his 10th and final year of Hall eligibility. He easily cleared the 75 percent threshold required for induction.

The switch-hitter finished with 808 career stolen bases, including a 90-steal season in 1983 as a member of the Montreal Expos. He also won a batting title with Montreal in 1986, hitting .334

Raines will no doubt go into the Hall wearing an Expos cap, but he was a productive player for the Sox from 1991-95. In those five seasons, he posted a .283/.375/.407 slash line with a combined 50 home runs, 98 doubles, 28 triples, 143 stolen bases and 277 RBIs.

His best individual season with the Sox came in 1993. He hit .306/.401/.480 with 16 home runs, 54 RBIs and 21 steals and was the left fielder and leadoff hitter for the AL West Division champions.

Raines will be joined in the Class of 2017 by former Houston Astros first baseman Jeff Bagwell and catcher Ivan Rodriguez, who played 21 years with six different teams, most notably with the Texas Rangers.

Bagwell received 86.2 percent of the vote, while Rodriguez received 76 percent of ballots in his first year eligible for induction.

There were two narrow misses. Relief pitcher Trevor Hoffman (74 percent) and outfielder Vladimir Guerrero (71.7 percent) are trending toward probable induction in 2018.

As Sox fans, we should probably get used to seeing former Sox players going into the Hall wearing a different cap than the Silver and Black. Last year, Ken Griffey Jr. went into the Hall as a Seattle Mariner. This year, Raines goes in as an Expo. Next year, Jim Thome's name appears on the ballot for the first time, and his 612 career home runs (134 with the Sox) will be hard for voters to ignore. However, he'll be going to the Hall as a Cleveland Indian.

The World Series Game 1 hero is ... Roberto Perez?

There are three players in Cleveland Indians franchise history to have a multi-homer game during the playoffs: Manny Ramirez, Jim Thome and, of course, Roberto Perez.

Cue Cookie Monster and his famous song, "One of These Things Is Not Like the Other Things":

Indeed, Thome has 612 career home runs. Ramirez has 555 career home runs. Perez has, well, 11 career home runs. But the career .220-hitting catcher managed to go deep twice Tuesday in Game 1 of the World Series, becoming the unlikely hero in Cleveland's 6-0 victory over the Cubs.

Perez also became the first player in World Series history to have a multi-homer game while batting in the No. 9 spot in the order. Not bad for a guy who is "Plan C" for the Indians behind the plate. Perez is only playing because Yan Gomes has been a combination of injured and bad all season, and because Jonathan Lucroy rejected a trade to Cleveland at the deadline and went to play for Texas instead.

In the biggest game of his life so far, Perez clubbed a solo home run off Cubs ace Jon Lester in the fourth inning to increase Cleveland's lead to 3-0. The home run had an exit velocity of 112.9 mph, making it the hardest-hit ball off Lester all season, according to Statcast.

Perez capped his night by hitting a three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning on a hanging slider from Cubs reliever Hector Rondon. That made the score 6-0 and took all the drama out of the ninth inning.

Cleveland pitching was good again in this game, with Corey Kluber, Andrew Miller and Cody Allen combining to strike out 15 Cubs hitters. Kluber had eight strikeouts through three innings and finished with nine Ks in six innings. Miller pitched out of a bases-loaded, no-outs jam in the seventh, striking out Addison Russell and David Ross to close the inning. He also struck out Kyle Schwarber with two on and two out to end the eighth and snuff out the Cubs' last legitimate chance to get back in the game.

Game 2 is Wednesday night, and the start time has been moved up an hour to try to avoid a weather delay. Rain is in the forecast for Cleveland. The Cubs will try to even the series behind right-hander Jake Arrieta. The Indians will counter with right-hander Trevor Bauer.

The best news for the Cubs right now is the fact that Kluber won't pitch in Game 2. And, Miller might be limited, as well, after throwing 46 pitches over two innings of work in Game 1.

Todd Frazier becomes seventh player in White Sox franchise history to reach 40 home runs

Todd Frazier

The "dream" of a .500 season survives for another day. The White Sox (77-81) won their fifth consecutive game Wednesday night, defeating the Tampa Bay Rays, 1-0.

This game featured two rain delays, and cold, wet, windy weather that knocked down its share of flyballs. However, Sox third baseman Todd Frazier connected for a solo home run off Tampa Bay knuckleballer Eddie Gamboa in the bottom of the seventh inning, and that provided the margin of victory.

The home run was the 40th of the season for Frazier, extending a career high, and he became the seventh player in Sox franchise history to reach 40 home runs in a single season. Here are the others:

• Frank Thomas (41 in 1993, 40 in 1995, 40 in 1996, 43 in 2000, 42 in 2003)
• Albert Belle (franchise-record 49 in 1998)
• Paul Konerko (41 in 2004, 40 in 2005)
• Jermaine Dye (44 in 2006)
• Jim Thome (42 in 2006)
• Adam Dunn (41 in 2012)

Sox right-hander Miguel Gonzalez (5-8) concluded a sneaky-good season with his best outing of the year Wednesday. He worked 8.1 scoreless innings, despite having to sit for 97 minutes because of a rain delay in the third inning. Gonzalez allowed just three hits, struck out five and walked nobody. He threw 71 of his 102 pitches for strikes, and that allowed him to get some quick outs in the pitcher-friendly conditions.

Gonzalez finishes his season with a 3.73 ERA. Fifteen of his 23 starts were quality. Like most of the Sox rotation, he pitched better than his record indicates, and I don't think anyone can complain about his performance this year.

His 102nd pitch Wednesday was a hanging slider that Logan Forsythe hit for a single to left with one out in the top of the ninth. At that point, closer David Robertson was summoned. He needed one pitch to record his 37th save in 44 chances, inducing Kevin Kiermaier to hit into a game-ending double play.

April 18: the nine-year anniversary of Mark Buehrle's no-hitter vs. Texas

Mark Buehrle

I've long since lost count of how many baseball games I've attended in my lifetime. It's well up into the hundreds, I'm sure.

But the only no-hitter I've ever seen in person occurred nine years ago today, on April 18, 2007, when Mark Buehrle beat the Texas Rangers, 6-0, at U.S. Cellular Field.

I have my ticket stub and newspaper accounts from the game framed on my wall. I could live another 40 years and maybe not see another no-hitter in person, so that night in 2007 remains one of my most cherished baseball memories.

That game was a unique one in baseball history. It still is the only game ever to feature a multi-homer game, a grand slam and a no-hitter. Think of all the games that have been played over a century-plus in Major League Baseball. What I witnessed that night has happened just once -- Jim Thome hit two home runs, Jermaine Dye hit a grand slam, and Buehrle tossed a no-hitter, all in the same game.

I was very, very close to seeing a perfect gamet. Buehrle faced the minimum 27 hitters. The only blemish came with one out in the fifth inning when he walked the washed-up Sammy Sosa, then promptly picked him off.

Sosa was 38 years old at the time, in his last season in the big leagues. He was not a fast runner in the latter stages of his career. I don't know where he thought he was going. In any case, it was a funny moment because, well, Sox fans hate Sosa. He was a bum when he was with the Sox, then made his name with the Cubs (with the help of chemical enhancements), and it was always somewhat infuriating that he was wrongfully considered a better player than Frank Thomas in the city of Chicago. Time has proven that to be false, but it was great to see Buehrle embarrass the perpetually overrated Sosa with the pickoff.

The other image in my mind from that night was the final out -- a weak tapper up the third-base line by Texas catcher Gerald Laird. You heard a groan come up from the crowd as the ball left the bat; it definitely crossed my mind that the ball would die on the grass for an infield single -- it was that weakly struck. But fortunately, Sox third baseman Joe Crede still was in his pre-injury defensive prime at the time, and Laird was a slow runner.

Crede made the play easily, making it an historic and unforgettable night on the South Side of Chicago.

Do you suppose the Cubs wish they still had Chris Archer? Or Josh Donaldson?

As a matter of philsophy, I usually agree with the idea of trading prospects for proven veterans. After all, you generally know what you're going to get from a veteran player, and as a percentage, the overwhelming majority of prospects are busts.

If you take a look at what the White Sox have done over the last 10 or 15 years, most of former GM Ken Williams' trades have involved dealing future prospects to acquire help for the here and now. When I look at all the young players Williams traded, the only one I wish the Sox still had is Gio Gonzalez.

Strangely enough, the Sox traded him twice. In 2005, they sent him and Aaron Rowand to Philadelphia for Jim Thome (good trade). They reacquired him, along with Gavin Floyd, for Freddy Garcia in 2006 (also a decent trade). Then, they sent him to Oakland in 2008 with Ryan Sweeney and Fautino De Los Santos for Nick Swisher (terrible trade).

The rest of the players Williams traded, I can't say I miss.

Here are two guys the former GM of the Cubs (Jim Hendry) traded that I'll bet the current GM (Jed Hoyer) wishes he still had: Tampa Bay pitcher Chris Archer and Oakland third baseman Josh Donaldson.

Archer, a 24-year-old right-hander, is having a breakout season for the Rays. He's 8-5 with a 2.81 ERA in 17 starts. He's allowed two earned runs or less in 12 of those outings. Pretty impressive for a kid who just joined the rotation on June 1 and is pitching in the rugged AL East. 

The Cubs acquired Archer from Cleveland in the Mark DeRosa deal in 2008, but in 2011, they flipped him to Tampa Bay in an eight-player deal that brought Matt Garza to the North Side of Chicago. Over 2 1/2 seasons, Garza went 21-18 in 60 starts for the Cubs. He, of course, is no longer on the team, having been traded to the Texas Rangers earlier this summer.

Meanwhile, the Rays have a potential ace on their roster. The Cubs are still looking for that guy. Some people in Chicago seem to believe Jeff Samardzija is an ace. I disagree. A 28-year-old with a 4.13 ERA who is blowing 5-0 leads against the woeful Philadelphia Phillies is not an ace. He's a mid-rotation starter on a contender. The Cubs should consider trading him this offseason. He's not going to get any better than he is right now.

Donaldson, a 27-year-old third baseman, is a bit of a forgotten man. Most people haven't noticed his .296 average, 19 home runs and 77 RBIs this season because he plays for Oakland. Most people have probably also forgotten the Cubs selected him 48th overall in the 2007 draft.

In July of 2008, Donaldson, Sean Gallagher, Matt Murton and Eric Patterson were traded to Oakland for Rich Harden and Chad Gaudin. At the time, Donaldson was the least talked about player of the four the Cubs gave up. Right now, he looks like the best player in that deal. He plays third base, too, and it seems like about half the teams in baseball are looking for someone to fill that position. It took five years, but that acquisition is paying dividends for the A's, who certainly do not miss Harden or Gaudin.

With both Chicago teams out of the pennant race this year, both clubs have traded some veterans for future considerations this summer. A couple years down the line, maybe they'll strike gold in some of these deals. Only time will tell. Most of the time, the team acquiring the veteran wins the trade. But every now and then, you seen a trade like the Archer deal or the Donaldson deal where the team acquiring the prospects prevails.

Jim Thome rejoins White Sox (no, not as the designated hitter)

Former White Sox slugger Jim Thome has rejoined the organization as a special assistant to general manager Rick Hahn.

Thome hit 612 home runs and drove in nearly 1,700 runs during his 22-year career in Major League Baseball.

“It is nearly impossible to top Jim’s baseball resume with 22 seasons in the game,” Hahn said in a statement.  “When we talked recently about how he could move on to the next stage of his baseball career, an obvious fit was to join this organization, where Jim knows so many people and is immediately comfortable.  He brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to this role, and we’re excited to see the impact he will have on both our major leaguers and minor leaguers.”

Thome spent four mostly productive seasons on the South Side from 2006-09. During that time, he batted .265 with 134 home runs and 369 RBIs. His game-winning home run off Minnesota's Nick Blackburn in a one-game playoff gave the White Sox the 2008 AL Central Division championship and solidified Thome's place in franchise history.

“Taking on this new role with the White Sox just seemed like a natural next step for me and my family,” Thome said in a statement.  “I am excited about the opportunity to make an impact on a major league organization and to work with people I know and respect, like Jerry Reinsdorf, Ken Williams, Rick, Buddy (Bell) and Robin Ventura.  I don’t think I could ask for a better situation than being in Chicago and with the White Sox.”

Sox fans can only hope Thome can help the organization find some middle-of-the-order hitters who were half as productive as he was.

As is custom, let's welcome Thome back to Chicago: