BRIDGEPORT — If there were any doubts that the White Sox have a thing for washed-up ballplayers, doubt no more.
The South Side ballclub on Monday signed 37-year-old infielder Jimmy Rollins, a former National League MVP and three-time Al-Star, to a minor-league contract.
Rollins, a switch-hitter, spent last season with the Los Angeles Dodgers, hitting .224 with 24 doubles and 13 home runs.
“We envision Jimmy contributing both on and off the field,” said Rick Hahn, White Sox general manager, in a statement.
Rollins' new deal scrawls yet another name in the Washed-up White Sox Hall of Fame. Here’s a look at some players who landed on the White Sox way past their prime:
Ken Griffey Jr.
After spending 21 years with the Seattle Mariners and Cincinnati Reds, hitting 629 homers, he played 41 games for the Sox — the fewest number of starts in his career until that point. With 131 at-bats, Griffey struck out 25 times and carried a .260 batting average. Griffey retired two seasons later in 2010. When voted into the Hall of Fame, the Sox noted he was the 38th member of their organization enshrined.
Ron Santo
The Hall of Famer spent 14 years as one of the faces of the Cubs, but he spent his last season hitting .221 for the White Sox. At 34, Santo started 117 games for the South Siders in his last season in the league.
Jose Canseco
Canseco also spent his last season with the White Sox, batting .258 and tagging 16 home runs in 76 games when he was brought in after Frank Thomas got hurt.
Roberto Alomar
In his last season as a pro, Alomar played 18 games with the Sox, hitting one home run and carrying a .180 average in 2004. That's the same guy who scored 138 runs with the Cleveland Indians in 1999 with a .333 average and 24 home runs.
Manny Ramirez
After a pair of 8-year stretches with the Indians and Red Sox, Ramirez spent a couple years beebopping around the league until he eventually landed with the Sox. In Chicago, Ramirez maintained a .261 batting average over 24 games in 2010— a far cry from his breakout .349 season with the Red Sox in 2002.
Sandy Alomar Jr.
Take a look at Alomar Jr.’s stats and the team’s he played for, and you might say, “Huh?” Over his 20-year career, he played the majority of his games with the Cleveland Indians, but he also spent five sporadic years with the White Sox between 2001 and 2006. During his time in Chicago, Alomar Jr. played 265 games with a .257 average.
Andruw Jones
At the tail-end of a career that included 12 years with the Atlanta Braves, Jones landed on the White Sox roster in 2010. As a Sox centerfielder, he played 107 games and carried a .230 average.
Adam Dunn
After 10 seasons as one of the league's top sluggers, Dunn arrived on the South Side in 2011 and promptly hit a measley 11 home runs in 122 games (to go with a .159 batting average). He did rebound to hit 41 homers the next year but never hit better than .220 in his nearly four seasons with the Sox.
George Foster
George Foster’s career ended in a torturous poof. The Alabama-born outfielder made a name for himself as a RBI workhorse during 11 years with the Cincinnati Reds, knocking in 149 runs on 197 hits in 1977. Less than a decade later, the man who would end his career with 1,239 RBIs left the New York Mets for a 15-game tryout with the White Sox. He didn’t get the job, and two months later, the Mets landed in the World Series and Foster, carrying a career average of .274, was gone.
Steve Carlton
In 15 years with the Philadelphia Phillies, the lefty from Miami kept his ERA to 3.09. It was an ugly landslide from there — which makes it appropriate that he’d eventually end up with the White Sox. In 1986 on the South Side, during his 21st season in the MLB, Carlton pitched 10 games, going 4-3, tossing 40 strikeouts and keeping his ERA to 3.69.
Omar Vizquel
“Little O” spent two of his last three seasons playing infield with the White Sox. In 166 games, Omar Vizquel tallied 137 hits and 2 home runs in 511 at-bats. During his time in Chicago in 2010-11, he carried a .268 average before ending his career with the Toronto Blue Jays.
Dave Stieb
This bust landed on the White Sox after a 15-year career in Toronto, where Stieb tossed in 439 games for a career ERA of 3.81. Then Stieb came to the South Sid, where he played four games in 1993 and clocked a 6.85 ERA. The California native took four years off before playing his last 19 games in Toronto.
John Kruk
After nine years in the National League with the Phillies and Padres, first baseman John Kruk decided to end his career in Chicago. During the 1995 season, Kruk played 45 games, tagging 49 hits, two home runs and 23 RBIs. His .308 average was decent — for a worn out ballplayer. But the way he left the league is more memorable to some than the way he played in it — he famously retired in the middle of a game, after getting a hit for the Sox against the Orioles.
Minnie Minoso
Minnie Minoso might always be remembered as an All-Star who batted .300 over several seasons, but in his later years he could have been the centerpiece player in the Washed-Up White Sox Hall of Fame — though to be fair that was kind of part of the plan. After three separate stints with the South Siders, the team brought him back in 1976 and 1980 to enable him to get an at-bat during every decade between 1949 and 1980. At age 54, Minoso's brief 1980 stint made him the fourth-oldest player ever to play in the majors. In all, Minoso was on the White Sox roster during 12 different seasons over his 17-year career and left baseball with a .298 average.
Tom Seaver
This legendary right-hander from Fresno spent three seasons with the Sox at the end of his career, pitching 81 games for a 33-28 record and 3.68 ERA. In 1985, wearing a Sox uniform, he won his 300th major league game at Yankee Stadium. Seaver ended his career the next year in Boston with a Hall of Fame-caliber ERA: 2.86.
Chris Sabo
Known as a consistent slugger during his seven years with the Reds, Sabo bounced around the league after his release before ending up on the White Sox roster. In Chicago in 1995, Sabo played only 20 games with a .254 average and one home run.
Michael Jordan
On March 4, 1994, Michael Jordan started for the White Sox in the Crosstown Classic, an exhibition game against the Cubs before the dawn of interleague play. Wearing No. 45, Jordan played right field and had an RBI and run scored. After spring training, Jordan played the '94 season with the minor league Birmingham Barons but never got a chance to play a regular season game with the Sox. In 1995, Jordan returned to the Bulls — and the rest is history.
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