The 2022 South Side Sox White Sox Hall of Fame welcomes a party of five!

Two years ago, a record five players were elected to our White Sox Hall of Fame. In 2021, we ran a truncated election with no extra categories, and just one player, Ted Lyons, (barely) squeaked in.

The even-year “tradition” continues in 2022, as five players — Wilbur Wood, Red Faber, Hoyt Wilhelm, Robin Ventura and José Abreu — have been elected!

Wood’s 93.3% total is the second biggest vote output ever, behind Frank Thomas and his 97.6% plurality in 2018. Abreu becomes the first White Sox player to be elected to our Hall of Fame while still active.

Wood made an extraordinary leap from 68.4% in 2021, easily reaching induction. By contrast, Ventura polled at 73.5% in 2021 and got just enough of a nudge this year, clearing the bar at 78.9%.

It was Abreu’s first year on the ballot, but the other four inductees had failed four previous times on our ballot:

There was a divide of almost 10% between the lowest inductee and the closest runner-up (Jack McDowell, 69.3%), indicating that our five winners were a cut above the rest of the field.

In addition to McDowell, White Sox players en route to our Hall appear also to be Chris Sale (64.9%) and Magglio Ordoñez (61.4%). Two actual Hall of Fame members, Ray Schalk and George Davis, failed to earn election on their fifth ballot. Fielder Jones, whose 32.1 aWAR was fifth-highest on this ballot in addition to managing the White Sox to their first title, still is falling short of even half of voters supporting his candidacy.

The full results of each player who failed to earn election in 2022:

With just 30.1% of the vote, Johnny Mostil finished last in our election and will fall off of the ballot for the next five seasons. Lance Johnson (30.4%) just barely survived.

In addition to those players knocked off of the ballot in 2018 — Gerry Staley, Willie Kamm and Thornton Lee — in 2023 we should have at least one player new to the ballot. At the moment that player looks to be Reb Russell, who very likely had the greatest rookie season in White Sox history.

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You can see the full results of our bonus category battles on the 2022 ballot, as all of our elections played out for all to see. But here is a list of the winners, each total, and margin of victory:

Team 1959 White Sox, 50.0%, +40 votes/28%
Manager Jimmy Dykes, 77.7%, +76 votes/63%
Gimmick/Promotion Center Field Shower, 32.8%, +15 votes/11%
2005 Moment Scott Podsednik’s Game 2 World Series walk-off, 27.3%, +4 votes/3%
Defensive Play Juan Uribe’s ninth-inning catch in Game 4 in 2005, 47.9%, +27 votes/19%
Contributor Hawk Harrelson, 41.4%, +7 votes/5%
Uniform 1983, 31.3%, +2 votes/1%
Home Run Scott Podsednik’s Game 2 World Series walk-off, 39.9%, +12 votes/9%
Nickname The Big Hurt, 65.9%, +76 votes/55%
Ballpark Food Chicago Dog, 43.8%, +30 votes/25%

Notable in the above were the runaway wins for Dykes as manager and Frank Thomas for his nickname. Meanwhile, check out the nail-biters, including 2005 moment and uniform. The 1983s made a late-election run and overtook 1917 by two votes. Four 2005 playoff moments were separated by just seven votes total.

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2018 White Sox Hall of Fame winners

Frank Thomas (Hall of Fame Player)
Minnie Miñoso (Hall of Fame Player)
Luis Aparicio (Hall of Fame Player)
Nellie Fox (Hall of Fame Player)
Luke Appling (Hall of Fame Player)

2005 (Team)
Bill Veeck (Contributor)
Exploding Scoreboard (Gimmick)
Disco Demolition (Promotion)
1991 (Uniform)
Ozzie Guillén (Manager)
2005 World Series Sweep (Moment)

2019 White Sox Hall of Fame winners

Mark Buehrle (Hall of Fame Player)
Billy Pierce (Hall of Fame Player)
Eddie Collins (Hall of Fame Player)

1917 (Team)
Nancy Faust (Contributor)
Na Na Hey Hey (Kiss Him Goodbye) (Gimmick/Promotion)
Four Straight ALCS Complete Games (2005 Moment)
Mark Buehrle Between-the-Legs (Defensive Play)
Dick Allen (Meteoric Player)
Ozzie Guillén (Character)
Jim Margalus (South Side Sox Member)

2020 White Sox Hall of Fame winners

Joe Jackson (Hall of Fame Player)
Carlton Fisk (Hall of Fame Player)
Paul Konerko (Hall of Fame Player)
Harold Baines (Hall of Fame Player)
Ed Walsh (Hall of Fame Player)

1906 (Team)
Al Lopez (Manager)
Seventh-Inning Stretch (Gimmick/Promotion)
Hitless Wonders Upset (Moment)
11-1 Postseason Record (2005 Moment)
Dewayne Wise “The Catch” (Defensive Moment)
Albert Belle (Meteoric Player)
Tom Paciorek (Character)

2021 White Sox Hall of Fame winners

Ted Lyons (Hall of Fame Player)

2022 White Sox Hall of Fame Winners

Wilbur Wood (Hall of Fame Player)
Red Faber (Hall of Fame Player)
Hoyt Wilhelm (Hall of Fame Player)
Robin Ventura (Hall of Fame Player)
José Abreu (Hall of Fame Player)

1959 (Team)
Jimmy Dykes (Manager)
The Center Field Shower (Gimmick/Promotion)
Scott Podsednik’s World Series Game 2 Walk-Off Home Run (2005 Moment)
Juan Uribe’s Catch in the Ninth Inning of World Series Game 4 in 2005 (Defensive Play)
Hawk Harrelson (Contributor)
1983 (Uniform)
Scott Podsednik’s World Series Game 2 Walk-Off Home Run (Home Run)
Frank “The Big Hurt” Thomas (Nickname)
Chicago Dog (Ballpark Food)
1976 Shorts (Oddity)

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Thanks to all who participated — you’re the ones who make this all a lot of fun! And stay tuned, as we hope to kick-start our actual Hall of Fame (plaques) this year; to date, we’ve done just one, KP’s take on “The Catch” at South Side Hit Pen. By the count above, that means we have 52 plaques still to write!

And feel free to leave suggestions for future categories for our Hall, or nominees for the existing categories above, in the comments.

See you in 2023!