Canadian Baseball Network

View Original

Raines leaves Blue Jays for role with White Sox

Hall of Famer Tim Raines has left his position as roving outfield and baserunning coordinator with the Toronto Blue Jays for an ambassador's role with the Chicago White Sox. Photo Credit: Eric Bolte/USA Today

Courtesy of Chicago White Sox

The Chicago White Sox announced on Friday that Hall of Famer Tim Raines and 2005 World Series Champions José Contreras and A.J. Pierzynski have rejoined the organization as team ambassadors.

The 58-year-old Raines, who has served as a roving outfield and baserunning coordinator with the Toronto Blue Jays for the past four years, batted .283 with 98 doubles, 28 triples, 50 home runs, 277 RBI, 440 runs scored and 143 stolen bases in 648 games with the Sox from 1991 to 1995. He holds the Sox all-time record with an 82.7 (143-173) stolen-base percentage.

The seven-time All-Star played 23 major-league seasons with Montreal (1979-90, 2001), the White Sox, New York-AL (1996-98), Oakland (1999), Baltimore (2001) and Florida (2002), hitting .294 with 430 doubles, 113 triples, 170 home runs, 980 RBI, 1,571 runs scored, 808 stolen bases, a .385 on-base percentage and .425 slugging percentage in 2,502 games. Raines ranks fifth in major-league history in stolen bases and ninth in stolen-base percentage (84.3).

Contreras, 46, played six seasons with the White Sox from 2004-09, going 55-56 with a 4.66 ERA and 628 strikeouts over 148 games (146 starts). He went 3-1 with a 3.09 ERA (11 ER/32.0 IP), one complete game and 14 strikeouts in four starts during the 2005 postseason as the Sox ended an 88-year championship drought and was named to the American League All-Star team in 2006.

The Las Martinas, Cuba native posted a 78-67 record with a 4.57 ERA (595 ER/1,173.0 IP) and 889 strikeouts in 299 games (175 starts) over 11 career major-league seasons with New York-AL (2003-04), the White Sox, Colorado (2009) Philadelphia (2010-12) and Pittsburgh (2013).

Pierzynski, 40, batted .279 (1,087-3,896) with 198 doubles, 118 home runs, 460 RBI and 452 runs scored in 1,068 games over eight seasons with Chicago from 2005 to 2012. He ranks third all-time among Sox catchers in home runs.

The two-time AL All-Star catcher spent 19 career seasons in the major leagues with Minnesota (1998-2003), San Francisco (2004), the White Sox, Texas (2013), Boston (2014), St. Louis (2014) and Atlanta (2015-16), hitting .280 (2,043-7,290) with 407 doubles, 188 home runs, 909 RBI and 807 runs scored over 2,059 games. Pierzynski is tied for the major-league record with 13 consecutive seasons (2001-13) with at least 100 games caught.

Raines, Contreras and Pierzynski join other White Sox legends as team ambassadors, including Harold Baines, Hall-of-Famer Carlton Fisk, Mike Huff, Bo Jackson, Ron Kittle, Carlos May, Bill Melton, Donn Pall, Dan Pasqua and Mike Squires. Team ambassadors make appearances on behalf of the organization and serve as team representatives in the community and throughout baseball.