Long before the likes of Ozzie Guillen, Scott Podsednik, Frank Thomas & Gordon Beckham analyzed Chicago White Sox baseball on TV, there was Bill Melton.

Born in Gulfport, MS July 7, 1945, Melton made his Sox debut in 1968 at age 22. He hit .253 with 160 homers, 591 RBI's, 496 runs scored & 1,004 career hits in a 10 year MLB playing career that also included stops in California & Cleveland from 1968-77 before transitioning like so many others to broadcasting on BOTH TV & radio.

Melton became a Sox ambassador in 1992 and joined the Sox broadcast crew in 1998 as a pre & postgame analyst on BOTH TV & radio. He retired from this role in 2020.

Melton passed away this morning at age 77 in Phoenix following a brief illness.

Comments from Sox Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf and even more information on the passing of the former #14 can be found here:

https://www.mlb.com/press-release/press-release-white-sox-great-bill-melton-passes-away