The Chicago White Sox retired Ozzie Guillén's uniform No. 13 in a pregame ceremony on Saturday, August 8, before a 6:10 p.m. first pitch against Cleveland at Rate Field, the club announced. Guillén becomes the 13th member of the organization to have his number retired, and the first manager in franchise history to receive the honor.
He learned about it on air. The club told him during a surprise announcement on CHSN, where he now hosts pregame and postgame coverage, in the third inning of the White Sox home opener. "They made me cry," Guillén told Axios Chicago of the April announcement. "Because I know how this moment is so important for my family ... that shows you the White Sox organization care what I did for them."
The managerial record
Guillén managed the White Sox from 2004 to 2011, going 678-617 (.524) across 1,295 games and reaching the postseason twice. In 2005, Chicago went 11-1 in the playoffs and won the franchise's first World Series since 1917, ending an 88-year drought. Guillén was the first Latino manager in Major League Baseball to win a World Series, and he was named American League Manager of the Year that season. His 678 wins leave him tied for third in club history with Hall of Fame manager Tony La Russa.
The playing record
Before he managed them, Guillén was the White Sox shortstop for 13 seasons, from 1985 through 1997. He was named 1985 American League Rookie of the Year, made three All-Star teams (1988, 1990 and 1991) and won a Gold Glove in 1990. Across four decades he has been a player, a title-winning manager and a broadcaster for the same organization.
The company he joins
No. 13 goes up alongside numbers honoring Nellie Fox (2), Luke Appling (4), Minnie Miñoso (9) and Luis Aparicio (11), plus three men from the 2005 championship group — Mark Buehrle, Paul Konerko and Hall of Famer Frank Thomas. "The number 13 has always belonged to Ozzie in the hearts of our fans, and this season, we wanted to make it official by retiring his number," White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf said in the club's announcement. "Like many of the White Sox legends, there will never be another 13."
Around the league
The ceremony landed in the middle of a heavily reshaped season. Uristocrat's Games to Watch for August 8 covered the day's slate, and the trade deadline moved two of the sport's biggest names — the Dodgers acquired two-time Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal from the Tigers and the Red Sox acquired Adley Rutschman from the Orioles.
Source: Chicago White Sox, Axios Chicago.
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