CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) - Former White Sox slugger and broadcaster Bill Melton has died after a brief illness, the ballclub announced Thursday.
He died in Phoenix early Thursday. He was 79.
Nicknamed Beltin’ Bill, Melton played eight seasons (1968-1975) for the Sox, with his home run prowess still seen in the franchise’s record books.
In back-to-back years (1970-1971) , Melton hit 33 home runs. In 1970, he became the first White Sox player to hit 30-plus homers in a season. The following season, 1971, Melton was named an American League All-Star and led the AL with those 33 HRs. He is just one of two Sox players to ever win an AL home run crown.
Melton slugged 154 total homers in a White Sox uniform and was the franchise’s career HR leader until Harold Baines passed him in 1987.
Melton returned to the White Sox fold in 1992 as a team ambassador and part-time scout. When Michael Jordan tried his hand at baseball, it was Melton who was one of his hitting instructors.
Melton became a White Sox TV broadcaster in 1998, joining as a pre and postgame analyst. He served in that role until his retirement in 2020.
“Bill Melton enjoyed two tremendous careers with the White Sox,” said White Sox Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf. “His first came as a celebrated home run king for White Sox teams in the early 1970s, where 'Beltin Bill' brought power to a franchise that played its home games in a pitcher-friendly ballpark. Photos of Bill wearing his home run crown and others of him posing with ballpark organist Nancy Faust still generate smiles to this day. Bill's second career came as a well-liked and respected pre and postgame television analyst, where on a nightly basis Sox fans saw his passion for the team, win or lose. Bill was a friend to many at the White Sox and around baseball, and his booming voice will be missed. Our sympathies go out to his wife Tess, and all of their family and friends."
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