(670 The Score) Former White Sox star Bill Melton passed away early Thursday morning at 79 years old, the team said.
Melton passed away in Phoenix after battling a brief illness. Known as “Beltin’ Bill,” he had a 10-year MLB career and led the American League in home runs in 1971, when he earned All-Star honors for the White Sox. Melton hit 154 homers with the White Sox from 1968-‘75. That figure was the best in franchise history when Melton left the team and ranks ninth in team history now.
Melton was also a pregame and postgame analyst on White Sox telecasts for two decades.
“Bill Melton enjoyed two tremendous careers with the White Sox,” White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf said in a statement. “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.”
Melton, is survived by his wife, Tess, son, Billy, daughter, Jennifer, a grandson and many extended family members.