Tim Raines rejoins Chicago White Sox as team ambassador

Welcome back! pic.twitter.com/GEVJFOwaaV

— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) December 15, 2017

Hall of Famer Tim Raines is rejoining the Chicago White Sox as a team ambassador along with former right-hander Jose Contreras and catcher A.J. Pierzynski, the team announced Friday.

Raines, 58, batted .283 with 98 doubles, 28 triples, 50 home runs, 277 RBIs, 440 runs scored and 143 stolen bases in 648 games with the White Sox from 1991-95. He holds the franchise all-time record with an 82.7 stolen-base percentage (143 of 173).

Raines, a seven-time All-Star outfielder, played 23 major league seasons with Montreal (1979-90, 2001), the White Sox, New York Yankees (1996-98), Oakland (1999), Baltimore (2001) and Florida (2002), hitting .294 with 430 doubles, 113 triples, 170 homers, 980 RBIs, 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 over 900 innings and 628 strikeouts in 148 games (146 starts). He went 3-1 with a 3.09 ERA, one complete game and 14 strikeouts in four starts during the 2005 postseason as the White Sox ended an 88-year World Series championship drought. He was named to the American League All-Star team in 2006.

Contreras, a native of Cuba, posted a 78-67 record with a 4.57 ERA in 299 games (175 starts) over 11 career major league seasons with Yankees (2003-04), White Sox, Colorado (2009) Philadelphia (2010-12) and Pittsburgh (2013).

Pierzynski, 40, batted .279 with 198 doubles, 118 home runs, 460 RBIs and 452 runs scored in 1,068 games over eight seasons with Chicago from 2005-12. He ranks third all-time among White Sox catchers in home runs.

Pierzynski, a two-time AL All-Star catcher, spent 19 career seasons in the majors with Minnesota (1998-2003), San Francisco (2004), the White Sox, Texas (2013), Boston (2014), St. Louis (2014) and Atlanta (2015-16), hitting .280 with 407 doubles, 188 homers, 909 RBIs 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 and ranks sixth in MLB history with 16,335 1/3 innings 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 representatives in the community and throughout baseball.