Speaking of jersey numbers, I'll never forget when Kapler and Damon were standing next to each other after the final out of the 2004 WS and they formed the number 1918.
The HOF thing is arguable, but his 19 very good years with the SOX should qualify to have, at least, his number retired. It's inexcusable that it hasn't happened yet.
No one has ventured a top 5 so I'll post my top 5:
Williams
Foxx
Manny
Big Papi
Rice
Leaving off Yaz, Boggs,Nomar and Speaker reflects the great hitters the SOX were blessed with over the years. And yes, Dewey was a damn good hitter and the best defensive RF I ever saw.
It's difficult to compare different eras of baseball, but from an offensive stats view, Tris leaves one of my all-time favorite SOX players in the dust.
No doubt. His offensive stats were amazing. For example, in 1938 as a member of the SOX Jimmie hit 50 HR's, drove in 175 runs and scored 139 runs. His slugging % was .704; his OPS was 1.166, his OPS+ was 183, and his BA was .349.