The story Bill Melton has never told

The White Sox Podcast w/ Chuck Garfien

Chicago Sports Network

Sports, Sports:baseball, Baseball

4.7 • 620 Ratings

🗓️ 17 February 2022

⏱️ 69 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Many White Sox fans know Beltin' Bill Melton for being the American League home run champion in 1971. Others know him from watching White Sox Pre and Post Game shows on NBC Sports Chicago. But here's a story that nobody knows. In 1995, Bill was in a coma for 16 days and almost lost his life. "A priest came in. He gave me my last rites," Melton tells Chuck Garfien in this stunning conversation that will leave you on the edge of your seat. The incident occurred a few months after Bill was teaching Michael Jordan how to play baseball. On the podcast, Bill talks about Jordan, his White Sox debut in 1968, partying on Rush Street in the 1970's and why he's lucky to be alive today.(10:00) - Bill taught Michael Jordan how to hit a baseball?!(17:16) - The story he's never told(41:00) - Playing for the Yankees Triple-A team before making his White Sox debut(57:00) - Partying on Rush Street and the Playboy Mansion in the 1970’s

Transcript

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0:00.0	A priest came in, gave me my last rights.
0:05.0	You know, this is all, this stuff I could basically remember.
0:09.0	They came in and gave my last rights because they didn't think I was going to make it out of surgery.
0:14.0	I don't know how long the surgery was, probably about three or four hours.
0:18.0	And that's why I was in a coma for like 16 days.
0:25.0	That is Bill Melton, revealing a near-death experience that he's never spoken publicly about
0:34.5	before until now, here on the White Sox Talk podcast brought to you by
0:40.3	WinTrust. Hey everybody, it's Chuck Arfine, and the year was 1995. Bill had finished secretly
0:48.2	teaching Michael Jordan how to hit a baseball when MJ had retired from basketball and was trying to make it with
0:55.7	the white socks. Well, soon after that, Bill went in for a procedure, and it went south, way
1:03.5	south. And if it wasn't for an aggressive cardiologist, we would have lost Bill 27 years ago.
1:12.5	So here in our conversation, Bill explains what happened and how he's lucky to be alive today.
1:20.3	He also get into other things like what it was like working with MJ, his first major league
1:24.7	game with the White Sox in 1968, and what it was like hanging out on Rush Street
1:29.9	and the Playboy Mansion in Chicago in the 1970s.
1:34.2	We had to have some fun, lighten the mood a little bit.
1:38.0	But the big story is the story that Bill Melton has never told.
1:44.3	And it's coming your way on the White Sox Talk podcast.
1:48.6	At WinTrust, we know true fans show their team pride every chance they get.
1:53.3	With White Sox checking, you'll score a Sox debit card.
1:56.4	Plus, you'll get a special offer when you open online today at winters.com slash sox talk
2:01.2	one hundred dollars required to open member fdicic white socks white socks go go white sox
	...

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