John Ely leaving White Sox organization to focus on first child

This story was excerpted from Scott Merkin’s White Sox Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

CHICAGO — Call it the most prolific of mic drops, or to quote Seinfeld’s George Costanza, going out on a high note.

It’s not that Ely had any issue with the White Sox, or vice versa, having previously worked with Great Falls, Single-A Kannapolis and High-A Winston-Salem since 2017, before joining manager Sergio Santos’ Birmingham staff. Ely simply has strengthened the path of family first.

Ely and his wife, Kelly, welcomed their first child, Brooks, on Oct. 9, 2024 after going through In-vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment. As soon as Brooks arrived, Ely’s leanings toward a career change were infinitely reinforced.

“You see this guy come out and it’s like, especially your first child, it’s like my god, instant just romance. Instantly love. It wasn’t even a question,” Ely said. “Then you just look at your wife and look at what we did. Everything else goes away and that’s all that matters.”

The White Sox selected Ely, a graduate of Homewood-Flossmoor High school located 23 miles from Guaranteed Rate Field, in the third round of the 2007 Draft. He was 14-2 with a 2.82 ERA for the Barons in 2009 before he was sent to the Dodgers as part of an offseason trade for outfielder Juan Pierre. He made 25 appearances for Los Angeles from 2010-12 before moving into a coaching career with the White Sox.

Minor League coaching is a passion as much as a job, and it’s also a serious commitment. Ely worked eight of nine instructional league periods, and there are performance camps in January attached to more inclusive offseason programs.

So, the time away from his wife, dog and now son could stack up as seven to eight months.

“It was a little bit too much to think about, even though we had so much success,” Ely said. “Once we got pregnant, it was such a relief.

“No. 1, that we finally got the opportunity and every day you are waiting on edge, you are hoping everything goes well. From a distance, I was like, ‘Dang, I don’t know once this kid arrives if I’m ever going to be able to go back to leaving my family.’”

Ely also has dealt with having a degenerative cerebral disease called Ataxia, which can damage the cerebral core. It’s something his father has too, leaving him unable to walk since he was 45, according to Ely. John and Kelly went the IVF route, knowing…