lee made his major league debut with the chicago white sox on may 7, 1999, hitting a home run in his first major league at-bat. in his rookie year, lee hit .293 while driving in 84 runs in 127 games. he finished 7th in the al rookie of the year voting. in 2000, lee drove in 92 rbi while hitting 24 home runs. in 2001, lee once again hit for power, hitting 24 home runs and driving in 84 runs but his average dipped from .301 the previous year to .269 in 150 games.