The Big Hurt Says “Farewell”
Frank Thomas announced his retirement Friday, and although it is no surprise to hear he’s hanging up his cleats, it is a nice chance to say good-bye to one of the best hitters to come around in the last 25 years, if not one of the best of all time.
Thomas was one of those guys who could stop the show when he came to the plate. People put down their beers and hot dogs. The vendors would stop in their tracks. The ushers would have their eyes glued to home plate instead of ticket stubs.
That was the kind of awe he would draw when he stepped up to the plate.
Some who are not very familiar with the Frank’s career might think I’m crazy to compare him to Ted Williams as a hitter. But we have not seen a man with the combination of power and patience at the plate, with the ability to hit for average for a very long time.
If you try to find another right-handed hitter like him, it’s going to take you a little while.
Most of us think of Frank as one of the “clean” players in the steroid era. He was an early and outspoken proponent of drug test testing when it was a pretty unpopular idea among the players’ union. Plus he came into the league as a big man at 6′5″ 250+ pounds.
But, all are suspects in this era of baseball. You could look at Frank’s career, see he had two shortened seasons in 2004 and 2005 due to injury and that he blasted 39 home runs and drove in 114 in 2006 wearing an Athletics uniform. You might ask, “How did he get so healthy?”
Well, Frank had a broken ankle in ‘04 and probably came back too soon from it. A big man like that has a hard time healing small bones in his lower extremities and he should have been a bit more patient in returning to baseball. Plus I’ve never heard of anyone using steroids to come back from broken bones. Maybe it has happened, but I’ve never heard of it.
If it comes out one day that Big Frank did use the juice, I wouldn’t be shocked, but at this point in time, I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt.
Holy smokes! It really sucks to question a man’s power numbers because of this rotten environment that was created by everyone involved in Major League Baseball.
But back to Frank’s incredible career. He is one of four men to play Major League Baseball who collected more than 500 home runs, 1,500 RBI, 1,000 runs scored, 1,500 walks and hit for a career average better than .300. The other three are Babe Ruth, Ted Williams and Mel Ott.
That’s why he is considered one of the best hitters of all time.
Frank’s final career numbers look like this: 521 HR 1,704 RBI .301 AVG 2,468 HITS 1,494 RUNS 1,667 BB
He holds White Sox records for all major offensive categories and it has been announced that his number 35 will be retired in August, for what that’s worth.
Frank never endeared himself to the fans or the media, and he said a lot of dumb things. He also had some nasty things to say about the White Sox organization after the club bought out his option after the team won the World Series while he sat as a spectator. His antics earned him the nickname “The Big Skirt” among media types and frustrated fans.
Since he was so cold to the media, and considering it’s the writers who vote for the Hall of Fame, I’d be surprised if he is a first ballot inductee. Writers can be like that. I mean, look at how long it took Jim Rice to get inducted because he acted like such a jerk toward the media. It shouldn’t take Frank as long to get that honor, though. He won two American League MVP in 1993 and 1994. He should have won a third in 2000, but came in second to a juiced Jason Giambi.
But take a look at the numbers between those two in the 2000 season:
Frank - 43 HR 143 RBI .328 AVG .625 SLG 191 HITS 44 2B 115 RUNS
Giambi - 43 HR 137 RBI .333 AVG .647 SLG 170 HITS 29 2B 108 RUNS
Yeah, Frank got screwed. It must have been tough to vote for a DH over an everyday first baseman, I guess.
The Big Hurt gave South Side baseball fans plenty of great memories and it’s going to be a long time before we see another like Frank Thomas. So long, Frank, and thanks for the good times.
