Frank Thomas Retires

[Ski]

http://mlb.fanhouse.com/2010/02/11/frank-thomas-to-retire-on-friday/

 

Should be a hall of famer, by far.

[Garwilly]

Absolutely.

[Clem Fandango]

Frank Thomas' first 5 full years in baseball are uncanny. It's a shame that he didn't get to finish up the 1994 season. A 211 OPS+ when the strike cut it short. Unreal.

 

Frank Thomas was the man in the 90's, a lot of people forget that since he was sort of in the shadow of Bonds and Griffey.

 

1990-1999:

.320/.440/.573 169 OPS+ 301HR 1,040RBI 1,076BB

 

If you find players who had that much of an offensive impact over the course of a decade in any era of baseball, they're probably hall of famers. Frank Thomas is a first ballot. Has to be

[Schwarber Fan]

He didn't retire last year?

[Sammy Sofa]

Clubhouse cancer.

[Southpaw191679666239]

He didn't retire last year?

 

He was holding out for a mid-season gig.

[Magdal]

If he goes into the hall he will be the 1st DH to do so. Would he have been as good if he had to go out on the field and hustle around in the summer heat like the rest of the team? I don't know, but that will be in the minds of the voters.

[Derwood]

1131 games as DH

971 as 1B

 

I'd hope it would be a non-issue considering his staggering numbers.

[tfarks]

When I was a kid growing up in the 90's and we would play ball in the yard there were usually only 2 options. If you were batting right handed you were the Big Hurt. Left handed you were Griffey.

[Derwood]

White Sox will retire his number in August

[NewUserName]

Will he be eligible the same year as Maddux and Glavine? If so will the writers just vote in all 3 or behave like some sort of elitists?

[Guest]

When I was a kid growing up in the 90's and we would play ball in the yard there were usually only 2 options. If you were batting right handed you were the Big Hurt. Left handed you were Griffey.

your left handed friends were fools not to consider Bonds an option.

[Garwilly]

When I was a kid growing up in the 90's and we would play ball in the yard there were usually only 2 options. If you were batting right handed you were the Big Hurt. Left handed you were Griffey.

your left handed friends were fools not to consider Bonds an option.

 

As one of those fools, I remain content with my decision.

[Sammy Sofa]

[expletive], if you were looking at lefties to emulate in the 90's then Bonds-Griffey-Gwynn have to be the holy trinity.

[Pushfrog98]

White Sox will retire his number in August

Which doesn't mean much...

[Guest]

I can see deciding on Griffey over Bonds in the 90's, but not having Bonds as an option at that point is, well, dumb.

[jersey cubs fan]

I can see deciding on Griffey over Bonds in the 90's, but not having Bonds as an option at that point is, well, dumb.

 

I think you might be overreacting a bit. We know more about Bonds now than we did then, and a lot of statistical analysis was not available to most kids. It's pretty easy to see why a kid would be more interested in emulating Griffey than Bonds.

[SpongeWorthy]

Between the SNES game, the commercials, wearing his hat backwards in the Derby, Junior was definitely The Man amongst kids in the 90s. Bonds just didn't resonate nearly as much.

 

Thomas was probably #2 although quite a ways off from Griffey's shine though.

[wekse]

albert belle was fun to imitate.

[Four and Twenty]

Despite playing for the wrong team, Frank was one of my favorite Chicago baseball players of the 90s. I still have a (or a couple) 1991 Upper Deck Frank Thomas card where he is allegedly flipping off someone in the dugout.

 

http://www.sox35th.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/frank.jpg

 

Classic.

 

Edit: Since I haven't looked at that card in years, I just noticed that apparently Sammy finds Frank's antics quite amusing. At least I think that is Sammy.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

son of a bitch, I wanted to wear 35 when I sign with the Sox

[Four and Twenty]

By the way, keeping this man out of the Hall would be a complete travesty. Why the BBWAA continues to look down on a position created and sanctioned by Major League Baseball is beyond me. Designated Hitter is a part of the game, make it part of the Hall.

[SouthSideRyan]

Will he be eligible the same year as Maddux and Glavine? If so will the writers just vote in all 3 or behave like some sort of elitists?

 

He wouldn't go 1st ballot even if he was on a crappy ballot like this year's.

[Rob]

Will he be eligible the same year as Maddux and Glavine? If so will the writers just vote in all 3 or behave like some sort of elitists?

 

He wouldn't go 1st ballot even if he was on a crappy ballot like this year's.

 

The DH argument and the fact he was a slugger in the steroid era will probably hold him back a couple years, which is an absolute travesty.

[Sammy Sofa]

Is he really going to be held back by the steroid issue? He was basically out there in the middle of it demanding to be tested, plus he was always gigantic, even when he was a kid.