Frank Thomas officially retires

[homer]

The Big Hurt is officially calling it quits after being out of the game for 14 months. I assume the Hall of Fame is going to come calling in a few years.

 

http://www.chicagobreakin...-officially-retires.html

 

The guy was a machine in the early 90s and one of the big home run hitters of that era that I actually believe when he says he never juiced.

[TooLiveBrew]

One of the biggest reasons to hate the strike in 1994 is the season he was compiling: .353/.487/.729/1.217, 211 OPS+, 34 2B, 38 HR, 109 BB/61 K. All through 113 games.

 

If ever there were a first-ballot HoFer, it's the Big Hurt.

[trwi7]

I thought he was already retired.

[JohnBriggs12]

I thought he was already retired.

He was involuntarily retired. Now he's voluntarily retired.

 

Maybe Geoff Jenkins should schedule a retirement news conference at Miller Park. Oh wait, he too closely resembles a serial retiree doesn't he?

[Invader3K]

Supposedly Jenkins is trying to make a comeback this year. Haven't heard much about it, though.

[jwaltz]

Frank Thomas was always a classy guy and impressive hitter to watch. Throughout his time on the White Sox he was the guy other teams feared the most. I feel he definitely deserves to get in the HOF but if Alomar can't get in on the first ballot I don't think The Big Hurt will either. He'll get in on his second or third ballot though. The fact he was a DH for most of his career won't help him.

[Ando Calrissian]

Frank Thomas was always a classy guy and impressive hitter to watch. Throughout his time on the White Sox he was the guy other teams feared the most. I feel he definitely deserves to get in the HOF but if Alomar can't get in on the first ballot I don't think The Big Hurt will either. He'll get in on his second or third ballot though. The fact he was a DH for most of his career won't help him.

That's not totally true. I seem to remember some baby-ish behavior from him with the White Sox. In particular I remember a year in which he demanded his whole guaranteed contract be paid to him that year, versus over the duration of the contract. Anyone else remember this too? It wasn't always sea shells and balloons with Frank.

I very much agree with you though that he was arguably the most feared hitter of his day. Though you could make strong cases for Albert Belle and Junior Griffey too.

 

[jwaltz]

I meant he was the guy on the White Sox whom other teams feared the most. Not the most feared hitter in all of baseball.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

The greatest hitter of the last 20 years next to Ken Griffey.

[Funketown]

The greatest hitter of the last 20 years next to Ken Griffey.

I'd put Thomas ahead of Griffey. Of course, Barry Bonds was obliterating the baseball over this same time frame, but we don't want to open that can of worms, do we?

[OldSchoolSnapper]

Even though I'm sure Bonds was in the same class before he started cheating, integrity matters to me, so if those two were truly clean, Bonds isn't even in the discussion.

[nate82]

I'd put Thomas ahead of Griffey. Of course, Barry Bonds was obliterating the baseball over this same time frame, but we don't want to open that can of worms, do we?

No please don't open that one. But whenever you talk about the hitters of that era it is hard to come up with two names better than Griffey and Thomas. I'm not sure I would put Thomas ahead of Griffey or behind him either. Thomas was one of the greatest hitters of that era along with Griffey. I think Thomas gets in but I'm not sure it will be on the first ballot though I do believe Thomas deserves to be in on the first ballot. Griffey and Thomas were iconic players of the 90's and better yet you don't really have much doubts about these two players with steroids as you do with other players of that time.

[monty57]

Even though I hated the White Sox back when the Brewers were in the AL, I always respected Thomas as one of the players who openly advocated stronger drug testing in baseball. If it hadn't been for other players juicing, Thomas' numbers would have looked even better in comparison, and there would be no doubt that he should be a first ballot HOF.

[Herm]

Another reason to like/respect Thomas -- I don't recall the exact timing or details (I'm sure someone could find details)

I believe around '94 or '95, sometime well after rumors and discussion about steroids were out there but before the Sosa/McGwire hysteria, during spring training Thomas got sick of the questions and arranged to have him and all or most of their team tested voluntarily, essentially called out all of baseball to do the same. Interestingly, it was the players union who stepped in and said no way -- wouldn't let them go through with it.

This is part of the reason I put a lot of the blame on the union, even moreso than Selig/baseball mgmt, for turning a blind eye to the whole scene. Individual players wanted testing, but collectively the players union wouldn't allow it. Crazy stuff.

[NievesNoNO]

The Big Hurt was one of my favorites growing up. As an overall player Griffey beats him because he played the OF, but Thomas IMO is the best hitter of his generation. I sometimes wonder if he was a little less disciplined at the plate what kind of HR totals he might have attained.

[joepepsi]

If you look at the 10 years from 1990 through 99, Barry Bonds was the best player in baseball. But the Big Hurt and Junior were a close 2nd and 3rd no matter how you rate them. That's what is so disgusting about Bonds: he already was the best offensive player in the game and destined to end up one of the 5 or 10 greatest off all time. But like a Greek Tragedy that wasn't enough...

[DocLuna7]

Here's a video I found on Youtube and will post here for nostalgia's sake. Hearing the voice of Bob Betts, and seeing Sammy Sosa in his pre-roid days are pretty interesting as well.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfwp70Bdfy8

[homer]

That was pretty neat, Doc. Great to hear Betts' voice once again.

[Paul77]

Bob Betts....Man do I miss that guy.

[ILuvDaBush]

My favorite player of my lifetime. 120% of Prince Fielder Braun. THE MOST FEARED HITTER.

[TooLiveBrew]

Joe Posnanski with an awesome post on the Bug Hurt. An excerpt:

 

We all understand that the Hall of Fame voters, as a group, have little sympathy or respect for steroid users. McGwire’s historic home run pace registers less than 25% approval rating among voters. Rafael Palmeiro put up obscene career numbers — 3,000 hits, 550 homers, more than 1,800 RBIs — but his Hall of Fame case seems dead on arrival. There will be many people who will not vote for Barry Bonds, despite his 762 career home runs and five-year span as the greatest hitter the game ever saw. We all know that.

 

So what about Frank Thomas? If you assume he was clean — and it seems a pretty good assumption — then how can you possibly NOT vote for him? Here is somebody who represented the highest level of integrity at a time when there was no drug testing, no stigma attached to steroid use and almost no chance of getting caught. Here is somebody who not only did not use steroids but spoke out against them … AND he still hit like crazy.

 

There are so many inconsistencies in how we as the general public seem to feel about PEDs in baseball. But one thing that should be consistent — it seems to me that if we are going to savage the players who did use, we should certainly seek out and celebrate the players who did not.

 

One of the things I love in journalism are headlines with questions in them … especially questions that can easily be answered. So when I see the headline: “Is Frank Thomas a Hall of Famer?” I hope that the story does not have 2,096 words like this one. It only needs one word: Yes.

[endaround]

Here's a list of the top 500 position players by WARP. Thomas is in the Molitor-Yount-Griffey range despite being a terrible fielder. His bat was just that good.

 

http://www.baseballprojection.com/war/top500.htm

[BrewCrewForever]

Thomas was amazing, such a good hitter. Got to be a 1st ballot HOF. Other then Griffey, the only other big bopper of the steroid era I believe in my heart neer touched a steroid.