best baseball player
Frank Edward Thomas (born May 27, 1968 in Columbus, Georgia) is an American Major League Baseball player for the Oakland Athletics.
Thomas became one of baseball's biggest stars in the 1990s, playing for the Chicago White Sox. He was given the nickname "The Big Hurt" by broadcaster Ken Harrelson, who coined the term in the 1992 season.[1] Frank Thomas is known, not only for his menacing home run power, but also for striking fear in the competition by swinging a rusted iron pipe (reportedly found during a renovation project in Old Comiskey Park[2]) in the on-deck circle.[3]
Thomas is one of several notable baseball players who played college baseball at Auburn University, such as Bo Jackson, who was also a teammate of Thomas in the major leagues. He also played tight end for the school's football team.[4] Thomas has hit over 500 career home runs, thus making him a strong candidate for the Baseball Hall of Fame when eligible. Thomas is part of an elite group as one of only four players in baseball history to have at least a .300 average, 500 home runs, 1,500 RBIs, 1,000 runs and 1,500 walks in a career. The others are Mel Ott, Babe Ruth and Ted WilliamsThomas was born and raised in Columbus, Georgia on the same day as fellow Major League player Jeff Bagwell (a player whose career would share several parallels to Thomas').[6] He attended Columbus High School and was a standout in both football and baseball. As a Columbus High School sophomore he hit cleanup for a baseball team that won a state championship. As a senior he hit .440 for the baseball team, was named an All-State tight end with the football team, and played forward with the basketball team. He wanted desperately to win a contract to play professional baseball, but he was completely overlooked in the 1986 amateur draft. Baseball teams signed some 891 players on that occasion, and Thomas was not among them.[7]
"I was shocked and sad," Thomas recalled in the Chicago Tribune. "I saw a lot of guys I played against get drafted, and I knew they couldn't do what I could do. But I've had people all my life saying you can't do this, you can't do that. It scars you. No matter how well I've done. People have misunderstood me for some reason. I was always one of the most competitive kids around."[8]
In the autumn of 1986, Thomas accepted a scholarship to play football at Auburn University. Even so, his love of baseball drew him to the Auburn baseball team, where the coach immediately recognized his potential. "We loved him," Auburn baseball coach Hal Baird told Sports Illustrated. "He was fun to be around—always smiling, always bright-eyed." He was also a deadly hitter, posting a .359 batting average and leading the Tigers in runs batted in as a freshman. During the summer of 1987 he played for the U.S. Pan American Team, earning a spot on the final roster that would compete in the Pan American Games. The Games coincided with the beginning of football practice back at Auburn, so he left the Pan Am team and returned to college—only to be injured twice in early season football games.[9]
Thomas might have lost his scholarship that year because he could no longer play football. Instead Auburn continued his funding, and baseball became his sole sport. He was good enough as a sophomore to win consideration for the U.S. National Team—preparing for the 1988 Summer Olympics—but he was cut from the final squad. Stung and misunderstood again, he fought back. By the end of his junior baseball season he had hit 19 home runs, 19 doubles, and had batted .403 with a slugging percentage of .801. With another amateur draft looming, the scouts began to comprehend that the big Georgia native could indeed play baseball. By his senior year (1989) he was voted the Southeastern Conference MVP in baseball, leaving the school with forty-nine career homers, a school record.
The Chicago White Sox selected Thomas seventh in the first round of the June 1989 draft.
Thomas played first base during the early part of his career and was not known for his defense. He never won a Gold Glove at the position, and has played primarily as a designated hitter since turning 30 years old. Rather, Thomas is known for his offensive performance; some regard him as one of the best pure hitters in baseball's history. Thomas is the only player in major league history to have seven consecutive seasons of a .300 average, and at least 100 walks, 100 runs, 100 runs batted in, and 20 home runs (from 1991 to 1997). The only other player to have more than five consecutive seasons accomplishing this feat was Ted Williams with six. This accomplishment is even more remarkable considering that despite playing only 113 games in 1994, due to the labor stoppage which curtailed that season prematurely, he still was able to attain these lofty numbers, thereby keeping the streak alive. Additionally, there are only 5 other players in history who have both hit more home runs and have a higher career batting average than Thomas (Hank Aaron, Jimmie Foxx, Babe Ruth, Alex Rodriguez and Ted Williams).
Thomas made his Major League debut on August 2, 1990 against the Milwaukee Brewers at County Stadium. He went hitless, going 0-4, but did have an RBI on a fielder's choice which scored Ivan Calderon as the White Sox won the game 4-3.[10] On August 28 1990, Thomas hit the first home run of his career in Minnesota, against the Twins, coincidentally the same place where he would hit his 500th career home run. He hit the home run off pitcher Gary Wayne in the top of the ninth as his team lost 12-6.[11]
In just his first full season, in 1991, Thomas finished third in MVP voting with a .318 batting average, 32 home runs, 109 runs batted in as well as walking 138 times. He won the first of four Silver Slugger awards, and led the league in on-base percentage, something he would accomplish four times throughout his career.
In 1993 and 1994, Thomas won back-to-back Most Valuable Player awards. In 1994, the baseball season was shortened due to a players' strike and perhaps no one felt the sting of the strike more than Thomas, who stood poised to achieve one of baseball's most prestigious honors: the Triple Crown. Not since 1967 had any player finished the regular season first in average, home runs, and runs batted in. Thomas was contending for the honor when the strike occurred, and his numbers were good enough to earn him a second American League Most Valuable Player award. Pressed by the media to comment on his accomplishments—and his future—Thomas told the Atlanta Journal and Constitution: "I'm not into being known as the best by fans or the media. I care how I'm perceived by my peers. I can settle for the label 'one of the best' because that means you're considered an elite player."[12]
He is one of only two first basemen in history to win consecutive Most Valuable Player awards in the major leagues (Hall-of-Famer Jimmie Foxx is the other, in 1932–33). In his second MVP season, he hit an incredible .353, with 38 home runs and 101 RBI. Thomas now proved himself as not only a power hitter, but an excellent overall hitter. He became the most feared hitter in baseball. Pitchers began to pitch around him more often. He continued his trend of hitting for power with high averages. In 1996, he hit .349 and mashed 40 homers and became an all-star for the fourth time. He was 8th in MVP voting.
From 1991–1997, Thomas finished in the top 10 of the MVP voting every year. In 1997, Thomas won the batting title and finished third in MVP voting. He struggled over the next two seasons, but rebounded in 2000 when he hit .328 with a career-high 43 homers and 143 runs batted in. Thomas finished second in MVP voting that season, behind Jason Giambi of the Oakland Athletics. He also won the 2000 AL Comeback Player of the Year Award. In 2001, after his father died, Thomas also announced during the same week that he would go season ending surgery after a second MRI revealed a triceps tear in his right arm. "This is the worst week of my life," Thomas said during a press conference in Chicago. "First I lose my father, then come back and find out I'm lost for the season." He only played in 20 games that year.[13]
He rebounded in 2002, but he just hit .252 in 148 games, a career-low for Thomas for a complete season. As the years went on, Thomas' average dropped year after year, but his power never seemed to diminish. Thomas has always been one of the most patient hitters in baseball, leading the American League in walks four times. Through the end of the 2006 season, Thomas was second among all active players in walks and third in on-base percentage, and ranked among the top 20 lifetime in both categories.
Thomas had been maligned by the media in Chicago due to a dropoff in his performance later in his career. Much of this came about after the 2002 season, when the White Sox invoked a "diminished skills" clause in his contract. Thomas somewhat resurrected his career in 2003; although he hit a subpar .267, he was tied for second in the American League in home runs (42), and was in the league's top ten in walks, extra-base hits, slugging percentage, and on-base plus slugging, as he led the major leagues in fly ball percentage (54.9%). In 2005, Thomas hit 12 home runs despite only having 105 at-bats in 35 games, demonstrating the power that he showed earlier in his career. Adding together 2004 and 2005, he had fewer than 350 total at-bats because of the injuries but managed to hit 30 home runs and draw 80 walks. As a member of the White Sox, Thomas and teammate Magglio Ordóñez tied a major league record for back-to-back homers, with six in one season. Thomas won a World Series title with the Chicago White Sox in 2005, but he was not on the post-season roster due to injury. During Game 1 of the Division Series against the Boston Red Sox, Thomas threw out the ceremonial first pitch. "What a feeling," Thomas said. "Standing O all around the place. People really cheering me. I had tears in my eyes. To really know the fans cared that much about me -- it was a great feeling. One of my proudest moments in the game.Thomas' departure from the White Sox was somewhat controversial. He and White Sox General Manager Kenny Williams exchanged words before Thomas left for Oakland. After signing with Oakland, Thomas said that he didn’t appreciate the way his 16-year run with the White Sox ended, saying that chairman Jerry Reinsdorf didn’t call him to tell him he wasn’t coming back. He also said that he and Williams didn’t see eye-to-eye after Williams became GM following the 2000 season. At the time, Thomas was unhappy that his next-to-last deal with the White Sox contained a “diminished skills” clause. He said the White Sox should have traded him after the playoffs that season.
“I’ve got a lot of respect for Jerry Reinsdorf, I do. But I really thought, the relationship we had over the last 16 years, he would have picked up the phone to say, `Big guy, we’re moving forward. We’re going somewhere different. We don’t know your situation or what’s going to happen.’ I can live with that, I really can,” Thomas said. “But treating me like some passing-by-player. I’ve got no respect for that.” Thomas said he wasn’t bitter or angry and had joined the A’s with an open mind.[15]
Williams fired back at Thomas calling him an "idiot". He also said “If he was any kind of a man, he would quit talking about things in the paper and return a phone call or come knock on someone’s door. If I had the kind of problems evidently he had with me, I would go knock on his door.”[16]
Despite this controversy, Thomas' statistical legacy from his time in Chicago is significant as he is probably the best player the White Sox have ever had. Thomas has several White Sox records to his name, including all-time leader in runs scored (1,327), home runs (448), doubles
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Babe Ruth is the greatest baseball player of all time... Clemente was incredible, and his World Series performance in 1971 was the best I've ever seen. His batting
The best player right now is very subjective; the best all-around offensive player is probably someone like Vlad or Beltran who can steal bases, hit for power and
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