In a perfect world, the end of a fifteen year stretch as the face of the Chicago White Sox would also mark the end of a remarkable career.
Unfortunately, Frank Thomas is probably going to hook on somewhere as a DH and chase the elusive 500 homerun plateau, making him an over the top sure in for the Hall of Fame.
In my opinion, he already is. Frank Thomas is probably the least celebrated star of my lifetime. In Chicago, it was always about Jordan and the Bulls. After, it was Sosa and the homeruns. His own city failed to recognize that this guy was the greatest first baseman of the nineties.
And people can honestly say 52 homeruns is what might keep him out of the Hall of Fame. I don’t buy it.
Sadly, Thomas’ main problem is that he was the victim of awful timing. After winning back to back MVP’s in 1992 and 93, Thomas was having one of the great seasons in the history of the game before the labor strike canceled rest of 94′ season. The guy’s OPS was over 1.200!
In 2000, the Big Hurt had the finest season of his career. 43 homeruns, 143 RBI, 112 walks. But steroids did him in. A cheater in Oakland stole the MVP from Thomas that season.
Steroids will be a lingering notion in every HOF voters mind during this time period. I hope they remember that while he may have been a jerk at times, Thomas was first in line asking to be tested when steroids became a media issue.
In an era that impurity was the norm, Thomas was clean
There is also this false impression that Frank Thomas was great for a few years and then just faded away. From 1991 to 97, he was the greatest player at his position. During those years, the baseball reference says the player most comparable to Thomas was Hank Greenberg.
In 98′ he had 109 RBI although his homerun numbers decreased.
1999 is only “bad” season Thomas ever had in which he was not injured. Yeah bad. He still had an OPS over .900.
The last two seasons have been rough due to injury but he is still very capable of being a productive player.
He still proved that he could get on base at an amazing rate.
The only active player who has more walks than Frank Thomas is Barry Bonds and Thomas is behind just Bonds, Ruth, Williams and Lou Gehrig in all time on base percentage.
Two average seasons for Thomas and he will join Gehrig as the only first basemen in the history of the game to score 1500 runs, drive-in 1500 runners and walk 1500 times.
Greg Couch summed it up perfect in the Chicago Sun Times recently. “He wasn’t a borderline player but a borderline superstar.”
Thomas wasn’t always good with the media. He wasn’t a leader. His only World Series ring will be something he really didn’t help the team attain.
But statistics don’t lie.
I was in Chicago this year for one of Thomas’ final games with the White Sox. The game mirrored his career. He homered, he got on base, and he left with an injury.
It was the first time I ever saw him play and I was mesmerized. I was watching a great, great player.
Come to think of it, I was watching a Hall of Famer.
5 replies on “Frank Thomas Deserves a Hall of Fame Nod”
Good argument… but you say a steroid user (Giambi) stole an MVP from Thomas. Well I think Thomas was on steroids himself. He may have been the first to want to get tested, but thats now… not in ’93 or ’94.
Another point you make is his best years were from ’91-’97. There you go right there. No HOF.
MLB is the toughest out of all sports to get in, he didnt have nearly enough great years. 6-7 years like he had is impressive yes, but nothing was done after and for that he wont get in. Only Koufax and The Iron Horse could pull off those short career accomplishments. Thomas isn’t even close to being in the same catagory as those two.
comment Thomas has been a great player. He has great numbers. He will not be remembered as well as he should be. He is NOT a Hall of Famer. People are being too leinant with their HOF picks recently. Thomas is not a HOF’er, Jeff Kent is not a HOF’er, Bagwell and Biggio are NOT HOF’ers!
Not only, Not only is it a good column, it’s a heckuva argument, too. Thomas is 5th all time in on base percentage! He may join Gehrig as the only first basemen with 1,500 runs, walks, and rbi!
Frank Thomas is, indeed, a Hall of Famer!!!
Are you stupid? — Comment number 1 and number 2 are obviously from a couple of escaped mental patients that don’t know anything about baseball. First of all you say his best years were from 91 to 97, why don’t you take a look at 2000, HIS BEST YEAR. Also, do me a favor and take a look at Bonds first 7-8 years(when he was not on steroids and was a skinny little punk) and then take a look at Frank’s first 7-8 years and compare the numbers. Frank’s numbers BLOW Barry’s numbers away in those years. They are not even close. Frank Thomas has NEVER used steroids you ass clown. Frank Thomas has had the same exact build since he was in high school pretty much. You don’t keep the same build on steroids, you get BIGGER, duh! Just take a look at Barry when he came into the league, and McGwire too. Both of those asshats were skinny as hell when they first came into the league, and then all of a sudden one year they were 2 to 3 times as built. Hmmmmm, you know what that tells me? Steroids. No doubt. Barry, McGwire, Giambi, all steroid using losers and all their stats should be wiped out of the baseball books. Those idiots cheated to hit tons of homeruns and everyone with a brain knows they did. You talk to 99% of the people in baseball that know Frank Thomas and every one of them will tell you that he is NOT the type of guy that would have used steroids. Oh, and he is a hall of famer hands down. The only reason his numbers dropped in the last few years was INJURIES. However, check out how he was still able to get things done. Look at how many homers he had this past year and how very few games he got them in. I think that people should be required to take an IQ test and have it be more than 2 before they are allowed to talk about ANYTHING. One more thing, I never saw YOU win back to back MVPs in baseball pal.
good point — Good point to the previous comment.
I think one topic that was not talked about enough in the recent steroid controversy is the players who don’t cheat–such as Frank Thomas–ought to be considered some of the biggest true victims of the steroid era. The HOF criteria should be considered such that–the voters should consider players who obviously did not use steroid (such as Thomas) against those who almost certainly did (such as Bonds/Giambi). In that light, Frank Thomas’ number ought to be reevaluated and be deemed as HOF-worthy in an era clouded with steroid controversy.